Jane Austen discussion

Post suggestions for side reads here.

How about the Jane Austen mysteries? I got the 5th one to try and it looks rather good.

Which series do you mean?

Jeannette wrote: "Which series do you mean? "

Its a mystery series of books by Stephine Barron that stars Jane Austen. It's supposed to be Jane solving the mysteries and contains excerpts from articles, journals, and newspapers articles before each chapter that were from around her time.

ect....

Oh, yes. The second book Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery is my favorite in the series. I think I ran out of steam after 5 or 6, can't remember.

Jeannette wrote: "Oh, yes. The second book Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery is my favorite in the series. I think I ran out of steam after 5 or 6, can't remember."

If this one is good i'll definitely go ahead and get that one then. ^^ I was surprised how many of them there was. There looks to be a good 8-9 of them.

I actually read a few (1-3 and then 7, because I didn't know that there was an order) which I enjoyed. I thought that it was a nice treat because its Jane and its mysteries.

There are nine of them total and they're all excellent. Here's the complete list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/series/645/r...

Alright! I have been ordering them on my Kindle, but haven't for awhile (since I have too many books to be read still!). I'll definitely get back to them once I accomplish my goal of reading most of the books I have laying around my apartment!

Shaun wrote: "Alright! I have been ordering them on my Kindle, but haven't for awhile (since I have too many books to be read still!). I'll definitely get back to them once I accomplish my goal of reading most..."

I am trying to read my books on hand too. It is wild how many I have accumulated in the last few months.

And Melissa, Jeannette and I will keep watching this post and create a specific discussion folder if you have any takers for discussing the Barron mysteries.

Sarah wrote: "Shaun wrote: "Alright! I have been ordering them on my Kindle, but haven't for awhile (since I have too many books to be read still!). I'll definitely get back to them once I accomplish my goal o..."

Martina wrote: "There are nine of them total and they're all excellent. Here's the complete list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/series/645/r..."

Wow. I'm surprised how many there are considering i've never heard of the books till i saw them on bookswamp.

That would be most excellent if more people would like to discuss them. ^^

I was wondering if anyone wants to read Mysteries of Udolpho? I have never read it, and it is so famous, and dear to Catherine Morland? :)

I believe another member mentioned this also hmmmmmm -- ha ha I am sure we will hear from Jeannette shortly on this suggestion, Mayakda.

I am interested. I have some time constraints in the next couple of weeks though, so how soon would you want to do it?

Sarah wrote: "I believe another member mentioned this also hmmmmmm -- ha ha I am sure we will hear from Jeannette shortly on this suggestion, Mayakda.

I am interested. I have some time constraints in the n..."
No rush. I already have too many things on my to-read pile, actually. I was just inspired by Catherine's love for it. :)

Here is a link to a free online copy of Udolpho.

Udolpho

Maybe we could start in a couple of weeks, end of March, to give people a chance to finish Northanger. Read ahead if you like, it seems to be fairly long.

Wonder how long Jeannette? 200-300 pages? I will look up a print version and see --

the Oxford edition is 736 pages! I think we will have to give longer than a couple of weeks. eeek! If you don't want to wait though, I may have to pass and get to my other projects (and I am also going out of town a few days).

I meant we could set the start date for close to the end of March. We could discuss it through April if it is worth reading. Depends upon how truly horrid it is :)

Sarah wrote: "the Oxford edition is 736 pages! "
8-0!!!

(That was my jaw dropping)

I know, I haven't read any of her writing - I don't know if it is tough going or not. You and Mayakda set what is comfortable, and anyone else interested, and I would love to jump in when possible.

I love the Woman in White, Sister Carrie, Lady Audley's Secret and any of the Bronte sisters books. They are all Victorian novels and have nothing to do about Jane Austen but they are great!

It is interesting that you brought up that list Jamie. I have been looking at Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Aurora Floyd. It does seem that she would tie in with the sensationalist literature that Jane had in mind in writing Northanger. I don't know if she is considered a Gothic writer, but apparently a few decades after Austen she was carrying on at least a similar tradition.

I have seen the film but not read Lady Audley. I have read Woman in White and The Moonstone.

Something by Fanny Burney who was admired by Jane Austen - perhaps Camilla (about 200 pages)? Evelina (about 500 pages) and Cecilia are longer.

Or North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell which is Victorian, but whose plot has similarities to Pride and Prejudice. We can always watch the wonderful BBC adaptation with Richard Armitage after reading!

If we start Udolpho towards the end of March, I would be interested in reading it. I've been wanting to read the books mentioned in Northanger for a while now.

Grace wrote: "If we start Udolpho towards the end of March, I would be interested in reading it. I've been wanting to read the books mentioned in Northanger for a while now."

Wouldn't it be awesome to discover Laurentina's skeleton together? (Wasn't that what Catherine was convinced was coming next)

Badlydone wrote: "Or North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell which is Victorian, but whose plot has similarities to Pride and Prejudice. We can always watch the wonderful BBC adaptation with Richard Armitage after reading!
..."

I love the BBC's North & South! My daughter & I watched it together and she would call Armitage "Popper" because "he keeps popping up where ever she is!" Mmmm ... dreamy... :)

Well, 700+ pages seems daunting. We could at least make a stab at the beginning, just to get a feel for it? I'll take a look at the online copy again to see if all of it is there.

Jeannette wrote: "Well, 700+ pages seems daunting. We could at least make a stab at the beginning, just to get a feel for it? I'll take a look at the online copy again to see if all of it is there."

Maybe we could do some kind of group slog (like a live-blog) where people volunteer to read & recap a section at a time? It could be fun if we allow editorializing while recapping. Just an idea.

I also have links to

Camilla

and

Evelina

And, the Online Books search page.

Online Books

Mayakda,

We are open to any and all suggestions. I will read part of Udolpho myself. At least to get a "taste" of it. :)

As much as we all like to read, I will suggest we all just do a regular read because hopefully it will be enjoyable -- but we can still set up a commentary thread if anyone wants to add in some summaries? Actually I love reading those little short funny summaries of novel chapters, so that might be a fun idea -- although I know I am straying from Mayakda's original intent.

And though we may go ahead and do the Udolpho as more of a group read because of the length, each of the other book suggestions can be added as group or side reads, but we should probably schedule them somewhat -- spread them out because some of the same members may want to read a lot of them.

Sounds good to me!
I may try to do recaps on my occasional blog (I have a vague idea for it that I hope works out). If I can do that I'll link to it during diiscussion.

Mayakda wrote: "Sounds good to me!
I may try to do recaps on my occasional blog (I have a vague idea for it that I hope works out). If I can do that I'll link to it during diiscussion."

That would be fun to read!

I think Udolpho can be a fun read! It may be a long one, but sounds good! Can the free downloads upload onto a Kindle?

I didn't check that out. All I saw was an online text version (in html). If I get a chance later, I'll look.

I loaded Udolpho in the line-up. I placed a date of Mar 26, just to have something to plug in. I can change it or, Jeannette, you should be able to just click in and change it.

Yay! Sounds good! I'll search for it (to see if its free or for purchase on Kindle).

I just located a graphic novel that includes Northanger Abbey and Mysteries of Udolpho. I placed it on our shelf.

Cool. I love graphic novels! This one sounds like fun...

Wow, that sounds really cool. I'll have to search for that one!

That sounds great, I'd love to check it out. Also, I have been meaning to read the graphic novel - Pride and Prejudice. Any opinions on that? Here is a link.

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice...

Badlydone wrote: "That sounds great, I'd love to check it out. Also, I have been meaning to read the graphic novel - Pride and Prejudice. Any opinions on that? Here is a link.

http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudic..."

I haven't gotten to read that yet, but starting May 10th there is going to be a Sense and Sensibility comic coming out from Marvel. ^^ I've already made sure my local comic store is going to be carrying it. ^^

Hi all, for those who have a Kindle or other e-reader and get books on amazon, the Mysteries of Udolpho is free to download!

Thanks Shaun. We'll be sure to post this again when we open the discussion thread this week!

You can download the Kindle app for your PC too. That's what I did last night. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but I did download Udolfo so I can try and join in.

WOW!!! Graphic novels of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility, AND Pride and Prejudice?!?! I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THEM!! (But I have TONS of other books to get through first!)

I have the complete set of the Pride and Prejudice Graphic, and they are very nice, but I have seen better. I'm waiting for Persuasion.
Graphics tend to be collectible, and I know people with temperature controlled rooms and drawers for their collections. Every time I buy one, I fear the need to keep them FOREVER.
Patg

I've read all of Stephanie Barron mysteries and a few twice. Now she went off to write another series. Is she going to finish the Jane Austen series? Does she consider it finished? I think she has one more to go.
She's going to be in PDX in October for the Austen Con. Northanger Abbey is the theme this year.
Patg

Hi Patricia,

Translate PDX for me, please. Is this JASNA conference in Portland?

I have read some of Barron's mysteries; Jane and the Man of the Cloth: Being the Second Jane Austen Mystery is my favorite!

Sorry, retired airline fares agent and travel agent here and always use city codes. PDX is the code for Portland ORegon International Airport, but means the city too.
Yes, the JASNA conference is in Portland this year. Over Halloween. Theme: Northanger Abbey.
Barron is supposed to be there. I used work SF conventions here in PDX and have attended many mystery cons, so I always use the term 'supposed to' when talking about guests. I loved her series. I read the Mr and Mrs Darcy mysteries too. I prefer the sequels about secondary characters. I've read Illusions and Ignorance, the Mary Bennet story and The Lydia Bennet Story. Both good, and I have Willoughby's and Maria Bertram's story on my wishlist.
Patg