Austen Ruminations

[alobear]

I gave Dave my three favourite Austen novels to read (Northanger, P&P and S&S), and determined that it was high time I read the other three myself.

I started with Emma - very far from being my favourite, it was yet made all the more enjoyable for being less familiar. I still have a problem with the union of hero and heroine at the end - their previous relationship and her being unworthy of him combining to make me disapprove the match - but it's still a good book.

I finished Persausion today. I always used to relate very much to Anne, but I've become rather too outspoken and impatient with the world to claim a likeness to her now. Real life intruded most annoyingly this morning - Captain Wentworth was just about to come to the purpose, after more than 200 pages of thinking his love unrequited, when the arrival of my train at London Bridge interrupted him, and I was forced to wait until my lunch hour for the conclusion. Persuasion is probably the novel in which the least actually happens, but it's one of only two where I like both hero and heroine, so it's always satisfying in the end.

Mansfield Park will accompany me to Canada - the longest and most dreary (if Austen can ever be called dreary) of the six. I read it seldom, but am always pleasantly suprised by the amount of enjoyment I derive from it - which is presumably helped by the amount of time that elapses between repeat readings. It's the only one of the six in which I like neither hero nor heroine, but there is still much pleasure to be found in Austen's skilful storytelling and character portrayals.

Comments

[lareinemisere.livejournal.com]

Fanny Price is just so annoyingly wet, isn't she? Somehow, her ideas of correct behaviour and decorum annoy me so much more than, say, Eleanor Dashwood's.

I'd agree that Emma isn't one of my favourites, either, but it had the advantage - on first reading - of being the only one where the key plot developments weren't utterly predictable. Not that I have any problem with the predictable, I hasten to add - half the fun is waiting to see exactly how the right people manage to pair up.

Funnily enough, Northanger Abbey is probably my least favourite, but - as with you and Mansfield Park - I've always enjoyed it more than I expected on the re-read.

And now you've made we want to re-read S&S yet again, which is bad, because I have a good half dozen books on my book-pile which I've never read at all ...

[alobear.livejournal.com]

I've read P&P and S&S too much, to the neglect of the other four, which is why I haven't included them in my current run-through. I know it seems impossible, but they have become over-familiar to the point of tedium now, so I'm going to leave it a good long while before I go back to them again.

I find it interesting that the heroines split nicely into sets of lively and sedate, but that my opinion of them doesn't split the same way.

Lively in a positive way - Lizzy
Sedate in a positive way - Elinor and Anne

Fanny is just too lettuce-like for words, while Emma and Marianne need a good slapping. Catherine is saved by the fact that my favourite of all the heroes laughs at her, which makes her entertaining. Thank heavens for the superlative writing; otherwise we might never read them at all! :o)