*~Can't Stop Reading~* discussion

Our December 2013 group read from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Enjoy a romantic comedy this holiday season!

I don't know about anyone else, but I couldn't help but hearing a very high-pitched, affected sort of tone anytime the women in this book spoke. Almost like, I dunno, Julia Child without the accent?

MONSTROUS GOOD TIME, THOUGH! LOL!

OK, how did this get voted for if nobody is discussing it??? LOL!

I'll comment even though I'm not currently reading this. (due to the fact that I've read it 8,476,329 times because Jane's tied for fave author in my book) but no I don't hear those voices when reading it lol. I could understand why you might hear Marianne's voice as that, she's a bit of a brat. But Elinor? I imagine her having a very quiet, kind, soothing voice.

8,476,329 times? LOL! Brilliant!

Well, that may have been a slight exaggeration ;) but not by much!

I only read it once, but I know some folks who are HUGE fans of Austin's works and read them all repeatedly. Have you read many of her other books as well?

The thing about Austen is she can't be pigeon-holed and her books can be read in so many ways. I am not a fan of romance novels as we think of them today which is how her works are often described. Yet, she is still my favourite writer because I don't see her books as (small r) romantic but rather as witty and insightful tales of the world she lived in - a rather unique time historically, by the way. She also has a grasp (and acceptance) of human frailty and foolishness which is timeless and is why her books and characters can so easily be modernized. She kind of took the popular themes and memes of novels in her day and made them her own. Just as Pride and Prejudice is her Comedy of Manners and Northanger Abbey is a send up of gothic novels, Sense and Sensibility is her response to the new Romantic movement of her day. For Jane, nature versus civilization becomes emotions or sensibility (Marianne) versus sense (Elinor) and she falls pretty heavily in the sense camp. Our Jane was no flighty Romantic fainting at the sight of an uncovered chair leg.

So if you want to read her with a posh accent, a cockney accent or anything in between, it really doesn't matter because just about everyone who reads an Austen novel will read it in a way that works for them. Austen speaks to the human condition like no other writer except perhaps Shakespeare which is why she is still so popular 200 years later.

Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "I only read it once, but I know some folks who are HUGE fans of Austin's works and read them all repeatedly. Have you read many of her other books as well?"

I'm one of those HUGE Austenites lol. Have read them all a million times over except for Mansfield Park. Only read that once and once was enough :(

Maxine wrote: "...just about everyone who reads an Austen novel will read it in a way that works for them."

That makes a lot of sense. I don't know much about the period, so I found myself giving accents and the like to help me over the parts when I was out of my element. It probably also explains why I enjoyed this more than Pride and Prejudice. LOL! Perhaps a re-read of P&P is in order for me...

Allie wrote: "I'm one of those HUGE Austenites..."

Oh, I envy you! I haven't found my Austen place yet, but then again, I've only read two of her books. Nevertheless, my "Austenite" friends are so passionate about her works that it makes me want to be a better fan. :)

You should listen to them! :)

Try watching some of the movie versions of Pride & Prejudice. Especially the one with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. If you don't like it, there's a good chance you won't ever like the novel no matter how many times you read it.