Austen and SF
Feb. 6th, 2005 01:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarielI finished The Jane Austen Book Club yesterday; it's enjoyable, although the characters didn't quite take off. I was pretty tired at the end of last week, so I'm sure I've missed all kinds of ironic connections between the characters' lives and the novels; having said that, if the characters had sparkled just a bit more, I think I would have put that bit more effort into making the connections. I most enjoyed reading what was said about the various Austen novels, and there's a great section at the back which is a compilation of the Critics On Austen.
One of the characters, the only male member of the reading group, is also a science fiction fan (he's the only one of the group who has taken the time to read The Mysteries of Udolpho; the others hadn't really realized it was a real book). He's probably the best drawn character in the book (or maybe I just identified with him), and there's a fun and sympathetic section set at a con. He presses Le Guin novels on one of the other members of the group.
Also at the back of the book, there are a set of questions for discussion, and I found these particularly interesting:
Austen lovers and science fiction readers feel a similar intense connection to books. Are there more book communities you know of that engage with a like passion? Why these and not others?
Many science fiction readers also love Austen. Why do you suppose this is true? Do you think many Austen readers love science fiction?
I'll finish this entry with a line that's quoted from Mark Twain, because it made me laugh so much: "Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone. Maybe, but note that "every time".
One of the characters, the only male member of the reading group, is also a science fiction fan (he's the only one of the group who has taken the time to read The Mysteries of Udolpho; the others hadn't really realized it was a real book). He's probably the best drawn character in the book (or maybe I just identified with him), and there's a fun and sympathetic section set at a con. He presses Le Guin novels on one of the other members of the group.
Also at the back of the book, there are a set of questions for discussion, and I found these particularly interesting:
Austen lovers and science fiction readers feel a similar intense connection to books. Are there more book communities you know of that engage with a like passion? Why these and not others?
Many science fiction readers also love Austen. Why do you suppose this is true? Do you think many Austen readers love science fiction?
I'll finish this entry with a line that's quoted from Mark Twain, because it made me laugh so much: "Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone. Maybe, but note that "every time".
