The Great Austenathon

Welcome to The Great Austenathon of 2019!

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You are welcome to join us in reading and watching the collected works of Jane Austen. This is a super casual thing, so read and watch the adaptations at your own pace. The idea is to read the selected novel and then watch the adaptations. Come back to discuss them all here in this thread!

Enjoy and happy reading and watching!

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Current Schedule:

1. Persuasion

 

Our first Austen work to read, watch, and discuss is... Persuasion!



There are several television/movie adaptations to watch.

1971 BBC mini-series:

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1995 movie:

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2007 mini-series:

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So excited!! I just started listening to the audiobook and am at chapter 6.

I'm wondering if we discuss after we're all done or just put our thoughts and impressions as we go through? Do we need spoiler tags?

 

I think it's fine to discuss as we go along. How about in our posts, we first mention the chapter we are currently on, and then put our discussion in a spoiler tag?

I'm so curious about the audiobook! Are you liking the reader?

 

I'm trying to read Emma right now. Having a hard time getting into it, though. I suspect it'll be like P&P where once it got going I enjoyed it, but it takes so much more energy to read long sentences and older language than a newer book.

 

I am really liking the reader! The version I am listening to is Blackstone Audio, read by Nadia May (2000). I got it from the library.

So far I am just starting chapter 6.

I read this a long time ago and am now remembering how much I dislike Anne's sisters, especially Mary!! She's such a whiner and is not a very great mom. It's almost too much!

When Anne was agonizing over meeting Frederick again, her feelings made me so anxious (listening to it prolongs it so much more). And then thing after thing kept happening to postpone their meeting and she was getting more and more worried. I really felt for her! Also Wentworth said something to the effect of, "She doesn't look nearly as good as she did before and I barely recognized her!!" MEAN!

 

This is exactly why I like the audio books for Austen's works. That way I don't have to labor through sections just like that, just wait for the narrator to get through it

I watched this movie a long time ago. I have too much on my plate for the book right now, but I should watch the movie again

 

This is one of my favorites

 

It's my favorite as well! I even wrote a 10 page paper on it.

He is pretty cutting. Feeling a bit bitter are we, Captain?

I always forget about getting audiobooks from the library. Good idea!

 

You might be able to find shows/movies at your library as well.

 

Yes, my library has all of the movies/shows for each book! Even the old ones.

 

I'm up to the part where Jane Fairfax first shows up and omg do I identify with Emma My grandmother is very Miss Bates about my cousin, and it definitely will make you jealous and resentful.

 

Oh, I like this! It might be a bit before I can start on Persuasion again, but this should be great fun!

That's what I like about older authors, particularly of the Regency and Victorian period: everything--or most everything anyway--is said so delightfully that I don't mind the long, convoluted, sometimes meandering sentences at all. They are frequently something to revel in! And then authors like Hemingway came along and changed the course of modern literature. We think and speak quite differently today than we once did, so it is no wonder that some have trouble with it. There are a number of fun little books that discuss the details of Victorian life which are quite helpful for putting it altogether and stimulating the mind with the interpretation our brain makes while reading these works, and they can certainly enhance both understanding and enjoyment.

 

Read a lot last night. Got sucked into it!

Chapter 1:

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Daaaaang I forgot how much shade Jane Austen throws at the aristocracy in this book. It's so lovely. I love how idiotic and superficial she makes Sir Walter Elliot. The fact that his favorite book is his family's genealogy registry is just perfection. I also love the part where Elizabeth closes it and pushes it away because it reminds her of how old she is.

Chapter 3:

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I remember the paper I wrote about Persuasion was about how Austen's personal connections to the Royal Navy influenced how she depicts the Navy in this book. I think it goes farther than that though, as it's pretty clear she is making a strong comparison between the artificiality of the old aristocracy and the liberality and morality of the Navy. I think she's making an argument against the strict class lines in England that were already starting to crumble around the time she wrote this novel. I love the part where Sir Walter complains that he doesn't like the Navy because it is a "means of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction, and raising men to honours which their fathers or grandfathers never deamt of." In other words... commoners have to be treated like gentlemen and it sure rankles aristocrats like Sir Walter. The fact that a Naval Officer lives in his ancient posh house is just pure justice. I love it.

 

Yes, I definitely love all the Navy stuff going on. There are quite a lot of conversations about it. I'm up to chapter 12 right now after doing a bunch of chores yesterday. Anne thinks Captain Wentworth's Navy friends are awesome and thinks, "These would have been all of my friends!" I feel so sad for her.

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There's a good little discussion between Benwick and Anne that deals with depression - still good for nowadays, I think. One thing I really liked about this was that she mentions that people who are sensitive are people who seem to like poetry, but reading too much poetry written by like-minded sensitive people (I'm using "sensitive" here meaning people who feel strongly, have high and low emotions, not sure if that's the right word) can actually make it worse, and it would be better to change it up a bit and read stuff that isn't so much about strong feelings.

I've never studied Persuasion but I feel like there is so much good content to talk about in here.

Having the audiobook makes the convoluted sentences fun, but if you are distracted for a millisecond you can't follow.

 

It is so good. I never realized how much Austen describes Anne's feelings in the book. It's an emotional rollercoaster for her.

I'm at where Captain Wentworth just arrived in Bath. Soooo excited!

 

How did you like reading the annotated version? I've never read one of those, but I've always wanted to buy them.

I'm still at where Anne has just arrived at Bath but not Wentworth yet. I'll probably go ahead and finish things up today.

Oh and let me know how you like the 1971 mini-series, Tallan! That's the one I really want to watch since it's the only one I haven't seen. I might watch all of them though.

 

I finally got around to starting Persuasion. I'm three chapters in, and oh my, Sir Walter is so ridiculous.