Jane Austen Fans

[HisChildForever]

I read Pride and Prejudice about three years ago. The beginning was a bit slow and dry at times but the latter portion of the novel really had me hooked. Anyway, the other night I bought Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and Emma. It was a buy 2, get 1 free deal for the classics - so I spent like ten bucks for the three of them. I know it's not a series lol, but which should I read first? I'm also interested in hearing thoughts, opinions, reviews, things you didn't like about a particular novel or her writing style, etc. Thanks!

[Era Might]

I never never never would have read Jane Austen. I don't like women writers, number one, and I just assumed she was chick lit. But I took a class on 19th Century British novels when I was in college and had to read Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility. Great stuff, really entertaining. I also read Jane Eyre, a great novel, by another female writer. They seem like "chick lit" on the surface, but they're just great books, as opposed to being "Look at me I'm a woman and I'm writing about women stuff," which wouldn't have interested me at all. This post probably sounds more sexist than it should.... :flex2:

Edited June 21, 2013 by Era Might

[CrossCuT]

PERSUASION

 

I like that one equal if not more than Pride & Prejudice.

Sense & Sensibility is really good too.

Emma is good too although you will likely HATE Emma in the beginning.

 

The only two that I really didnt like that much was Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey.

 

ALTHOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My favorite Jane Austen hunk is from Northeranger Abbey. Henry Tilney forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HisChildForever]

I don't like women writers, number one,

 

Why?

[Era Might]

Why?

 

Just don't. There are exceptions of course, I like Austen, Flannery O'Connor, Marianne Moore. Maybe I relate more to what men have to say because I am one.

[Not The Philosopher]

Emma is one of my favourite novels.

 

Austen is, I think, one of the great moral/psychological realists. I come out of her books feeling I know a little bit more about people (including myself).

[Luigi]

1. Read Sense and Sensibility first. It's another comparison & contrast novel, like Pride and Prejudice and focuses on the relationship between sisters (as well as beaux). One sister represents a more intellectual approach to life and the other is more self-indulgent of her own whims; she suffers for her lack of sense, although the sensible one also suffers from doing the right thing. 

 

2. Then read Emma. Like the women in Pride and Prejudice and in Sense and Sensibility, Emma is young; her heart is in the right place, but she doesn't have much consideration for people. In the course of the novel, she learns to be less judgmental & manipulative and more supportive. 

 

3. Then read Persuasion. The heroine is still a single woman, but she's older - almost beyond marriageable age. She seems to be somewhat weak because she is very dutiful and puts others' needs before her own, but she's actually quite strong and knows her own mind. I consider Persuasion to be Austen's most "mature" novel.

 

4. I wasn't crazy about Northanger Abbey, but the heroine is interesting because she's a relatively poor girl who gets thrust into a higher social circle and has to figure out how things are done and where she fits in. 

 

5. Mansfield Park is my favorite Austen novel, but largely because the heroine (Fanny) reminds me of someone I used to know. Again, she's a poor girl thrust into an upper level of society, she has to figure out how things are done and where she fits in, and although she is "the least of the least" in the household she's also the only one who has any real moral compass. 

 

Keep in mind, though, that when I read literature, I read primarily for language. And I love Austen's language. Pride and Prejudice has one of the greatest opening sentences in the English language, but all of her novels open with a good sentence. Her language is also quite subtle, so modern readers often miss her nuances - tongue-in-cheek humor, polite sarcasm, and understatement. If you're not that interested in the language, your mileage may vary.

 

But she's also got the character development (in the heroines, at least) and the plot development. Some people complain of her, "I don't actually care who the girl marries." In the end, the heroine does usually marry the man of her dreams, but that's mostly a payoff for acting morally throughout the book - those who act immorally come to unhappy ends. Austen had few other happy endings except 'the good marriage' available to her in those days (although she herself never married).    

[Seven77]

I enjoyed her script writing on her Mafia movie!

[Basilisa Marie]

Just don't. There are exceptions of course, I like Austen, Flannery O'Connor, Marianne Moore. Maybe I relate more to what men have to say because I am one.

 

Then don't say you don't like women writers.  That's sexist. Say you don't like chick lit.  :) 

[Era Might]

Then don't say you don't like women writers.  That's sexist. Say you don't like chick lit.   :)

 

Well, I don't think that's accurate, because I think writers have different preoccupations. I don't think it's accidental that I don't like women writers. I don't think being a writer is genderless. That's not a bad thing, I just don't relate to the style of many women writers, particularly contemporary women writers whose writing is a sort of extension of academic feminism.

[Basilisa Marie]

Well, I don't think that's accurate, because I think writers have different preoccupations. I don't think it's accidental that I don't like women writers. I don't think being a writer is genderless. That's not a bad thing, I just don't relate to the style of many women writers, particularly contemporary women writers whose writing is a sort of extension of academic feminism.

 

If you didn't like women writers, you wouldn't like Austen, O'Connor, Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre author) or Moore.  You don't like academic feminism or Chick Lit.  But to unilaterally dismiss female authors is sexist. And just not true.   Jane Austen writes about women.  Charlotte Bronte writes about women.  O'Connor writes about all kinds of people.  You can't just say you don't like women writers, but then make exceptions whenever you find one you do like.  :) 

[Era Might]

If you didn't like women writers, you wouldn't like Austen, O'Connor, Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre author) or Moore.  You don't like academic feminism or Chick Lit.  But to unilaterally dismiss female authors is sexist. And just not true.   Jane Austen writes about women.  Charlotte Bronte writes about women.  O'Connor writes about all kinds of people.  You can't just say you don't like women writers, but then make exceptions whenever you find one you do like.   :)

 

Sure I can. :) I don't dismiss them, just saying I don't like them. Doesn't mean there aren't great women writers. Emily Dickinson is another great woman writer. But if I am sitting down to read a book, and I have a choice between a man and a woman author, I will pick the man. I will always pick Shakespeare over Sappho, Dickens over Austen, Hawthorne over Stowe.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Era Might

[Basilisa Marie]

Sure I can. :) I don't dismiss them, just saying I don't like them. Doesn't mean there aren't great women writers. Emily Dickinson is another great woman writer. But if I am sitting down to read a book, and I have a choice between a man and a woman author, I will pick the man. I will always pick Shakespeare over Sappho, Dickens over Austen, Hawthorne over Stowe.

 

Psh, fine. :)  

[Era Might]

Maybe "don't like" is not the right phrasing. Don't relate to, maybe.

[CrossCuT]

Emma is one of my favourite novels.

 

Austen is, I think, one of the great moral/psychological realists. I come out of her books feeling I know a little bit more about people (including myself).

She is amazing.

Her understanding of social culture of that time was amazing.

Not only that but she has a wicked sense of humor in a subtle way! I find her hilarious how she is able to spin together a book full of the social norms of her time as well as poke fun at them in the process.