We previously posted about Susanna Clarke, author of the (wonderful) Regency-set fantasy Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, being an F.O.J., but Alert Janeite (and Brontëite) Cristina of BrontëBlog sent us a link from Ms. Clarke’s site in which she is more specific about her enjoyment of Jane.

What are your five favourite books, and why?
Emma by Jane Austen. It is the cleverest of books. I especially love the dialogue — every speech reveals the characters’ obsessions and preoccupations, yet it remains perfectly natural. Emma lacks many of the qualities that one would imagine a book needs to make it compelling. True, some fairly dramatic things happen (a young woman is torn between an illicit romance which may make her happy, and her duty which will surely make her miserable) — but the heroine manages to miss pretty much all of them — so the reader does too. The central conflict and romance is not in the least melodramatic, but it is absolutely gripping. And none of the characters is malicious. Even in Jane Austen there is usually one character with a little wickedness, but here there is only very ordinary vulgarity and selfishness.

[. . .]

Who are your five favourite authors, and why?
Jane Austen who got as close to perfection as anyone can.

We think this part bears repeating:

The central conflict and romance is not in the least melodramatic, but it is absolutely gripping.

That’s the genius of Jane Austen in a nutshell: making the everyday extraordinary.

Now that the Editrix has been outed as having Minions at her command, all she wants are some sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads! No more chocolate till we get the sharks! Throw us a bone here!

In its first week of wide(r) release in the U.S., PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was seventh at the box office, grossing $7.2 million over the weekend. And Premiere magazine thinks Keira Knightley will get an Oscar nomination for her performance.

Alert Janeite Kira (not Keira, DOWN fanboys!) wrote to tell us that THAT Keira is on the cover of the December issue of Vogue magazine, with an accompanying story in which she talks a little about P&P.

And for those still on a post-cinematic high from the film who can’t quite understand why anyone could possibly dislike the film, Rebecca Mazzei in the Detroit Metro Times does a pretty good job of summing up the sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction that some of us (not all, we hasten to add!) have experienced.