05-04-2016, 05:25 PM
I just read almost all of Jane Austen (actually re-reading a couple of them). Including my take here rather than starting another thread. Beforehand I read a book on that time's manners etc. and it made them much better - manners are a big subject of the books although very little is actually said about it. We see the character of each person in the ways they conform and don't to etiquette. Anyway...
P&P is one of the better ones. I think my second favorite. I disagree with DM; I thought it moved along pretty well (for a 19th century novel that is).
This time I found that Sense and Sensibility is just not that good; the pacing is not good and it felt like it would have been better if it were shorter. I love the movie though; it's one of my favorites. Emma Thompson definitely deserved the oscar for the screenplay since it streamlines the story quite well.
Mansfield Park is pretty good but long (note that the film adds a lot of things which aren't in the book); Persuasion was good but didn't have anything to make it really stand out. I couldn't get through Emma because the title character and her father got too annoying. And it's a bit weird that she is 17 and the guy who she ends up with is 37 or 38.
My favorite is Northanger Abbey. The main character is naive so she can't see what's going on while we can. Also Austen is playing some games with the form - the main character loves Gothic novels and Austen sends that up in asides to the reader, contrasting the novel's events and situations with what they should be in a Gothic novel. It's also the shortest one if anyone wants to read just one.
P&P is one of the better ones. I think my second favorite. I disagree with DM; I thought it moved along pretty well (for a 19th century novel that is).
This time I found that Sense and Sensibility is just not that good; the pacing is not good and it felt like it would have been better if it were shorter. I love the movie though; it's one of my favorites. Emma Thompson definitely deserved the oscar for the screenplay since it streamlines the story quite well.
Mansfield Park is pretty good but long (note that the film adds a lot of things which aren't in the book); Persuasion was good but didn't have anything to make it really stand out. I couldn't get through Emma because the title character and her father got too annoying. And it's a bit weird that she is 17 and the guy who she ends up with is 37 or 38.
My favorite is Northanger Abbey. The main character is naive so she can't see what's going on while we can. Also Austen is playing some games with the form - the main character loves Gothic novels and Austen sends that up in asides to the reader, contrasting the novel's events and situations with what they should be in a Gothic novel. It's also the shortest one if anyone wants to read just one.
the hands that guide me are invisible