Field Stone Cottage Blog

Friday, June 27, 2008

Jane Austen, anyone?

Anybody else a Jane Austen fan? I am! I love the movies as well as the books. And yes, I think Pride and Prejudice is really Jane Austen at her best. Funny, dramatic, romantic but also shaking her head at the world she lived in and the people who populated it.

I belong to a book discussion group at the public library in a neighboring community and, in July, we each read a book of our choice and then do a "book report" on it and present our book to the rest of the group. I love biographies too so often my choice is a biography. This year I read Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence and wholeheartedly enjoyed it. The unique thing about this particular biography of Jane Austen is that it interweaves her personal relationships and experiences with the stories she tells in her classic novels showing how her life affected her art. I found the biography thoroughly engaging but its been a while since I read some of the novels so I'm planning to reread the biography along with the novels in the order in which Jane Austen wrote them.

Meanwhile, I'd love to hear which Jane Austen novel you particularly enjoy. Or which movie of which novel is your favorite. Has anyone read any of the other biographies of Jane Austen? I'd love to get some Jane Austen discussion going here.

4 comments:

Kim from Hiraeth said...

My all time favorite is Pride and Prejudice, followed closely by Sense and Sensibility.

I haven't read all the Jane Austen books, nor have I seen all of the movie adaptations. Of all the movies I have seen, though, my favorite is Sense and Sensibility (the one with Hugh Grant)

Dorothy said...

Good pick on the Sense and Sensibility movie, Kim. I really like that one too!

SimplyAmusingDesigns.com said...

Oh by far, Pride and Prejudice.

And if you haven't rented the movie "Becoming Jane", you really need to check it out one night - it's so good. Even my 11 year old daughter loved it. We bought it and she watches it at least once a week. :)

Dorothy said...

I own the movie "Becoming Jane" and I do love it! Jon Spence, the author of the book I speak of in my post, was the historical consultant for the movie, by the way.