We have five copies of Mary Hooper's new book The Disgrace of Kitty Grey to give away as prizes in our May Competition. (UK only)
Just answer this question in the Comments section below:
Which is your favourite Jane Austen novel and why?
(Any reference to Colin Firth will disqualify you!)
Just answer this question in the Comments section below:
Which is your favourite Jane Austen novel and why?
(Any reference to Colin Firth will disqualify you!)
10 comments:
It's a difficult one - it's really a toss-up between Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Persuasion for me. However, for today I think I'll pick Emma. I think the complexity of its heroine (who is so far from the perfect heroines of many contemporary novels) as well as the unique writing style, make it a wonderful read.
That has to be Persuasion. Love won and lost and won again. Showing the advantages of the 'older woman' vs young and flighty. Well rounded characters (of course) including some ridiculous ones. Commentary on society of the time that women had to marry within their social status. Unusual for Austen that the heroine is upper class and stays that way. So much to read in this story, intelligent and you get something different from it every time it's read. A true gem.
I must have to choose between Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility. Both are such fun, they show the day to day life and the focus of those who didn't have to graft to make a living, the 'middle classes' and how what you wore and said made the biggest impression. I think on saying why I love them both, Alan Rickman not with standing, I must choose Pride and Prejudice, The misunderstandings and the saving of face while the youngest runs away with a scoundrel and the world watches on, could be a snap shot of our own age, but it is not! And of course 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' has to be the best opening ever!
Has to be Emma. I've read very few books that have made me laugh quite as much as this one did. The characterisation is perfectly throughout, the dialogue perfect and if I ever forget the character of Miss Bates it'll be because I'm dead. Just typing her name makes me smile! Above all, it has a flawed and outgoing heroine who thinks she knows what she wants but is destined to be surprised.
What a difficult choice! I love Pride and Prejudice but if I could only read one ever again it would have to be Persuasion. Anne's essential goodness and integrity as well as her constancy appeal to me; and Captain Wentworth, considerate of Anne (lifting off her nephew, making sure she gets a lift back from the walk) even when he thinks he has 'forgotten her' and doesn't love her anymore became my ideal of romance. I feel about the book rather as Wentowrth felt about Anne - "You pierce my soul"
It's a really difficult choice, as I love them all. I'm tempted to go for Mansfield Park, which I love more each time I read it - it's so complex and dark and I find more in it every time. But I think my favourite is probably Emma, for its flawed but delightful heroine, who thinks she's so clever but misses all the clues about what's really going on. It also has some wonderful comic characters and a very manly hero in Mr Knightly (so much more the thing than Frank Churchill!).
Persuasion, definitely.P&P is funnier, and the scenes between Lizzy and Lady Catherine are pure genius, but I think Anne Elliot is a far more interesting character, and I feel the characters of Captains Wentworth and Benwick are much deeper and better drawn than most of Austen's male characters.
I really enjoy the fact that Anne is older and more mature than Austen's other heroines.
(and although I can see that Mansfield Park and Emma are each in their own way wonderful pieces of literature, I don't warm to either Fanny or Emma as I do to Anne.
And despite reading it regularly, I always get caught up in the story, and end up on tenterhooks, worrying whether Anne will fall for Mr Elliot, or fail to get her message to Captain Wentworth.
P&P for me. It's so well crafted with a great balance of main plots and sub plots. I LOVE the cleverness of Lizzy visiting Pemberly and then deciding Darcy is not such a bad chap after all. The characters of Mr Collins and Mr Bennett are so finely drawn and shrewdly observed. The contrast of Lydia and Bingleys sisters also appeals to me. It's a book I like to read over and over again.
My favourite Austen book would have to be Emma (with Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion coming in very close second and third place). The reason being that Emma is my favourite heroine (or anti-heroine, which would probably be more appropriate in this case). She is manipulative and a little b****y, and yet one still manages to like and admire her- well, in a way.
And of course, there is Mr.Knightley, the attractive older man who initially disapproves of Emma, then falls in love with her, thus creating the perfect romance.(I also find him incredibly irrisistable- if he was alive now, then I'd say watch out Emma!
The comic characters such as Ms. Bates just make the book (I always laugh when I read scenes with her in); and I love how oh-so-saintly Jane turns out to be in love with Frank Churchill!
Thank you for the book ;-) I've now read it, enjoyed it, and posted enthusiastic reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Post a Comment