Jane Austen discussion
General Discussion
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How old were you when you first read Jane Austen?
I read all of them, almost back to back, as a teenager (from age 15 to 16?). I don't remember this being inspired by the movie versions, although I definitely enjoyed those. Rather, my great-auntie gave me "P&P" when I was on vacation at her house, and I devoured it.I loved them so much that my dad picked them up for the first time around the same time, and he loved them too, which suggests that (a) some men do in fact love Jane Austen; and (b) it's never too late to get into her novels.
I guess the first time I was maybe 12. I had seen something on PBS and like it. Of course growing up my Mom rarely let us watch anything but PBS.
Opps wait at the time I read Pride & Prejudice. I would have to say it is my favorite still.
I read Jane in High School, lit class. I didn't become hooked on her until I saw the big screen adaptation of Emma. I bought Emma when it was released on VHS and then began collecting the BBC versions, etc.
I must have been about eighteen? So long ago :D. I figure I bought most of my copies in the university book shop, so that must be right-ish.
I held off until my early 30's. My mother was a member of the Jane Austen Society and was always so smug about how much I'd love these books--so of *course* I wouldn't give her the pleasure! She had a bad habit of (correctly) predicting what would make me happy and I sometimes I wanted the thrill of discovering that on my own. She predicted where I would go to college (which I did, and loved, even though the college in question was far down on my list). She predicted that I would ditch my initial career path to become an English major (I did and was much happier and more successful than as an opera singer). And yes, she predicted I'd love Jane Austen and I did. I deeply regret that she isn't alive to find out all of these things came true. The movies helped, in that they made me see that Austen was more accessible than I had imagined, but really, I started reading them as a way to understand my mother.
i read pride and prejudice earlier this year and fell in love with it. i'm planning on reading all her books. i'm 14.
I read all of Austen last year when I was 26. I was sitting in an airport waiting to go somewhere for work and realized with how much I have read it was silly that I hadn't yet read Austen...I started with P&P and it is still my favorite, though I like all of them very much. I read everything back to back and then went back over P&P and Mansfield Park.
I read P and P when I was in the 8th grade...so about 14. I liked it but it wasnt until later that I really appreciated it. At that time I was reading alot of classics and that one was on top of my list.Now, as an english major in college, my favorite classes are the ones taught by my favorite professor, who specializes in Brit Lit and Women's Text...and a big fan of Austen. I've read them all at least once and some more than once. Right now I'm rereading them because Im going to start my departmental thesis on Jane Austen heroines. Its so nice to spend my summer reading really good books!
I read P & P in my second year at university, so I would have been 18. I loved it at once, and I read the other novels in fairly rapid succession.My love for Austen's work has not diminished in the decades since.
I just finshed sense and sensabilaty. I read P and P about a mounth before and really enjoyed them. I just started persuision? I am around 13.
It is amazing (and amusing) how distinctly I remember picking up my first Austen. It was my first chance as a freshman to visit the (to me new) high school library. The fiction collection wasn't gigantic, and I had four years, so I figured I'd start with the As. I noticed Austen's Pride and Prejudice and thought, "Well, that's supposed to be a classic. It will probably be deadly dull, but I can try it." I read the infamous and hilarious first line, and the first page, and remember feeling surprise, delight, wonder, and excitement--here was a real find in this pathetic excuse for a library! It was the only Austen there (I'm shocked to this day that it WAS there), and I remember finding my own copy at the bookstore--and all her other books, which I devoured and have since reread many times. I truly love them all (in varying degrees, with P&P and Persuasion as faves) and it was amusing to me to reach college and to begin hearing people question the decision of having Edmund marry Fanny, or Maryanne marry Brandon, etc. I had always totally trusted Jane's judgement about each of her characters (although not always about society in general), and basically I still do.
Pride and Prejudice was my first my senior year of high school (age 17). It's the only one I read until this year (age 25). I'm almost done with Northanger Abbey, my last. P&P is by far my favorite and Northager Abbey is my least favorite.
You know many people rate the Jane Austen Book Club very low. I actually loved it. That book was one of the reasons I actually searched high and low for a book club to join. Plus it got me into reading more than just "romance" novels of today. I just started reading anything I could get my hands on that I thought would be interesting. It did not matter if it was one of Austen's, a classic novel, biography, history type of book or what-not. I just found different types of books I liked to read and found various groups of either friends or clubs to discuss them with.
I think I was in college, about 20 years old. I had seen the old black and white version of P & P on PBS starring Greer Garrson and Lawrence Olivier several times over the years. I decided I needed to read the book. I loved it and have been a fan ever since. P & P is my favorite Jane Austen book, although Emma is a close second!
i was in high school first time i read P&P.. and i thought it was boring... i was a stupid teenager... but 15 years later i was wiser.. and looking for books written in english (i´m spanish), i bought Emma, and loved it, so i decided giving another opportunity to P&P and that time I thought it was the best book i´ve read in years... so i bought all Austen books, in english and spanish... and some of them i reread very often!!
The first time I read Jane Austen was when I turned 30. I had seen the last bit of "Persuasion" on PBS and it caught my interest so I immediately went out and bought the book. I was HOOKED from then on with Jane Austen.
I first read jane austen when i was 10 or 11. i first read a condensed (?) version (i was 8/9) of the orginal and then the original. P&P is still my favorite.
I don't remember for sure how old I was--I think I was just about to start high school. My aunt let me watch the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice and fell in love with Elizabeth and Darcy. So I decided to make reading Pride and Prejudice one of my summer reading projects. From that summer on I was looked. :)
I first read Jane Austen when I was about ten. My Grandma sent me a copy of Pride and Prejudice. It took me a couple of times to finish it, but ever since then I've LOVED Jane Austen. I still like Pride and Prejudice the best, it's the classic. sadly, i haven't read all of them yet... but i will.
Wow! My story is just like Barbara's....I was ten when my Grandma gave me a copy of Pride & Prejudice. It is her favorite book and now mine. I have read it several dozen times over the years and it just gets better every time. BTW Barbara, I love the BYU football helmet....I was a cougar 16 years ago. I was at all the football games because I was a member of the color guard/marching band. Great memories!
I was 15 and had no idea what to read. (This changed when I joined Goodreads!) The result was boring, poorly written trash. So, I figured if I wasn't having fun reading I might as well read something good for me. At Ollie's I saw a "Classic Romances Pack", and picked it up- since every book I'd loved had romance in it. In there was Jane Eyre and Mansfield Park, both of which I read right away. As Mansfield Park is a darker kind of story, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing to hook a beginner. Still, at a church booksale I picked up Emma, slowly worked my way through it, and like it much better, then went on to read Pride and Prejudice, which I absolutely blazed right through, and Sense and Sensibility, which was very emotional to me. I'm 16 now and hope to work my way through Persuasion and Northanger Abbey.
Forty-something, I think, when I read "Emma".But you know how long it takes us guys to mature!
;)
T
I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I absolutely loved it and it has remained my favorite ever since - either because I read it first or because of my personality, I'm not sure. I've read all of them now (including Lady Susan) and keep coming back to P&P! I'm 17 now and I can reread every single book multiple times and still get enjoyment from all of them. :)
I first started reading Austen when I was around 23 or 24. I'd seen the PBS version of Pride and Prejudice earlier in my teens (mabe about 16), but I never picked up the book until a few years later. Same thing happened with Emma. But once I read P & P in my mid twenties, I started picking my way through most of her novels. My favourite is 'Persuasion".
I read P&P first (when I was in college) and soon after, read S&S. I'd seen the movie Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow so I wasn't in a hurry to read it... I don't think I even finished it. About 2 years later, I bought the rest of the novels and read Northager Abbey (which is my second favorite to P&P) and Mansfield Park. I still haven't gotten to Persuasion but it's on the list.I've also read the two Linda Berdoll sequels (and really enjoyed them). There are a few other P&P spinoff novels that I've gone through but none really compare to the originals!
if you like mysteries you may want to try the ones by Stephanie Barron or Carrie Bebris both series I have foind to be good.
I first read Pride & Prejudice when I was 14. My best friend and I read it at the same time. When I read it, I got my mom really into Jane as well, and we read and discuss her fan-fic together. I haven't read all of Austen's novels, but I am anxious to get back into her again. Pride and Prejudice is still my favorite novel!
I read Pride and Prejudice first when I was roaming through the library looking for something good, the cover caught my attention so I checked it out. I believe I was 12, but I'm not sure. I have also read Emma, and I just checked out Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park from the library today.
I didn't read Austen until my mid-20's, and loved her right away. I think the first novel I read was Sense and Sensibility. I was reading a lot of epic poetry in those days, and I really enjoyed her language, and I was aware that she was structurally brilliant.
I read Sense and Sensibility from a dusty blue-covered book (formally belonging to my Aunt which she bought in France in her youth in the late 1960's). I read it at 13. The language had me concentrating so hard that when the jokes came in the text I would laugh aloud. I remember I found Marianne so compelling, and I was heartbroken at her "smart choice" of Colonel Brandon at the end.
Now, at 28 I applaud her, having made a similiar choice in marriage and I am VERY happy (lol)
I read my first Austen when I was about 13. My aunt gave me really nice copies of P&P, Emma, Persuasion, and S&S for Christmas. I was a bit skeptical, so I read Persuasion first because it was shortest. I adored it. I read all of her books not long after that.In college I took a lit. course on Jane Austen. (Still one of my favorite classes EVER.) I'm an addict.
I can't remember now if I read "Emma" first (I think so, because it was one of my friend's favorites) and then I think P&P second (I had my mom's college edition with all her margin notes which was really cool and a great connection for us!) both around the age of sixteen and they remain my favorites. I read them before seeing the movies, though I remember it was really funny because on the day I planned to start "Emma" I saw an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow promoting the film (I love it, by the way! Usually I prefer reading books before seeing the adaptation and am still glad I did though I lament I didn't have Jeremy Northam in mind when I first read about Mr. Knightly; swoon!) I think it definitely takes a little effort to get "into" Austen because her style is a bit unusual (I kept getting confused of who said what since she like to use "he/she" to excess instead of proper names!) and not a lot of lengthy narrative descriptions (though I think this is part of what makes the books ripe for screen adaptations; they're mostly dialogue/plot and character development through that!) I quickly read the other Austen novels though couldn't really relate to "Persuasion"--I think I was a bit young for the characters and plot development in that one and I'd like to reread it now that I'm older.
I've only read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility and half of Emma, and I read Pride and Prejudice when I was fourteen.
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The first Austen book I read when I was about 15 was P & P (no surprise there I guess since it is considered Austen's best work and is a staple in Eng language classes).I have since read the book a few times and it was my favourite for a long time...It started me on her other works, I liked reading Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, surprisingly I haven't been able to finish reading Emma so far, this is a rare instance of the movie (with Gwyneth Paltrow) being better than the book for me. I think I have read all the other books though I get mixed up with names and characters. Also, thanks to cable TV I am able to watch the movies and it is a delightful journey, understanding the lost grace and culture of English society of those times...! Sense and Sensibility seemed sad to me, with shades of Wuthering Heights which is my most favourite sad romance ever. Umm...I am still in the process of learning so maybe it will grow on me...I feel like starting on Austen all over again.. :D
I don't remember exactly, but I was in my early teens and my first JA's book was Pride and Prejudice, which I got out of my Mum's collection. I loved it and read it many times afterwards!
I am new to this Discussion board thing. I wanted to start by saying I Just finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I had seen the movie but I just barely finished the book. I am 21 years old. I loved it!
I am 13 years old,my literature class use P&P as the book of the semester.It was a really nice introduction to Jane's works!!
smile...
I had sworn I answered this....I was around 30 when I really paid attention to her. I had read part of P&P back in college years ago but at that time I was suborn and wouldn't read anything that wasn't by Rice or King.
What you said struck a chord, I did modern American fiction for a lot of years, and struggling with Emma on and off throughout,before I rediscovered my Austen fascination at 27. And P& P was my favourite light read throughout especially when it got a bit rough..And then I just felt like"hey why not her other books??" Is anyone here fond of American classics? I guess they would be more like the later English ones like Jane Eyre maybe, just not so heavy with loss and love...
And has anyone been to Jane Austen's house? I felt sad to learn that she died young, 40ish or so...
Mod
What type of American classics are you drawn to? I concentrated on southern U.S. lit for a while, but not lately. I am trying to revisit U.S. classics, but not extensively yet. I tried The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne last year and really liked it.
Any suggestions? I love world lit and have an unbreakable attachment to English lit as a whole. I think the American author who I really have a love for is Scott Fitzgerald -- I like the rhythm of his writing.
I think I was 12. My stepmother gave them to me to get me to stop reading the children's books/picture-books and comics that I was reading previously. I was perfectly capable of reading other things but no one ever gave me anything else to read. The only books in the house before were way over my head academic texts (father is a college prof) or horror novels by Barker or King. I devoured the Jane Austen,, whose characters lived isolated lives, dominated by their family, not unlike my own...
Probably junior high, but maybe even before that. My parents were great readers, as were most of my extended family, and the idea of not reading whenever one had a spare moment would simply never have occurred to me.
Not only were books the traditional Christmas and birthday gifts both from my parents and from a hoard of mostly great aunts and uncles (I had no aunts and only two uncles, but I had a bunch of great aunts and uncles, both my grandmother and my grandfather being one of twelve children), but every Tuesday night was our night to spend in our small town volunteer run library to restock for the coming week. By the time I was through fifth grade I had run through every book in the children's section (there was no young adult section in those days; children were children until they graduated to the adult section) multiple times. I can still remember the day, though not the exact year, when I was allowed to get an adult card and start checking out adult books. Austen, being in the A sectin and therefore a good place to start mining those riches, was an early discovery.
It's funny- I saw P&P on Wishbone and wanted to read it so I went to a used bookstore (the same one I go to now) and bought it when I was 6ish. Never got past the first page lol. I didn't pick it up again to read it all the way through until ninth grade. I read it once or twice a year. This is one of those books that get me through bad/sad times.
I was 16 when I first read Jane Austen's works; I had to read Pride and Prejudice for my Grade 11 English class. I didn't think too much about it then (because I had an ISU essay attached to it) but when I was in first year university, I decided to revisit Pride and Prejudice again and absolutely adored it the second time around. So I went out and read the rest of her books =)
Nausheen wrote: "The first Austen book I read when I was about 15 was P & P (no surprise there I guess since it is considered Austen's best work and is a staple in Eng language classes).I have since read the book ..."Hi Nausheen, I just read your comment and thought I'd reply to you. I've read all of Jane Austen's collected works (including Lady Susan and her 2 unfinished novels)starting when I was 15, I've paid my homage visit to Bath and read a few biographies of the lady so a bit of a mad fan :) but what I wanted to tell you is that each of her books have been my favourite as I've matured. In my 30s now and Persuasion is my favourite, Anne Elliott is the most mature and womanly of all Jane's heroines :) try it again!
Hi, new here!I just started reading Austen this year, I'm 28. I can't believe I waited so long to read her books! I've read Pride & Prejudice and Emma so far, and am trying to decide what to read next!
Jane Austen
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How did you first discover Jane Austen? Was through school or a friend? Did anyone first get interested in Austen because of the many movie adaptations in the past 15 years? Also, what book did you start with? Is that still your favorite?