We read various titles by the author Jane Austen. It is stated that her novels critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century but her understanding of family relationships and human nature make them timeless. They are also an interesting observation of social customs, manners and morals at the time.
EMMA
VAL read this at school. She found it very boring, tedious and very convoluted and disliked the character Emma. After reading an article that stated you had to look beyond Jane Austen's stories to see the social commentary, Val's admiration grew for the author.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
BEV read this at school. She is not really a Jane Austen fan but found it easier to read this time. She noted the social commentary about marrying off daughters.
MANSFIELD PARK
JO found it very boring. The story is about a girl from a poor family who is taken from her home and given to her aunt and uncle. She said all they worried about was whether a girl was good enough for a man and if the man had enough money. She read it all with great difficulty.
DIANN only read 70 pages. She enjoyed Emma and Pride and Prejudice but this book made her angry. It's about a minister and his family who took their niece in as her family was very poor. They expected her to be educated up to their standard very quickly and there was no compassion from the minister.
PRUE read them all earlier so didn't re-read any. She just told us a little about the author. Jane Austen wrote for family entertainment. It was exposure of society at the time. She didn't publish under her name. The author was just listed as a lady. Sir Walter Scott, who was a popular author at the time, was more difficult to read. Jane Austen was a lighter read.
ROSEMARIE told us some fun facts about Jane Austen. Jane was the 7th child. Her mother, Cassandra was of a higher social standing than her husband. Jane completed six novels, four of which were published before her death. Many authors criticized her. The earliest recorded use of the word "baseball" in an English novel was Northanger Abbey. There are fourteen kisses in her novels. The whole family was literary but only Jane became an author.
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
JUDY DE enjoyed the book. She had also watched the television series. She said a lot of the characters have intelligence but not empathy.
PERSUASION
PAMELA loves Jane Austen for her innovate speech. She writes with such irony and sets up a character quickly. The main character is Anne. Her father is Sir Walter Elliot. His favourite book is the Baronetage, indicating how he looks into the past. He had the idea that a gentleman had to be a man of property and this idea was already outdated. Sir Walter and his eldest daughter are so different from Anne.
CHARIS said it was obvious that Jane Austen supported the Navy. The main character, Anne was to marry Captain Wentworth from the Navy, but was persuaded otherwise. She is now eight years older and it is time to make a decision and not to carry her anger into this second opportunity to marry him.
JUDY J said she was more of a watcher than a reader of Jane Austen. Judy said the book was almost biographical. It was published after her death. She was going to call it the Elliots but was encouraged to call it Persuasion. Jane Austen's brother was also in the Navy and his wife lived on the ship.
JULIA found it boring. She felt she was over Jane Austen.
JUDY A enjoyed this book. The main character, Anne is engaged to Frederick Wentworth who is in the Navy. She is persuaded by an older female friend to end the engagement. Ten years later Anne comes in contact with him again when he visits his brother, who was also in the Navy. She has never stopped loving Captain Wentworth. Anne's father and eldest daughter, Elizabeth are both very class conscious. Anne's other sister has married into the Musgrove family who are very down to earth.
KRIS thoroughly enjoyed it second time around. Her novels explore the dependence of a woman on marriage for economic security. The story is about Anne Elliot who was betrothed to a poor naval officer, Frederick Wentworth. She breaks off the engagement when she is persuaded by her friend, Lady Russell that it is an unworthy match. It causes her long lasting regret as she still loves him. They meet again many years later when his position and wealth have improved, but will an opportunity present itself again?
DIANE said she relished every word and enjoyed it because of all the news at the present regarding the anniversary of Jane Austen's death. She said it was about the social mor'es that kept women in their place.
NORTHANGER ABBEY
CONNIE appreciated the language and the grammar. She could understand the social comment but felt all her books were alike. In her other books, Connie felt Jane Austen was in the book. What interested Connie in her writing was that she's telling you, the reader, what she thinks. It's called indirect discourse narration.
WENDY has read Jane Austen before and felt she had come home. She loved it. The first four pages explains Catherine and her family to a "T". Catherine is a dopey teenager. In circumstances she grows and the person she marries helps her to grow. Her husband is mature, intelligent and brings out the best in Catherine. Austen talks to the reader all the time. The second part of the book is a real parody of Gothic novels. Wendy found it very amusing, had great character development and was a clever commentary on the time.
TAM enjoys Jane Austen a lot. She loved the old world language. She said it was good to go back to such beautiful language. The character development was good and it was good to look at the social commentary.
After this month's Book Club meeting, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas in July at the Cornerstone Cafe in Windsor. This was organized by our hard working co-ordinator, Julia.
Kris
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