Jane Austen

Which other authors do you enjoy? Discuss them here.
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Yak
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Jane Austen

Post by Yak »

I was having a bit of a Jane re-readathon late last year ... I've put it on hold - midway through Emma - for a little while whilst I get Xmas out of the way but I was having fun. I do love Austen ... so much delicious cynicism and yet so much genuinely good feeling and readability. Any fans?
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Kate Mary »

I'm a fan too, Yak. I read Northanger Abbey last year, not quite as good perhaps as Emma or P&P, but it is a delightfully witty novel. I tend to read one of her books a year, might do Mansfield Park next.

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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Yak »

Oh I love Mansfield Park. It's different in many respects from Austen's other books but it remains either my favourite or second favourite. NA I am not so keen on and it's the one of her books that I know the least .. I will read it next I think, see if I can like it more than previously.
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Post by Aurélien »

Okay, okay, I admit it....I too read Jane Austen's classic masterpieces....though the way I now read one of her books has changed greatly over the decades....
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Yak »

I am intrigued .. how do you read them differently? :)
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Post by Aurélien »

Yak wrote:I am intrigued .. how do you read them differently? :)
A bit at a time (my readathon days are over), savouring the many-levelled character-interactions, exploring the socio-historical background, revelling in the author's delightfully ironical comments....coming back to the text after a few days, perhaps after delving in my resource files (paper and digital)...etc, etc. In other words, Yak/Moose, an 8) old man's 'take it slow and enjoy as much as you can' technique.
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Kitty »

Yes, I'm a fan, though I dislike Emma. All the others I love - perhaps Persuasion or MP the most, though P&P is the most fun. And the ephemera - parts of Love and Freindship have me laughing out loud in the same way I do with Fatty's Bonaparte escapade, for example.
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Kristina »

I like Jane Austen too :) Persuasion was the first one that I read, and it is still my favourite.
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I re-read Northanger Abbey a few months ago, mainly because I was about to visit Bath, and thoroughly enjoyed all the allusions to popular novels of the day. I'd have felt very shy and awkward if I'd had to lead that kind of lifestyle as a teenage girl. Having to attend "at home" days and "coming out" balls sounds like torture to me!
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Kristina »

I read Northanger Abbey a couple of months ago - it left me feeling quite unsatisfied at the end. Henry seems to marry Catherine more because she liked him and all that trouble happened with his father rather than because he really liked her. Although in my idealistic imagination I like to think that he realizes that he actually does like her :) Nevertheless I still enjoyed it!
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Aurélien »

'Northanger Abbey' is the only Austen for which I have a floor-plan (for the Abbey itself). Does anyone here know of a source of floor-plans for other Austen buildings?

Domestic architecture enthusiast, ‘Aurélien Arkadiusz’ :)

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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: "coming out" balls sounds like torture to me!
My eyes are watering, too. :shock:
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Kristina wrote:I read Northanger Abbey a couple of months ago - it left me feeling quite unsatisfied at the end. Henry seems to marry Catherine more because she liked him and all that trouble happened with his father rather than because he really liked her.
I don't know - I think he found her refreshing right from the beginning because she wasn't all artful games and cunning wiles like so many of the other girls.
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Kristina »

I do agree - I think he found her refreshing but it isn't a sort of sweeping love story. Although at the same time I do enjoy that - it really feels so everyday. But the wedding etc. is all sort of squashed in at the end - it feels all very inconsequential... so I still felt rather unsatisfied :)
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Jane Austen?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Kristina wrote:...it isn't a sort of sweeping love story. Although at the same time I do enjoy that - it really feels so everyday.
I must admit I never really feel "caught up" in the romantic relationships in Jane Austen, even in books like Pride and Prejudice. There's something about her style of writing, or perhaps just the very formal, "mannered" era about which she's writing, that (for me, anyway), prevents a strong sense of passion coming through. I read the books mainly for the wry witticisms, keen observations and social comment.
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