tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post7326514215194364855..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: Jane Austen: 200th Anniversary - Celia Rees Mary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-39037809087956701742017-07-27T11:21:26.550+01:002017-07-27T11:21:26.550+01:00I had the same experience, Lynne, but agree with L...I had the same experience, Lynne, but agree with Leslie. I found I had much greater sympathy with the novel when I was older and could see the satire, but also understand the social pressure Catherine was under to conform as a very young woman after the freedom of her childhood. It is a really good young adult novel, it just needed to be taught in a more informative and sympathetic way.Celia Reeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05059549379622664741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-88269395025779159992017-07-21T17:41:20.055+01:002017-07-21T17:41:20.055+01:00Oh, but Northanger Abbey is ironic and post-modern...Oh, but Northanger Abbey is ironic and post-modern. Austen leads us through ll the way, never lets us forget that we're reading a novel right to the moment when she remarks that we must realise the denouement is coming because there are so few pages left in the book. But to fully appreciate it you must read Anne Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest. Then you realise the source material.Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-85912225093571813122017-07-21T12:13:22.474+01:002017-07-21T12:13:22.474+01:00Thank you for this post, Celia. I'm a great f...Thank you for this post, Celia. I'm a great fan of Jane Austen (well, living in Bath it's almost compulsory!) but my first encounter with her books was, unfortunately, "Northanger Abbey" at school when I was about 14. I thought the heroine was completely wet and didn't enjoy it at all. However, for A level we were introduced to "Emma", and then everything changed - I just loved it! Since then, of course, I've read all the novels, though I'm still not wowed by "Northanger Abbey" - and if I have a favourite it's probably "Sense and Sensibility". And that also goes for films, of which it is my absolute favourite (the Emma Thompson one, in case there's some other version that I've missed.) Loved the post and the comments - and Penny's story!Lynne Bentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14412874594191347503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-87893252956921632262017-07-18T23:47:32.047+01:002017-07-18T23:47:32.047+01:00Thank you very much for compiling this post today,...Thank you very much for compiling this post today, Celia!<br /><br />A late anecdote, as I carry my guttering candle up to my bedchamber:<br /><br />At my convent school, we studied Pride and Prejudice. Our English teacher at the time was a stern and formidably clever unmarried woman whose university gown billowed over her sensible tweed suit. <br /><br />Before one lesson, some girl bolder than the rest, had scrawled WE LOVE DARCY! in huge, chalk letters across the blackboard. <br /><br />The lesson proceeded, At no time during the hour did our teacher make any reference to the bold graffiti that stared all of us in the face, likely to bring about a class detention, order marks or worse. <br /><br />At the end of the lesson, as our teacher swept out, she paused for a second, tossed her head and, with a knowing look, remarked "So do I, Five Alpha. So do I!" <br /><br />We, the girls, stood there, smiling, not knowing what to say. Penny Dolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16386668303428008498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-54140113743319328772017-07-18T19:07:44.603+01:002017-07-18T19:07:44.603+01:00Thanks, Celia! You did a great job pulling all thi...Thanks, Celia! You did a great job pulling all this together.<br />Mary Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-1733674832527814152017-07-18T18:07:18.572+01:002017-07-18T18:07:18.572+01:00I've just remembered that where I first encoun...I've just remembered that where I first encountered Jane Austen was in a book of extracts for children. It was Mr Collins proposing to Elizabeth B. I thought it so funny. Then (I guess I was ten or eleven) I found P & P in the library and was thrilled to recognise the scene. So Jane Austen began, for me, with laughter, which is indeed why I so love Emma; for the social comedy..Leslie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105465949970430998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-47910815405707355232017-07-18T17:53:44.262+01:002017-07-18T17:53:44.262+01:00Yes, Celia, you're a star... And so was Jane A...Yes, Celia, you're a star... And so was Jane Austen! Caroline Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07249424644829463560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-66548158042054115252017-07-18T16:43:48.298+01:002017-07-18T16:43:48.298+01:00Thank you for your comments. I really enjoyed putt...Thank you for your comments. I really enjoyed putting this together. It was purely serendipitous - I didn't know who would send me what - but I marvelled at how well the pieces fitted together and what a varied and interesting post it made. Celia Reeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05059549379622664741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-13686054035031602152017-07-18T14:15:20.713+01:002017-07-18T14:15:20.713+01:00Love Pride and Prejudice best. Never quite sure ab...Love Pride and Prejudice best. Never quite sure about Emma - she has her faults, but does she really deserve to be so patronised by Knightly? (Embarrassingly, when I first read it, probably at university, I rather admired him...)Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-590984665422659522017-07-18T12:18:44.776+01:002017-07-18T12:18:44.776+01:00I've been away, followed by visitors, and comp...I've been away, followed by visitors, and completely missed all the build-up to this - but it's lovely to read it all now and be reminded of favourite passages, characters and books. Thank you, everyone. My own favourite beginning is the first sentence of Emma, which promises so much, and has that wonderful word 'vex' in it.Ann Turnbullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484265041343702129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-24345683060204781402017-07-18T11:25:32.327+01:002017-07-18T11:25:32.327+01:00Thank you for putting this together, Celia. I thin...Thank you for putting this together, Celia. I think Jane would approve.michelle lovrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01026972300195225090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-15616128243462466792017-07-18T10:57:06.390+01:002017-07-18T10:57:06.390+01:00I think I must be a very lucky lover of Jane - I d...I think I must be a very lucky lover of Jane - I discovered her by myself, age 11, in the library of my grammar school before anyone forced her upon me in English Lit classes - and I fell in love instantly. <i>Emma</i> was my first Austen, and for many years my favourite, but these days my two favourites are <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> and <i>Persuasion</i>.<br /><br />And my favourite adaptation (much as I LOVE Dame Judi) is definitely the BBC's 1995 adaptation of P&P because the Bennet sisters are all exactly right. Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15888298679182871669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-35539385407405068222017-07-18T09:37:44.942+01:002017-07-18T09:37:44.942+01:00What a lovely post - and Adele's comments are ...What a lovely post - and Adele's comments are so moving! I love the thought of Norm 'mentally stroking' Pride and Prejudice. That, and 'Sense and Sensibility', are my favourites. Both are very funny. I didn't appreciate them at all at school: you need to be grown up I think. Katherine Langrishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12529700103932422873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-18861141194039739172017-07-18T09:37:19.648+01:002017-07-18T09:37:19.648+01:00Thank you History Girls for these comments, commen...Thank you History Girls for these comments, commendations and memories. Happy Jane Month to us all!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.com