Jane Austen

WyoBadger · Post by **WyoBadger** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:49 pm

Mrs. Badger has fallen in love with Pride and Prejudice. Seeing as she has a birthday coming up and it makes her so happy, I thought I might get her one or two others, but I don't know any of Jane's books. Any recommendations?

Seems this Mr. Darcy pretty much did everything wrong, but still got the girl. Now, there is something I can identify with...

Tom

feadogin · Post by **feadogin** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:01 pm

My favorite Jane Austen book is Persuasion. It's the story of a woman who breaks up with the love of her life and ends up regretting it and then meets him again many years later.

J.

carrie · Post by **carrie** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:19 pm

I feel certain she'd like Emma. It's similar in many ways to P&P.

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:43 pm

WyoBadger wrote:Mrs. Badger has fallen in love with Pride and Prejudice. Seeing as she has a birthday coming up and it makes her so happy, I thought I might get her one or two others, but I don't know any of Jane's books. Any recommendations?

Sense and Sensibility is very good too....why not get her a collection of Jane Austen's works in one volume? They are relatively inexpensive and well worth it! That way they're all in one place, and she can read whichever she wants, whenever she wants!!

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:46 pm

feadogin wrote:My favorite Jane Austen book is Persuasion. It's the story of a woman who breaks up with the love of her life and ends up regretting it and then meets him again many years later.

Carrie wrote:I feel certain she'd like Emma. It's similar in many ways to P&P.

If there were a man who was like Mr Knightly, but could write such beautiful letters as Cpt. Wentworth, he's be the perfect man!!

mamakash · Post by **mamakash** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:00 pm

I recommend A and E's miniseries of "Pride and Prejudice", which is available in either video or DVD. It gets better with each viewing. Colin Firth is simply yummy as Darcy.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:13 am

Check around-- you may find a one volume anthology containing all of the novels.

rebl_rn · Post by **rebl_rn** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:32 am

mamakash wrote:I recommend A and E's miniseries of "Pride and Prejudice", which is available in either video or DVD. It gets better with each viewing. Colin Firth is simply yummy as Darcy.

I was coming to post the same thing. Firth's Darcy is legendary in romance lovers' circles.

I also agree that an anthology would be a great way to go.

And how about another 19th century author - has she read Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre? It's a more gothic romance, but Mr. Rochester is a great hero as well.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:57 am

chas · Post by **chas** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:40 am

Which others she'll prefer depends on what she likes about P&P. My other two favorites are Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility. These three kind of lie along a line, with S&S probably being the most laugh-out-loud funny of all her books and Persuasion having the deepest sarcasm of them all. I'd say if you want to get her two more books, these would be the best two.

Of the other three, I think Northanger Abbey moves the best, although I think it's her shallowest book. I find Emma and Mansfield Park the most difficult reads. Emma is viewed by many as one of her greatest works, but it's long and has fewer main characters than her other books, and, IIRC, no change of venue. OTOH, she said Emma was the character that she based mostly on herself, and that's about all the insight we'll ever have into Miss Austen's psyche.

The Colin Firth P&P was aired in the past several weeks on Masterpiece Theater. It is far and away the best adaptation of the book, although I also enjoyed the BBC version of the mid-70's, which got me into Jane Austen in the first place. There should be two more coming up in the next few weeks -- I think Emma is next, this coming Sunday, and S&S after that. If you haven't been watching, you should.

I have one more Kathy Reichs book to read, then it's P&P for probably the fifth or sixth time. I've read all her books at least twice, I think I've also read Persuasion at least five times. She manages to pack an awful lot of action and character observations into books that are still very enjoyable reads.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:40 am

Aren't Austen's books similar to Fanny Hill?

izzarina · Post by **izzarina** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:51 am

chas wrote: Of the other three, I think Northanger Abbey moves the best, although I think it's her shallowest book.

I agree...it's the one I'm not terribly fond of. In other words, I'll read the others over and over again (as I have, many times

), but I've only read Northanger Abbey once, and I really don't feel the need to read it again.

I really did love Emma...but then I think it's because of my admiration of Mr Knightly (yes, Mr Izz knows all about it, LOL!). In fact, it's been a while since I've re-read that one. It might be time to drag it back out, if I can tear myself away from Yeats, Wilde and Plato

Persuasion held the least in the way of humour for me...the story itself was so sad. But in the end, I think it was the most fulfilling, if that makes sense. I read that one about once a month, lol.

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