Saturday, August 27, 2011

Losing Myself in the World of Jane Austen



Imogen walked in the door. On her back was a bag of library books. She opened it and pulled out two thick juicy looking books.


"I found these for you," she said.


I looked at the titles. 'Jane Austen, The World of Her Novels' one proclaimed. The other said 'Jane's Fame'.


"Thank you," I gasped.


I was blissfully happy. Two new Jane Austen books to read and they were big ones. I wandered over to an armchair and flopped down already flipping open 'Jane Austen, The World of Her Novels'.


I opened the page to Chapter One and lost myself in the world of Jane Austen. Soaking myself in knowledge of the Regency period I would emerge only once in a while to spout out some interesting fact. I would corner Imogen or Mum and say something like,


"Did you know that Colonel Brandon doesn't have a first name?"


or, "Did you know that in the movies the producer added scenes showing the hero doing manly things like chopping wood, shooting or fencing?'


"Edward Ferrars chopped wood?" Imogen would say incredulously. "That's ridiculous. He's a gentleman."


"I know," I would giggle and hurry back to my book to find out more.


Unfortunately for me the books, though really thick didn't last very long. I finished 'Jane's Fame' yesterday. I shall have to go to the library to find some more. Poor librarians when I get to the Jane Austen section.

2 comments:

  1. I love Jane Austen, too, but I always think her real life sounded a bit sad and lonely. I wonder if she made life exciting by living through her books?:)

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  2. Her books certainly are exciting but are totally believable. Apparently Jane Austen called 'Pride and Prejudice' her darling child. She was also very close to her sister Cassandra. So maybe her life wasn't that lonely.

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