Book 47: Lady Susan by Jane Austen

This is the final Jane Austen novel on my list.  I believe that she's written other short stories, etc. but I've now read all of her novels.  It's an extremely short piece (80 pages) and one that I've not really heard much about before.  I have heard that this was the first novel that Jane Austen started but the last to be completed.  Some of that roughness is bound to come through.

80 pages in one week;  12 pages per day... might finish a little early.


REVIEW:

This book was a lot different than I thought that it would be.  The book is written entirely in the form of letters between the characters.  The main character is Lady Susan Vernon who has just recently been widowed and is seeking an advantageous second marriage.  She's been chased out of the house of some friends due to her flirting and meddling and is now preparing to move to the house of her brother and his family.

The character of Lady Susan is one of the worst seen in Austen's work.  She has very few redeeming qualities. But she is attractive, intelligent and shrewd; and expert at manipulating people and events in her favor.  She likes to play the innocent card, but her letters to her friends show her true nature.  Which shows the true brilliance of this style novel.

Because of the limitations of scope inherent in a set of letters you don't get to see the events as they unfold, only the after-effects and the reactions of the characters.  You do get to see their more private feelings and motivations, however, so you have a mix of limited point of view but enhanced personal insight.  It's really quite interesting.

The ending was good, but a little rushed and I wish that the fate of the characters had been more thoroughly explored.  I'm going to miss Jane Austen and it's been a great time reading her work.  She's still one of my favorite authors and reading all seven of these books has given me a good view of her range and limitations.  This book in particular was not one of her best but was definitely one of her most creative.

7 out of 10.

Book 37: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Last time I read Jane Austen it was the last book she wrote, Persuasion.  This time it's the first she wrote, Northanger Abbey.  I've heard that, like Persuasion, it's not as polished as her "big" novels, but I'm interested to see how it plays out.  It's making me a bit sad that I only have 2 more Austen novels to read.  Maybe I'll try to drag it out a bit.

At 256 pages it's going to by tough to drag it out... that's only 37 pages per day.

REVIEW:  This book was a very pleasant surprise for me.  I've read almost all of Jane Austen's novels now and just have left some of her minor works.  They are all supposed to be either early works, like this one, or unfinished works that were posthumously edited together.  Either way, they are shorter, unpolished novels that may not hold up to her master works.

However, Northanger Abbey turned out of be one of my favorites!  This is the first novel that Jane Austen wrote, though not the first published.  As such, it is a little raw in places but it does not suffer for it. What really surprised me, though, is that it was so funny!  The main character in the book, Catherine, is 17 years old and really comes off as young and naive.  She jumps to conclusions constantly, usually way off-base, and gets herself into embarrassing situations because of it.  The narration is also quite witty and addresses the reader directly in many places.  Because of this, the novel has a much more intimate feel to it, as though Austen is telling you the story personally.

As usual, reading Austen is always a pleasure.  She, and therefore her characters, are smart, funny, witty and complex.  I would highly recommend this novel to anyone that has enjoyed her other works, and would even recommend it to others who have not.  I'm going to place it squarely in my top three of her works, right behind Pride and Prejudice and Emma.

9 out of 10.

Book 26: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Well, I'm back around to Jane Austen.  I've read all but three of her novels so far: Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan and this one, Persuasion.  I have to admit that I really don't know anything about this book so we'll have to see how it goes.  I'm still a big fan of Jane Austen's writing, however, so I assume it will be pretty good.

Only 272 pages, so around 40 pages per day.  Piece of cake!

REVIEW:  This book is now one of my new favorites.  It’s not as good as Pride and Prejudice or even Emma, but even the third best book by Jane Austen is better than most people’s best books. 

The story takes place from the point of view of Anne Elliot, the middle daughter of a baronet, Sir Walter Elliot.  Her mother is dead, her father and sister are vain and selfish and her younger sister is already married and, therefore, head of her own little household, though that doesn’t keep her from meddling in everyone else’s lives.  Anne is the standard refined, smart heroine of Austen’s novels, but she’s unappreciated.  Her good judgment is often disregarded though everyone relies on her dependibility. 

She is now 27, practically a spinster in Austen’s world, though eight years earlier she was engaged to a yound naval officer, Frederick Wentworth.  She loved him dearly, but was persuaded to break off the engagement by her family and friends due to his lack of status and fortune.  Now, eight years later, Captain Wentworth has returned and she must learn to adjust to his contant presence.

While Anne is unassuming, she is not meek, like Fanny in Mansfield Park. She is, therefore, a much more interesting character.  She does have opinions and advice even if they are disregarded.  While she was meek enough to be persuaded earlier against her desires, she is now older and more independent.  Overall, she’s the opposite of most of Austen’s heroines, choosing a self-made commoner over the aristocratic heroes of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. 

The story felt a little rough in spots and very hurried at the end, but as this was the last book written by Ms. Austen, in fact, written on her deathbed, it didn’t get the usual amount of revision, editing and polishing that most of her novels did.  As such, it’s simpler, more direct story but, I feel, it comes across as more realistic and moving.

Overall, I really liked this book – 9 out of 10.

Book 6: "Emma" by Jane Austen

Only two days late now.  Made up quite a bit of time with Book 5.  So now, on to something girly!  Hahaha.  Seriously, I really like Jane Austen.  Her stories are not always brilliant; I found Mansfield Park to be particularly dull.  But, her mastery of the English language is amazing.  You rarely come across such well crafted prose.  So, with that prologue, I'm looking forward to some good Regency era reading.  462 pages means 66 pages per day.  I'll probably shoot for more to try and finish it in 5 days so that I'm completely caught up.

UPDATE (08/29/11) - Another enjoyable read... It must be getting rather tiresome to hear nothing but positive reviews, but I spent quite a bit of time choosing my first few books for this project to make it as enjoyable as possible, so it's really no surprise.  Pride and Prejudice is indisputably Jane Austen's master work, but Emma comes in a very close second, in my opinion.  What I enjoyed most was the growth of the title character, Emma. In the beginning, she is meddlesome, arrogant and headstrong but, through a series of bad judgments on her own part and the effects her actions have upon her friends, she gradually learns from her mistakes and becomes a better person for it.  Other than, perhaps, Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, it's a change unseen in most of her other characters.

So there it is, my new second-favorite Jane Austen novel.