I just finished Persuasion, by Jane Austen. I loved it, of course. My friend Robyn claims it is her favorite Austen and I had never read it before, so when it caught my eye at the library the other day, I finally picked it up. I have a tendency to read books too fast and end up skimming; that's a bit difficult with an Austen because you lose the wit and nuance of the story if you read too quickly. Anne Elliot is not my favorite heroine, but I cannot argue that she is not sensible and intelligent. I did not know any of the plot before reading the book, so it was fun to have it unfold as I worked my way through it. Mark thinks Jane Austen is a bit formulaic. I guess maybe it is a bit predictable, but it is a romance, so it has to end right; there is no way around it. At least her books are clever romances. I do wonder if many men are Jane Austen fans??
My only issue with her books is that I do not like the ending lines. At all. I really want there to be a clever, romantic, witty musing as the last line but there doesn't ever seem to be. I must not be an informed enough reader to understand the pacing and content of the the last paragraph or so of her novels. Sara L-- my literary reference friend--what am I missing??? They always seem a little bland after the high note of the reconciliation. In Persuasion, all the last line pretty much says was that being married to a sea captain was worrisome in times of war. Hmmm. How about a punchy, romantic ending for our book Jane Austen, instead of the dreary reality of an actual marriage. Not that marriage is dreary! I didn't mean that. Just that all novels are somewhat escapist (Or at least the ones I like to read). Just end on 'Happily Ever After'; which if you haven't noticed, is how all the film adaptations end, which belays my point that we all love the fairytale.
And here is news that I didn't know. There was a 2007 film adaptation of Persuasion (I heard the previous '90's version was a bit weak-sauce, but I haven't seen it for myself). Let me know if any of you have it---or are heading to the Amazon site to buy it for yourself right . . . . now.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Persuasion
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3 comments:
this is one austin that i have never read. i will have to tackle it and maybe we can watch the flick together.
Okay, since I was honored with being mentioned as your "literary friend" I guess I better comment! Although I wouldn't really consider myself literary anymore--that seems like another life for me lately! Anyway, I've never really thought about the blah endings in Austen's books, but here's a go...maybe they are more polital than literary statements. Jane Austen's books are so wonderful because she subtly points out and protests the plight of women in her day without drawing attention to herself as what we would call a "feminist." There were only a very few women at that time that blatantly called for women's education, rights, etc., and those who did were seen as heretics, hysterical, or insane. (One of them was Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Shelley who wrote Frankenstein). Maybe Jane Austen is subtly trying to point out that marriage was more like the end of life, rather than the start of a new and exciting life, since married women had even fewer rights than single women. Notice that most literature doesn't discuss happy married couples--most married women in literature of the time are seen as ridiculous, nagging, or evil. Married life for most women was dreary--the most exciting part of life was what happened in the courting stages up to the marriage. Well, for what it's worth...I think I will read Persuasion again soon!
Thank you so much my very-much-a-litery-friend. You taught me well today. :)
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