The Jane Austen Book Club in The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List

Nov 11, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, novels, ultimate-reading-list, chick-lit, popular-fiction, romance

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors--maybe even my top favorite. I'm not sure how appealing this book would be to those who don't know her and like her writing. There's not only a lot of comments about her books, but a lot of allusions in the situations of the present day characters--ones not pointed out or obvious.

Austen wrote six mature novels and this book deals with a book club made up of six characters each with their own chapter--there's Bernadette the oldest at 67; Prudie the young Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors--maybe even my top favorite. I'm not sure how appealing this book would be to those who don't know her and like her writing. There's not only a lot of comments about her books, but a lot of allusions in the situations of the present day characters--ones not pointed out or obvious.

Austen wrote six mature novels and this book deals with a book club made up of six characters each with their own chapter--there's Bernadette the oldest at 67; Prudie the youngest in her twenties; Jocelyn and Sylvia, best friends in their fifties who have known each other since they were eleven; Sylvia's 30-year-old lesbian daughter Allegra and the token male Grigg who is in his forties. The first line is, "Each of us has a private Austen." Each section focuses on a member of the book club as they meet to discuss one of the books. For instance the first book is Emma and in between the discussion we learn the story of Jocelyn, a dog breeder who like Austen's heroine could be described as handsome, clever and rich. The second section and book is the turn of Sense and Sensibility and we focus on Allegra who, like Marianne, is convinced passion should be the focus of life and is something of a drama queen. At that point I was already wondering what role each would take on as the book proceeded. Would the token male be identified with Darcy, the most famous of Austen's male characters? Would Sylvie, going through a difficult divorce, the quiet caregiver, get a second chance at love like Anne Eliot?

I think poor Grigg was my favorite. I felt almost embarrassed for my gender at the way the others treated him in the novel. Bernadette thought he shouldn't have been included in the club, Allegra is rudely challenging to his first remarks and Jocelyn is condescending and dismissive about his love of science fiction. At the end, when he suggests they read Patrick O'Brien's nautical adventures next, the collective reaction is that you could go from O'Brien to Austen, but you can't stoop from Austen to O'Brien. I find that bit of book snobbishness a shame. Great literature should broaden, not narrow, and ironically O'Brien was himself a fan of Austen, and it shows in his style. There's also this odd use of first person plural--use of "we," "us" and "our" that didn't work for me. Yet at the end I did feel affection for all the characters, and I admit I got a geeky enjoyment in wallowing at all the Austen lore. (Including my silent, "You tell them, sister" at complaints of the Mansfield Park film adaptation.) So, not sure if this is for Austen lovers only, but as one that qualifies as a fan, yes, I did enjoy it. ...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Traci Sherlock rated it did not like it

Shelves: e-books

YUCK, YUCK, AND MORE YUCK! These people are in a Jane Austen book club, yet the majority of the book is about their personal lives, with little unrelated Austen quotes interspersed between their weird stories. I did not enjoy this at all, and gave it 1 star, which is a rare event for me. I just don't get what the author's point was with this book.

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Mar 31, 2012 Lucy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: adult

For me it wasn't worth reading. ...more

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Jul 08, 2010 Arlene Allen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: personal-favorites, 2010-favorites

I LOVED this book. Even though I haven't read Austen in years and probably missed half of the sly witticims, I thought this was a great homage to Austen, peopled with memorable characters and told in a charming manner. It is also another one of those novels that celebrates books, readers, and reading. ...more

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