Austeniana
Hello Gentle Readers,

Thank you for your patience. As you know, it has been a busy time. I put my MSc dissertation in the mail on Friday, so that's one monkey off my back. But perhaps mor importantly, I have finished reading the works of Jane Austen (at least for the first time).

I had been wondering what I'd do with myself when I finally finish the novels. the short works, juvenilia, and the fragment Sanditon? I do think that the novels will continue to yield great wisdom, insight and humor on re-reads, but now that I know how they all end, they cannot possibly provide any surprising plot twists. But the good news appears to be that if I want to consume some kind of fiction pertaining to Jane Austen, I have many options, which I will review briefly.

• Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
  Actually, between the time I started this post and now I checked this book out from the library, and now I see that a movie version is about to be released. Hmm. About the book, I will say what I did about Cloud Atlas: it ran a high risk of being merely gimmicky, but the gimmick was used effectively and not to mask a lack of actual non-gimmick content. I liked learning about the lives of the characters, and it was especially interesting since it was set around Sacramento in pretty much now-times; in some ways it was surprisingly realistic--the characters didn't seem like stock parts at all, but like unusual people you might actually meet or be related to. My major criticism of it is very much akin to what Isaach Bashevis Singer, the Nobel-prize-winning author said of the movie adaptation of his short-story Yentl: We see much of Ms. Fowler's creations, but very little of Ms. Austen. Maybe an early draft leaned more heavily on themes and issues from Austen and an editor/publisher took these out or made them more subtle to attract a wider audience? Shame if that's the case. I do have to say that some of my favorite parts were the appendices. One is compendium of quotes of reactions to Jane Austen's works (starting with her family and going all the way through to post-colonial analyses), and the other is a set of discussion questions for a reading group--written by the characters. I liked it. I don't think I'll make an effort to see the movie in a theatre, and I won't be in a rush to see it on video. I don't see how the quirkiness of the book or its characters could survive a Hollywood treatment.
  

• Austenland
  So this is like the Westworld of Jane Austen (except without robots?)? Well, I'm at least intrigued and will give it a read to see what it's like. May not be the next thing on my list, but it's on the list.

• Becoming Jane Yeah, NO, I don't think this is happening.

• Lost in Austen So I think this borders on parody and absurdity, which certainly has its place, but I think it also risks missing the whole point of Why Jane Austen Is Great. I may or may not read it.
  
  Did I ever mention that there is a famous story by Rudyard Kipling called "The Janeites"? It's about an enlisted man in WWI's belief that there is a Mason-like Austen-based secret society, though it's not clear whether he (the narrator) has interpreted the situation correctly.
  

Stay Tuned! I am planning a post with links to pirate-themed things in the zeitgeist in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, which was Sept. 19 or something.

Also, I am currently reading the Tales of the City series (have finished the first 3) and seen some episodes of 30 Rock which I am looking forward to reporting on.
- posted by k @ 3:16 PM