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Looking forward (or not?) to reading Austen?


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Yes folks, it's holiday-time, so have a grand (somewhat waterlogged? :D) Summer of 2012.

 

For the present, forget study, and have FUN :jump:

 

Then come September - or even before then if you like - join us here ... ?

We all like the novels of "Dame" Jane here, and sharing your studies or interest with others, will make it lighter work, or even more enjoyable, too.

 

Welcome to any young ladies or gentlemen who would like to join in our :readingtwo:

Edited by Booknutt
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Good day, ladies - so good of you both to visit ... O.K. that's enough formality for now! :smile:

 

I'm actually listening to "Emma" on audio CD at the mo, usually while I tackle something boring like the ironing, It's also urged me back to reading the book for myself, too. I just love visiting the good folks of Highbury, and sharing their intrigues and daily lives.

 

Happy to chat about any Jane-stuff though, as ever.

 

:intherain: Let's hope the rain stops p ... persisting down for the duration of our weekend. The roads are quite impossible at the moment!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Welcome here, Argon9 - we're pleased to have you join us. :smile:

 

Pop by for a chat whenever you like - there's nothing like a nice natter on our favourite novels, to make them even better. :D

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^.^ I agree. The only thing missing is a nice cuppa.

You are now officially the second person I've talked to who has read Pride and Prejudice. Or any of Austens works for that matter.

I've ordered a collection of 7 of her novels and with a bit of luck I will have it this Friday so I can begin reading this weekend. :D My family is still claiming that I must be crazy for buying books with my hard earned money and they will be rather cross when they discover that I've disappeared with books, again.

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^.^ I agree. The only thing missing is a nice cuppa.

You are now officially the second person I've talked to who has read Pride and Prejudice. Or any of Austens works for that matter.

I've ordered a collection of 7 of her novels and with a bit of luck I will have it this Friday so I can begin reading this weekend. biggrin.png My family is still claiming that I must be crazy for buying books with my hard earned money and they will be rather cross when they discover that I've disappeared with books, again.

 

It's a good kind of crazy. I have only read 3, P&P, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion and liked them all. So stll have some Austen goodness to look forward to. Which will you read first Argon9?

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I re-read S&S earlier this year, Argon9 - it has been such an enjoyable experience re-reading all her novels this year, and I'm looking forward to picking up my challenge again next month, probably starting again with P&P, the first Austen I ever knew about and read.

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It's always difficult to chose a "favourite" Austen for me - it tends to be the one I've just read, or am reading. I never tire though of retreating to "Sense and Sensibility" (or maybe "Emma") if I feel in need of an Austen retreat from the bustle and stress of our modern world.

 

Sense and Sensibility character I love to be annoyed with? - Mrs Jennings, for sure! She's a kind hearted woman - but such a nosy gossip too, and her harping-on about seeing romances among her younger friends is to such a degree that they'd probably avoid her like the plague, if they could!. :D

 

Hope you're enjoying it, Argon.

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My books came with the post yesterday evening and I've only managed to read a few chapters of S&S since then.

I've stored Sherlock on the shelve for the moment. Do not think that I'm dead when I disappear for a week or 2. I'll be residing in the 1800ts with miss Austen and mister Doyle ^.^

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  • 1 month later...

What did you think of P & P Bree? Interested to know your thoughts

You're sweet, vodkafan - you make me think, and then make me feel like what I think is important :)

(I'd better put it in a spolier though - as this thread is not specific to Pride and Prejudice.)

 

 

I had read an abridged version as a teenager and not surprisingly only got (and enjoyed) only the "romance" bit.

 

Having read it now - I was aware of it being much more - the dynamics of the various relationships : mother-daughters, husband-wife, sisters, family-society, and yes, man-and-woman.

 

It didn't feel very dated to me (despite being written in 1813), as some of the conservative sections of the Indian society still run on many of the norms played out in the novel (those of the necessity and importance of marriage, the "burden" of unmarried daughters, the stigma of a girl eloping, the disadvantages of not having a male heir...)

 

Apart from that, I did enjoy the conversations and exchanges, and they reminded me of some of my favourite Georgette Hayers :)

 

 

What about you vodkafan, what did you think of it?

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Hi Bree - Welcome to the Club :smile:

 

There's quite a range of characters to choose from in P & P isn't there? Who caught your attention most - either to like, or even to dislike?

 

Thank you Booknutt - I think I'll quite like it here - as I'm already wondering which Austen novel to pick next :)

Almost every character I met made me think and realise a few things, of that time, and even the timelessness of a few relationship dynamics.

What I did like the most was the relationship between Jane and Elizabeth - it had a lot of honesty and depth.

 

Mr. Collins did get on my nerves a few times. And I didn't think too highly of Mrs. Bennett.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes - one of the things I like about Jane Austen novels (and other classics too, of course) is that the characters actually have conversations/discussions exchanging views and opinions, generally pay attention to each other, and learn from each other's experience

 

Jane and Elizabeth spent a lot of time together, which built up their relationship to the close one it was.

 

Nowadays it seems that fewer siblings build that kind of close relationship through sharing the daily little things, and bigger things, as young women or men - they're too busy on computers, texting or each doing their own thing. The closeness can grow as they become older and share the knocks and laughs of a more mature life.

 

Jane and Eliz will be physically apart for much of their adult lives, but their close relationship will always be strong.

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  • 1 month later...

Have just got my regular Christmas collection of books out, and I'll have fun dipping into them as the weeks count down to the big event, maybe even adding to them if I see something I fancy.

 

One of these is "Jane Austen's Christmas" which covers lots of details of the festive season in Austen-day. Entertainments, menus, gifts, fancy dress balls, the newly fashionable Christmas pudding, entries from a parson's diary & etc.,

 

There's some reference to Jane Austen herself and her characters too, and generally it's a very enjoyable :readingtwo: for us Janeites.

 

Might be a nice Christmas gift, too?

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I've got Persuasion to finish and Mansfield Park to read, I keep putting the latter off because I'm worried I won't like it. Has anyone read it and loved it? I need encouragement!

 

Or I shall forever keep re-reading P&P, Emma and Northanger Abbey as they're my favourites.

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Yes!!! I love Mansfield Park. I think it's got more depth but probably less light-hearted wit in it than some of the other books, and I think the quality of writing is probably the best of all the books. I'm going to be re-reading it in the next couple of months, and am thoroughly looking forward to it. :smile2:

 

I've just finished reading The Watsons which has a lot of promise as a novel, and a real shame she never completed it. I'm part way through Emma now, as it's the choice for my book group in December, and I'm determined to finish it this time.

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I'm rereading Mansfield Park I have read most of Jane's books many times, especially P & P which is an all-time favourite. This time though I'm reading it on my ereader

 

 

I always find it fascinating how I can find new things of interest in any of the book when I read them in some version other than my very-loved little Collector's Library novels, Angel. It's like looking at the stories from another angle, and then that new realisation adds to the whole experience from then on..

 

I keep dropping hints about liking the idea of an ereader around Christmas and birthday times - but so far no-one's taken me up on it - so I'll stick to the traditional :readingtwo::smile:

 

Christmas with the Musgroves at Uppercross

 

"On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; on the other were trestles and tables bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole being completed by a roaring Cristmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard above the noise of the others."

(Jane Austen "Persuasion")

 

A Merry Christmas and the Happiest of New Years to all Janeites, everywhere. :cheers:

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