false 2155 6 Jane Austen famously labeled her literary ambit a "little bit (two inches wide) of ivory." Luckily, her personal travels and those of her family were slightly more extensive, otherwise we should be without her letters. Not only should every Janeite possess them, but also every connoisseur of correspondence. Austen's wit is ubiquitous--even though some protest it edges into waspishness. E. M. Forster, for example, described the letters between Austen and her beloved sister, Cassandra, as "the whinnying of harpies."<p> On September 18, 1796, she tells Cassandra, "What dreadful Hot weather we have!--It keeps one in a continual state of Inelegance.--If Miss Pearson should return with me, pray be careful not to expect too much Beauty..." The dashes and capitalization alone make one long for the days before stylistic rules had so cemented. As for the sentiments! Austen paces her monologues to perfection, making the comic and ironic most out of the smallest incidents. Still, her frustration does occasionally emerge. "I am forced to be abusive," she implodes to Cassandra, "for want of a subject, having nothing really to say." Jane Austen has more than enough to say for lovers of literature and the cultural pinprick. 6195 1932 Jane Austen's Letters total:199|5:69|4:80|3:39|2:9|1:2| 199 802 508 27 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 15:19:34 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 02 08:14:12 -0800 2008 Jane Austen's Letters with a certain amount of trepidation, which only increased when I received the book and realized its size. I am a huge Jane Austen fan, but I was afraid her personal letters might be boring, confusing, and hard to wade through. I was wro...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Apr 16 13:48:20 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 13:48:31 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 20:10:25 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 21:08:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Feb 21 08:43:34 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 08:44:21 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 15:04:57 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 13:10:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 true false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 22 16:53:57 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 17:00:57 -0800 2009 1 4 0 false false Thu Apr 16 06:03:24 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 06:03:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Mar 30 07:25:29 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 07:25:29 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Mar 18 19:28:09 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 19:28:09 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Fri Jul 04 03:07:03 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 04 03:07:03 -0700 2008 Jane Austen's Letters is nicely arranged and presented and meticulously annotated. Austen's letters are frequently witty and always entertaining, with just enough of a hint of mischief to them to make me reg...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Oct 01 07:29:37 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 08:44:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 21 09:43:46 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 21 09:46:16 -0800 2008 My personal opini...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 12 19:04:11 -0800 2008 Mon Jul 14 10:04:21 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Apr 17 22:53:28 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 21 18:05:19 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Sep 26 06:02:14 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 26 06:38:42 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 07:14:43 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 07:18:14 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Jan 27 20:24:42 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 27 20:27:36 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 08:18:56 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 12 11:57:45 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Aug 08 15:49:12 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 26 12:55:16 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Tue Jul 29 08:38:55 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 22 18:02:13 -0800 2009