In one of the more bizarre editorials this Cub Reporter has ever read, Hugh Mackay of the Sydney Morning Herald opines that the whole “universal literacy” thing is so 1999.

Yet in our enthusiasm for the idea that everyone should be able to read and write fluently, we may be missing a crucial point: in today’s culture, finely honed literacy skills are simply not as important as they once were. Important for those who appreciate the joys of reading, yes; important for those whose work demands literacy, yes; but no longer essential for making your way in the world.

In support of this (ahem) unique opinion, he conscripts our own Miss Austen:

Far more people have enjoyed Jane Austen’s work on television than will ever read her books. Who’s to say it is “better” to read Austen than to see her work dramatised on the screen? Better for some; infinitely more tedious and unappealing for others.

Words, unimportant though they may be, fail me.

The Financial Times offers a brief review of A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen, by Richard Jenkyns.

Not a biography, more a close-read study, A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen (OUP £12.99) is a beautifully crafted essay by Richard Jenkyns. The author has a huge love for his subject, but since Austen’s work reflects her milieu with such a clear mirror, her personality and life circumstances are inevitably brought into focus too. In chapters such as “A Park with a View” and “The Sense Sensibility”, Jenkyns provides information for beginners and insights for experts. This is a small and elegant Christmas present for all enthusiasts.

Hmm…a small and elegant Christmas present for all enthusiasts. Perhaps I should dash off a quick note to Santa.

The Biography Channel (not A&E) will be airing the Jane Austen episode of BIOGRAPHY on Jane’s birthday, December 16, at 9 p.m. ET/PT and again in the wee hours of December 17 at 1 a.m. ET/PT. A description of the program from the Biography.com site:

A look at the life of the British author whose imagination produced some of literature’s greatest stories. Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote two literary classics–Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice–before she turned 21. And although she never married, she led a happy and active life, seemingly untouched by the dramatic incidents that filled her characters’ lives.

CITY GIRLS, a musical based on SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (set in modern America), opened last weekend at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts in Sand Lake, NY (Rensselaer County). The Troy Record has an interview with the musical’s creator, Diane Doring.

Though pleased with the general reaction to opening weekend, she is ecstatic about the positive response she is getting from people who tell her they are Jane Austen fanatics.
“I am a rabid Jane Austen fan, and I know the people who like her work really like her work. When they come up to me - seek me out, really - and tell me how much they like the work and how I’ve kept to the truth of the novel, it’s very pleasing and satisfying.”
She calls “City Girls” a romantic comedy. Essentially, the story is about two sisters who each have a relationship that ends badly.

As always, if you should see this production, send us your review!

Richard and Judy, hosts of the UK Channel 4 show “Richard and Judy” have announced their shortlist for the best reads of 2004, and “The Jane Austen Book Club” by Karen Joy Fowler is on it.
The book has also made the New York Times list of the 100 Notable Books of the Year, Good Housekeeping’s Top 20 list of Christmas Gifts, and The Austrailian’s Books of the Year list.

As Bridget Jones would say, “an excellent year’s progress.”