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141st out of 461 books
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707 voters
A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen
Why are we so fascinated with Jane Austen’s novels? Why is Austen so universally beloved? The essayists in this volume offer their thoughts on the delightful puzzle of Austen’s popularity. Classic and contemporary writers—novelists, essayists, journalists, scholars, and a filmmaker—discuss the tricks and treasures of Austen’s novels, from her witty dialogue, to the arc and...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
November 10th 2009
by Random House
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This book isn't going to convince anyone to read Jane Austen, who isn't already in love with her. The casual reader, who may have read one or two of the novels or maybe just saw the films, is not going to pick this one up. I am being presumptive but that reader doesn't really care why others read Jane Austen, and for the reader that never liked her? If I were going to try to convince someone to read love Jane Austen; this book wouldn't help my argument at all.
The book is good. There are some gre...more
The book is good. There are some gre...more
A Truth Universally Acknowledged is better than a book club discussion with your most insightful friends. With essays from W. Somerset Maugham, C.S. Lewis, E.M. Forster and Virginia Woolf, it will be difficult to choose your favorite. My favorite was Maugham, just from his last line, "It just shows that you may make a great stir in the world and yet sadly fail to impress the members of your own family." Too often we read the condescending remarks of her relatives about their spinster relation. O...more
Why do we read Jane Austen? Beyond the books themselves, films and BBC miniseries adapted from classics like Pride and Prejudice draw large audiences. Are we drawn in by Austen's characters, delightful yet no-nonsense writing style, or detailed unveiling of social dynamics? Maybe it's the happy endings that keep us coming back. Or is it the sheer joy in her snarkiness, snugly couched in proper language?
Anyone who enjoys Austen's work, from the casual reader on to the obsessed "Janeite" could lik...more
Anyone who enjoys Austen's work, from the casual reader on to the obsessed "Janeite" could lik...more
Austen holds a certain fascination to me. Perhaps it is because I grew up in such a secluded corner of the world and yearn for that quietness in the hustle and bustle of my daily existence in the city. Perhaps it is because I am an incurable romantic at heart and abhor what passes for communication in the modern world - the likes of FaceBook and Twitter. Or perhaps it is because celebrity gossip interests me far less than gossip about people I know intimately and meet regularly.
I have lost coun...more
I have lost coun...more
I loved reading this intelligent book, which is a compilation of essays about Jane Austen from 33 writers. My interview with the author began like this:
A: There have been so many excellent essays written on Jane Austen! Most of them endeavor to clarify some aspect of the novels—the what, when, how, etc.—and these can be extraordinarily helpful. But then there are other essays which tackle what is, in my opinion, the big question: the why. Not, for instance, how can we understand the relationshi...more
A: There have been so many excellent essays written on Jane Austen! Most of them endeavor to clarify some aspect of the novels—the what, when, how, etc.—and these can be extraordinarily helpful. But then there are other essays which tackle what is, in my opinion, the big question: the why. Not, for instance, how can we understand the relationshi...more
This is a lovely book for lovers of Jane Austen. The 33 essays are as varied as one might suspect from the list of authors (C. S. Lewis to Virgina Woolfe--just two of the better-known ones), but as one progresses through the well-planned succession of essays, one feels a deepening love not only for Miss Austen, but also for the sister & brotherhood of those who love her. The titular querry is answered not directly, but indirectly. In short, we read Jane Austen because we love her. We love he...more
Jan 05, 2012
Lamplight
added it
So much fun! It's nice to know there are ppl out there far, far more obsessed with Jane than me. Also, there are some pretty strong words about those who prefer Bronte, as well as about those who are crazy enough to diss Bronte. note to self- really must read something in addition to jane eyre...
This book collects 33 essays by writers, readers, movie producers and Austen scholars- all dedicated to celebrating Jane Austen. It's a perfect book to publish at this time since Jane has never been cooler. She is an action figure, she is a detective, her characters have been made into vampires and zombies, there are countless movies and books surrounding her and her stories. This collection of essays, though, is about READING Austen's novels. Not reading the sequels. Not watching beautiful adap...more
Some of the essays are really interesting. The best use for some others would be kindling for your fire. Lionel Trilling's is the longest in the book, and far and away the most boring (in fact I skipped more than half of it). It doesn't have anything to do with Jane Austen; it's mostly about Trilling himself, who is apparently pompous, self-important, and self-absorbed. The first several pages are about him and his teaching style - and if this man were my teacher, I'd kill myself. Or maybe him....more
This is a collection of essays by various writers, quite a few of them novelists. Overall, this was a good reminder of why so many kinds of people read Jane Austen--the essays represent a wide range of writing styles. My suggestion for those who might be interested: pick the essays by authors you think you might enjoy. I read the book straight through, and might have wasted some time with essays that were a bit too academic for my taste. A couple of my favorites: "Terrible Jane" by Amy Bloom and...more
E. M. Forster does an admirable job describing how difficult it is to describe why we love Jane Austen: "I am a Jane Austenite, and therefore slightly imbecile about Jane Austen. My fatuous expression and airs of personal immunity--how ill they set on the face, say, of a Stevensonian! But Jane Austen is so different. She is my favorite author! I read and reread, the mouth open and the mind closed. Shut up in measureless content, I greet her by the name of most kind hostess, while criticism slumb...more
OVERVIEW:
A Truth Universally Acknowledged is a collection of essays from literary scholars, contemporary authors, literature professors, critics, novelists, playwrights, and academics, to name a few. Some of these writers are men and others are women, some are at the beginning of their career and others are at their apex, some lived during the nineteenth century while others are alive during the twenty-first century. In their individual essays each writer ponders, analyzes, evaluates, explains o...more
A Truth Universally Acknowledged is a collection of essays from literary scholars, contemporary authors, literature professors, critics, novelists, playwrights, and academics, to name a few. Some of these writers are men and others are women, some are at the beginning of their career and others are at their apex, some lived during the nineteenth century while others are alive during the twenty-first century. In their individual essays each writer ponders, analyzes, evaluates, explains o...more
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Not that we need 33 reasons to read Jane Austen, but this collection of essays lets authors and critics from this century and the last explore Austen’s enduring appeal.
“Austen’s novels provide not only the aesthetic pleasure of a good read but also the intellectual engagement of a good think,” editor Susannah Carson writes in her introduction to this engaging collection; her observation is the thread that unites most of the essays.
A good mix of the scholarly, the straightforward and the fun, the...more
“Austen’s novels provide not only the aesthetic pleasure of a good read but also the intellectual engagement of a good think,” editor Susannah Carson writes in her introduction to this engaging collection; her observation is the thread that unites most of the essays.
A good mix of the scholarly, the straightforward and the fun, the...more
This book made me reread Austin. For those Austinites I'm preaching to the choir but for those of you who turn up your nose at such, "old fashioned, boring, mindnumblingly sexist books," I say poo on you! You narrow minded ninny! Jane Austin's one of the founders of the modern novel and one of (if not the) the first to write from an exclusively woman's points of view. Stop acting like you know how an 18th century women would feel because that's how YOU would feel.
If you're thinking about read...more
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This book of essay attempts in various ways to breakdown the mystique of the works of Jane Austen. Done from a slew of appriachs, some more clinical than others, each author brings their own love and joy of the Austen canon to the mix.
Each book gets their own series of essays and it actually made me think more about my own techinque as a writer. It also made me reconsider what i like and dislike about the various novels and has made me eager to read all of the works in short order!
Each book gets their own series of essays and it actually made me think more about my own techinque as a writer. It also made me reconsider what i like and dislike about the various novels and has made me eager to read all of the works in short order!
only a few of the essays dealt with the WHY 'we' read Jane Austen... and dealt more with the reading OF Jane Austen.
most were mildly interesting and some were witty.
too many of them referred to others essays which was frustrating when referred to essay came later in the book.
what i found surprising was that about half the essays were by men... not that men should not read Austen (i am pleases to know that they do) it is that i know of none (Pride and Prejudice and zombies does not count) perhaps...more
most were mildly interesting and some were witty.
too many of them referred to others essays which was frustrating when referred to essay came later in the book.
what i found surprising was that about half the essays were by men... not that men should not read Austen (i am pleases to know that they do) it is that i know of none (Pride and Prejudice and zombies does not count) perhaps...more
I enjoyed this, some essays much more than others. Some of these essays are the kind of literary critigunk that I changed majors from English to escape; others, especially those written by real writers like Virginia Woolf and CS Lewis, were delightful. It was satisfying to spend a few days in the company of other Austen fans. I especially liked the essay groupings around each book, and was surprised especially at the amount and depth of feeling for Mansfield Park; I may need to reread this one.
Susannah Carson has brought together both new and previously published essays on Jane Austen. The essays are loosely arranged by book beginning with Northanger Abbey and ending with Persuasion. While I enjoyed most of the essays I was disappointed on the whole by the essays about Pride and Prejudice. It is my favorite of her novels, and I was hoping the writers loved it as much as I do. Instead the essays seemed unduly critical for a collection of this kind. My only other complaint is that a few...more
Summary: Collections of essays by writers on why we read Jane Austen.
Why I Read This: "I am a Jane Austenite, and therefore slightly imbecile about Jane Austen." -EM Forster
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this. It definitely encourages me to reread Emma which I was already planning to do, having been inspired by the recent miniseries (which was meh but I'm always happy that people want to continue to read and reinterpret Austen so I don't mind too much; the main thing that stuck out to me was that...more
Why I Read This: "I am a Jane Austenite, and therefore slightly imbecile about Jane Austen." -EM Forster
My thoughts: I really enjoyed this. It definitely encourages me to reread Emma which I was already planning to do, having been inspired by the recent miniseries (which was meh but I'm always happy that people want to continue to read and reinterpret Austen so I don't mind too much; the main thing that stuck out to me was that...more
It is an even more evident truth that 34 writers like Eudora Welta, Lionel Trilling, Virginia Woolf and Harold Bloom will write brilliant essays on Jane Austen's novels. A common thread that runs through the writing is that one can reread the six complete novels and their eternal beauty does not fade.
Mansfield Park and Persuadion just might be the basis of a new class at OLLI.
Mansfield Park and Persuadion just might be the basis of a new class at OLLI.
Some of the essays were interesting, others very too much "English literature" at school. They all ignored or treated as not very significant, that often the reason for reading and re-reading Jane Austen is the pure pleasure of the words and the world she recorded. I guess I am just not a fan of reading a novel in order to strip it down to the bare bones and forget about enjoyment.
Okay, so maybe I did skim a few and did not read all 33 essays, but there was some good bits with what I did read. It was cool reading authors like Eudora Welty, E.M. Forster, and Virginia Woolf gush about Austen. I also enjoyed reading Amy Heckeringly's "Emma" to "Clueless" musings. Not a novel neglected here, even "Mansfield Park" gets plenty of love Even Mary Bennett, the misunderstood nerd, got an essay devoted to her. ITA with the writer, she really should have ended up with Mr. Collins, po...more
i came across this gem outside my favorite local book shop sitting tauntingly on a card table with other pretty covered books beside it. i am a sucker for well crafted writing, big fat words, and beautiful covers. the language flowed so that i had to have this book just to tickle my literary snob hiding just behind my eyes(sounds silly doesn't it? lol).
A very satisfying set of essays about Jane Austen's works, and what makes them so enjoyable. In general, the essays are arranged interestingly, although they sometimes felt repetitive and heavily focused on Emma. A nice time with lit crit.
Jan 02, 2010
Spiros
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
other English Lit dorks
Shelves:
doodads,
gifteduponme
An amiable grab bag of essays, ranging from the sublime (E.M. Forster, Virginia Woolf) to the fatuous (Amy Heckerling). The two weakest are by Martin Amis, purporting to show the immorality of Edmund Bertram and Fanny Price (they are tedious, but not immoral), and the aptly named Mr. Collins, who argues that Austen's writings (particularly MANSFELD PARK), are useful as moral guidence.
I am an Austenite, and I have read Jane Austen's 6 great works many times through. That being said, I really enjoyed this. Only a few essays were almost too obstruse for me to understand, and none of it was Freudian (thank goodness). The essay be Virginia Woolf was particularly insightful. I think if you aren't fairly familiar with the works of Jane Austen, you wouldn't enjoy it quite as much.
Awesome so far...Includes essays from modern writers as well as old ones (C.S. Lewis, E.M. Forster, lots of quotes from Elliot...) I was fascinated to discover that Jane never described rooms or scenery--her landscapes were emotional. I'd never realized that before. I've always thought it was funny that in a Jane Austen novel, all that is physically happening is that people are writing letters, reading books, taking walks, making conversation; and yet the books are so intense! And I love how I c...more
If you like Jane Austen this collection of critical essays by writers as diverse as Virginia Woolf, Kingsley Amis, and Somerset Maugham should prove fascinating and instructive. Warning for Janeites : they're not all complimentary. Tot homines, tot sententiae as we used to say at kindy.
Interesting collection of essays. The collection runs the gamut from gushiness to serious literary criticism. I really appreciated the different angles the authors took in discussing JA’s works and life. Carson organized the essays brilliantly.
The essays are more literary criticism than social commentary, which is what I was hoping for., e.g., why all the recent spin-offs like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"?! Still, an incredible compilation of writers from Virginia Woolf to E.M. Forster to Jay McInerney on what makes Jane Austen one of the greatest writers of all time.
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Susannah Carson is an American author, editor, and academic. She received her Ph.D. from Yale, after earning graduate degrees at Paris III, La Sorbonne-Nouvelle and Lyon II, L’Université des Lumières. Her work has appeared in scholarly publications, newspapers, and magazines, including The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, Seventeenth-Century French Studies, and the collection Religi...more
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