Jane Austen

sun-star · 05-21-2003, 01:59 PM

I was surprised to see there isn't a thread dedicated to Jane Austen, because normally wherever you find well-read, intelligent people, you find Austen fans

So, what's your favourite novel and why (first person to say something other than Pride and Prejudice gets a prize... I mean, is very clever indeed)? Has anyone read her juvenalia? It's very funny

***IronParrot*** · 05-21-2003, 05:31 PM

I've only read Pride and Prejudice, but I enjoyed it immensely.

There's just something about Austen's writing that's so warm and cozy.

Hasty Ent · 05-21-2003, 07:32 PM

I love Jane Austen, though it's been years since I read any of her books. The only one I own, by the way, is Northanger Abbey -- definitely my favorite. It's a glorious spoof of late 18th c. Gothic, complete with fainting heroines and a haunted medieval abbey!

does this mean I'm very clever? always wanted to be clever....

Elvengirl · 05-21-2003, 07:44 PM

Yes, I read Pride and Prejudice. Didn't Jane Austen also write Sense and Sensiblity? I didn't read that though.

Shadowfax · 05-21-2003, 10:33 PM

Yes, Jane Austen also wrote Sense and Sensibility.

Laurus Nobilis · 05-22-2003, 02:46 PM

I love Jane Austen! So far I've read Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Masfield Park.

I liked Pride & Prejudice especially- I loved the irony in it. (And I also loved Darcy, of course!)

Silpion · 05-22-2003, 09:50 PM

I have read "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", "Emma", and "Persuasion". I have yet to read "Mansfield Park" or "Northanger Abbey". My favorite is "Persuasion". The characters are mature but flawed people. Sometimes when I read it there was just sadness at the situation, but the pay-off at the end was worth it.

markedel · 05-23-2003, 02:53 PM

I read Emma for my English lit class. Quite good actually. A feel good book.

***azalea*** · 05-24-2003, 02:25 PM

I'm a Jane Austen fan as well. I've read Pride and Prejudice at least twice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. I own a nice hardcover of Sense and Sensibility, but I don't think I've read it yet (I've been reading a long time, so I sometimes forget if I've read something or not!

Sometimes I'll start reading something I don't think I've read before, and I realize that I have). Emma is a work of genius, but sorry, I can't honestly say that I like it better than P&P, one of the best books ever written, IMO.

cee2lee2 · 06-12-2003, 09:56 PM

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. A few years back I bought "The Complete Works" in paperback and I have several of the novels in hardback. I have a lovely little pocket-size hardback edition of Persuasion. Pride and Prejudice would be on my list of books to take to a desert island.

I reread it at least once a year as well as Persuasion.

LutraMage · 07-20-2003, 01:45 PM

I've only ever read Pride and Prejudice but I really liked it and kept meaning to read other books by the author. It says something about the quality of her books that they are still read by people of all ages and from all over the world nearly 200 years after she wrote them (P&P was writen in 1813!)

Because she got to the heart of the characters (and human nature hasn't changed all that much for thousands of years), despite society being totally different, we can still recognise the power of her work.

So, which of her books should I read next? Any suggestions of which one and why from those who have read them all?

Annabelle · 07-21-2003, 03:09 PM

My favorite Jane Austen novel is "Sense and Sensibility". The story and characters are delightful. The story contains drama, but a lot of laughs as well. I think it is her best work!

So, there is my recommendation

congressmn · 07-23-2003, 12:55 PM

emma. that was my first austen book. i will read P&P very soon, if i can help it and if fortune's my way...i will read all the books by austen. all

GrayMouser · 07-27-2003, 12:20 PM

I love most of Jane Austen, but I HATE "Mansfield Park".

Fanny... totally insipid and a snob.

Mary Crawford ...Yeah! Glad she didn't end up with that dolt Edmund- he and Fanny deserve each other.

Laurus Nobilis · 07-29-2003, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Glad she didn't end up with that dolt Edmund- he and Fanny deserve each other.

Couldn't agree more! I liked Masfield Park as a book because the plot was interesting, but the main characters were just- yawn. Which surprised me a lot, actually, since I loved Sense and Sensibility and [/i]Pride and Prejudice[/i].

Percy Weasley · 10-17-2003, 10:45 PM

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. Very few are able to create such biting commentary on social norms in such an innocuous manner, but she does it with such ease and brilliance that it certainly sets her apart from authors such as the Brontes.

I have read all of Austen's works, and I must say that my favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. I have read several comments in this thread against Mansfield Park, but I appreciate it as it is likely one of the darker and least romantic books that Austen wrote.

Crawford, instead of being a quintessential Austen hero is a human being who could have lived, and who represents the flaws in each of us. Fanny is the same way - weak, naive, silly...

I think in Mansfield Park Austen delves further into the human psyche than she does in all of her other books combined.

Peace to all,
~Percy

sun-star · 10-20-2003, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Percy Weasley
Crawford, instead of being a quintessential Austen hero is a human being who could have lived, and who represents the flaws in each of us. Fanny is the same way - weak, naive, silly...

It's interesting that you say that, because I've always thought of Fanny as one of Austen's stronger heroines. She is undoubtedly naive (through enforced lack of experience in the world), but though her principles may seem odd and out-dated to us today, she does hold to them very firmly. Compared to Emma or Catherine in Northanger Abbey, or even Marianne Dashwood, Fanny is perceptive, mature and wise. Yet naive

Great name, btw

Mercutio · 11-19-2003, 07:13 PM

Can we revive the Jane Austen thread? I especially liked P & P and Emma; I have read them both numerous times (as with all her other books which are very good) and watched the A&E P&P with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth at least twice. I've heard that "Jane Austen's Emma" is the best Emma movie but I have yet to watch it. Anybody care to discuss any of her books? Do a "everybody read this much of this book" and talk about it?

Mercutio

"In vain have I stuggled..."

sun-star · 11-19-2003, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mercutio
Can we revive the Jane Austen thread? I especially liked P & P and Emma; I have read them both numerous times (as with all her other books which are very good) and watched the A&E P&P with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth at least twice. I've heard that "Jane Austen's Emma" is the best Emma movie but I have yet to watch it.

I love that adaptation of P&P and watch it regularly. I've seen two versions of Emma - one with Gwyneth Paltrow and one with Kate Beckinsale, and IMO the second was better.

Mercutio · 11-19-2003, 07:30 PM

I'm pretty sure the one I thought was better was with Kate Beckinsale. Knightley was a lot better in that one then in Paltrow's. Her's (I forgot who the actor was) was way to young.

05-21-2003, 01:59 PM	#1
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	Jane Austen I was surprised to see there isn't a thread dedicated to Jane Austen, because normally wherever you find well-read, intelligent people, you find Austen fans So, what's your favourite novel and why (first person to say something other than Pride and Prejudice gets a prize... I mean, is very clever indeed)? Has anyone read her juvenalia? It's very funny __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

05-21-2003, 05:31 PM	#2
*IronParrot* Fowl Administrator Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada Posts: 53,420	I've only read Pride and Prejudice, but I enjoyed it immensely. There's just something about Austen's writing that's so warm and cozy. __________________ All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien

05-21-2003, 07:32 PM	#3
Hasty Ent Elf Lord Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 516	I love Jane Austen, though it's been years since I read any of her books. The only one I own, by the way, is Northanger Abbey -- definitely my favorite. It's a glorious spoof of late 18th c. Gothic, complete with fainting heroines and a haunted medieval abbey! does this mean I'm very clever? always wanted to be clever.... __________________ Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) Last edited by Hasty Ent : 05-21-2003 at 08:00 PM.

05-21-2003, 07:44 PM	#4
Elvengirl Mirthful Maiden Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Rivendell Posts: 1,252	Yes, I read Pride and Prejudice. Didn't Jane Austen also write Sense and Sensiblity? I didn't read that though. __________________ The Elves represent, as it were, the artistic, aesthetic, and purely scientific aspects of the Humane nature raised to a higher level than is actually seen in Men.~ J.R.R. Tolkien Wanna play? www.thievesguild.com

05-21-2003, 10:33 PM	#5
Shadowfax The Fleet-Footed Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: British Columbia Posts: 913	Yes, Jane Austen also wrote Sense and Sensibility. __________________ Jesus saved me "To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child" (Cicero, 106-43 B.C.) "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth" (Picasso)

05-22-2003, 02:46 PM	#6
Laurus Nobilis Enting Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Posts: 73	I love Jane Austen! So far I've read Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and Masfield Park. I liked Pride & Prejudice especially- I loved the irony in it. (And I also loved Darcy, of course!) __________________ "...So the essential Quest started at once. But I met a lot of things on the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner at the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than had Frodo. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlórien no word had reached my mortal ears till I came there. Far away I knew there were the Horse-lords on the confines of an ancient Kingdom of Men, but Fangorn Forest was an unforeseen adventure." ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

05-22-2003, 09:50 PM	#7
Silpion Elven Warrior Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 103	I have read "Pride and Prejudice", "Sense and Sensibility", "Emma", and "Persuasion". I have yet to read "Mansfield Park" or "Northanger Abbey". My favorite is "Persuasion". The characters are mature but flawed people. Sometimes when I read it there was just sadness at the situation, but the pay-off at the end was worth it.

05-23-2003, 02:53 PM	#8
markedel 'Sober' Mullet Frosh Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Queen's Posts: 1,245	I read Emma for my English lit class. Quite good actually. A feel good book. __________________ "Earnur was a man like his father in valour, but not in wisdom"

05-24-2003, 02:25 PM	#9
*azalea* Long lost mooter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 3,342	I'm a Jane Austen fan as well. I've read Pride and Prejudice at least twice, Emma, and Northanger Abbey. I own a nice hardcover of Sense and Sensibility, but I don't think I've read it yet (I've been reading a long time, so I sometimes forget if I've read something or not! Sometimes I'll start reading something I don't think I've read before, and I realize that I have). Emma is a work of genius, but sorry, I can't honestly say that I like it better than P&P, one of the best books ever written, IMO.

06-12-2003, 09:56 PM	#10
cee2lee2 Elf Lord Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: 2nd star to the left..... Posts: 566	Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. A few years back I bought "The Complete Works" in paperback and I have several of the novels in hardback. I have a lovely little pocket-size hardback edition of Persuasion. Pride and Prejudice would be on my list of books to take to a desert island. I reread it at least once a year as well as Persuasion.

07-20-2003, 01:45 PM	#11
LutraMage Elven Warrior Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Tolkien's England where the tale grew in the telling... Posts: 330	I've only ever read Pride and Prejudice but I really liked it and kept meaning to read other books by the author. It says something about the quality of her books that they are still read by people of all ages and from all over the world nearly 200 years after she wrote them (P&P was writen in 1813!) Because she got to the heart of the characters (and human nature hasn't changed all that much for thousands of years), despite society being totally different, we can still recognise the power of her work. So, which of her books should I read next? Any suggestions of which one and why from those who have read them all?

07-21-2003, 03:09 PM	#12
Annabelle Sapling Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA Posts: 6	My favorite Jane Austen novel is "Sense and Sensibility". The story and characters are delightful. The story contains drama, but a lot of laughs as well. I think it is her best work! So, there is my recommendation __________________ "A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." ~ Italo Calvino The Dusty Shelf

07-23-2003, 12:55 PM	#13
congressmn Incharge: neighbourhood security Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: on my 499th post Posts: 481	emma. that was my first austen book. i will read P&P very soon, if i can help it and if fortune's my way...i will read all the books by austen. all __________________ i am nothing. i am a cold stone, which deceives with the light it reflects, giving illusions of warmth.

07-27-2003, 12:20 PM	#14
GrayMouser Elf Lord Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Ilha Formosa Posts: 2,068	I love most of Jane Austen, but I HATE "Mansfield Park". Fanny... totally insipid and a snob. Mary Crawford ...Yeah! Glad she didn't end up with that dolt Edmund- he and Fanny deserve each other. __________________ Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill

10-17-2003, 10:45 PM	#16
Percy Weasley Enting Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: The Burrow Posts: 81	Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. Very few are able to create such biting commentary on social norms in such an innocuous manner, but she does it with such ease and brilliance that it certainly sets her apart from authors such as the Brontes. I have read all of Austen's works, and I must say that my favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. I have read several comments in this thread against Mansfield Park, but I appreciate it as it is likely one of the darker and least romantic books that Austen wrote. Crawford, instead of being a quintessential Austen hero is a human being who could have lived, and who represents the flaws in each of us. Fanny is the same way - weak, naive, silly... I think in Mansfield Park Austen delves further into the human psyche than she does in all of her other books combined. Peace to all, ~Percy __________________ Whither you go, may you find light. Await us there--my brother, and me. ~~~~~~~~ Howard Dean in 2004! Last edited by Percy Weasley : 10-17-2003 at 10:46 PM.

11-19-2003, 07:13 PM	#18
Mercutio Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Narnia Posts: 1,656	Can we revive the Jane Austen thread? I especially liked P & P and Emma; I have read them both numerous times (as with all her other books which are very good) and watched the A&E P&P with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth at least twice. I've heard that "Jane Austen's Emma" is the best Emma movie but I have yet to watch it. Anybody care to discuss any of her books? Do a "everybody read this much of this book" and talk about it? Mercutio "In vain have I stuggled..." __________________ Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries.

11-19-2003, 07:30 PM	#20
Mercutio Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Narnia Posts: 1,656	Emma I'm pretty sure the one I thought was better was with Kate Beckinsale. Knightley was a lot better in that one then in Paltrow's. Her's (I forgot who the actor was) was way to young. __________________ Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries.

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