Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Book Review for Jane Austen Fans



Northanger Abbey is by Jane Austen and, while I didn't like it as well as Pride and Prejudice, it was "tolerable I suppose". No, if you can handle a bunch of shallow people with a couple of genuine, innocent people thrown in, trying to make a perfect (by that read wealthy) match, it's funny. I like to imagine my husband living in that time period as a wealthy man. I think he would have ended up in an insane assylum after someone saying to him "I would love that above all things" more than once and obviously without really meaning it. Okay, maybe that wouldn't do it but being forced to attend balls night after night might. This book is a satire and is meant to be funny so laughing is okay.

The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Althea Darcy is by Elizabeth Aston who has studied the time period and Jane Austen and is, I believe, a Jane Austen wanna be. She writes stories about the Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett Darcy family (those are the characters in Pride and Prejudice for those who have missed the book and the many versions of the movie). Her writing is interesting but is not what Jane Austen would have written. Every character is immoral. And in some cases the immorality seems to be applauded or approved of by the author. While some of Jane Austen's characters may also be assumed to have been immoral, she would not have pointed it out and written about it so blatantly. It would have been so subtle as to be almost not noticeable. In this book one character is "shocked" to find the other at a house of ill repute (even though they are both there searching out a murder suspect). She suspects him of being there to use the "services" of the ladies. He is shocked and offended that she would think he would do that -- but I couldn't figure out why he would be shocked. He had a mistress for five years and he admitted to having had a dalliance with one of the ladies of the disreputable house when he was young. Hmm. The plot keeps you going but I was disappointed in all of the characters for their lack of moral character, so I can't recommend it.

7 comments:

Megz said...

Thanks for the book reviews. But if you can't recommend the second, then why make me all curious about the dalliances? I just love that word. I just read Grisham's The Appeal and found it legally interesting though too freakin' left wing. It's no fun to read a fictional tale if it's so obvious a liberal wrote it. That's my review since I got derided for the one I actually did on my blog once.

Sherie Christensen said...

Megz, maybe you should try again. I never got to see your book review. Besides, as the reviewer you can have whatever opinion you want -- though I'd have a hard time risking derision too.

cold cocoa said...

Megan- you read it after my book review said not to? So much for trying to be helpful.
Sherie, I just can't do Jane Austen. She is just too mundanely conversational for me. Even when I see a Jane Austen type flick on PBS I try, try try to watch but I just don't get the hype. I do applaud you though. I am reading "The Atonement" (on page 5) and it actually quotes that first book your reviewed in the beginning. I hope the book isn't bad because it is rated R in the movies.

LC said...

I'm just proud of you all for reading books. Brandon took it upon himself the other day to check out some books for me at the library. He obviously thought I might be at risk for becoming illiterate. I read one and it was pretty fun...probably I'll even do a book review about it one of these days...

LC said...

Where is that photo from on the top of your blog...that is SOOOOOO inviting.

Sherie Christensen said...

It's a picture Derek took in Haiti.

Diana said...

i get mad that everyone tries to write jane austen books when they are not nearly clever enough. and that one article i read about her was about her lewd sense of humor. probably your modern day author wrote that one!