Susanna Clarke: Friend of Jane, redux
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.
November 29th, 2005 at 10:38 am
Until I had read Emma, in fact I should say re-read Emma, I didnt realize what an absolute masterpiece it was. It was that day that Pride & Prejudice gave way to this book.
It’s amazing how every little action, reaction, speech and happenstance speaks volumes about characters and their true motives.
November 29th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
very gratifying indeed, to hear emma so praised.
it’s my favorite book too, but anyway - it’s great to see that there are still 5 other great books apart from p&p.
November 29th, 2005 at 5:28 pm
Er…yes, what she said. That’s why I love Emma. Very well said.
This is why I have such a tough time explaining Austenlove to my husband. He doesn’t complain about watching the movies with me, but he always says they’re predictable. Well, yes, the basic love story plotline is extremely predictable. He thinks I love them for the romance, and they *are* romantic, of course, but…
You just can’t explain it to someone who hasn’t read the books.
November 29th, 2005 at 7:54 pm
This is eerily similar to the crux of a conversation I had at a dinner party on Sunday. A woman there who teaches at a boarding school said she and her husband were reading “Jane Austen Book Club” together, and this naturally led into a discussion of the most recent P&P, the Bollywood P&P, and the various other recent permutations of Jane.
We were talking about WHY Jane seems to remain so relevant and so inspirational so many years after her death, given that so many other authors are considered quaint and of historic interest, but not continually updated, remade, and sighed over.
My contention, which met with widespread approval, btw, was that as opposed to many other authors we read nowadays, Jane Austen to speaks to every single person.
We all have to figure out which people in our lives can be trusted, and which cannot. Who can be a true friend, and who is just an amusing companion to spend time with but who would betray you or cast you aside if something better came along. How to put up with embarrassing family members, and still honor and love them. How to choose a mate who will be best for you, among several choices. Which is really the BEST company?
I think every woman can find herself in at least one of Jane Austen’s female characters, even if it’s not a main character. Many women really are Charlotte Lucas, for example, and there is a certain dignity and grace to that. Some of us marry a Knightly or a Edward Ferrars or a Colonel Brandon. Others are deceived by the charms of a Willoughby or a Wickham, or taken in by the intimate familiarity of a William Walter Elliot, to our dismay.
She doesn’t need drugs, or guns, or car chases. Her books aren’t like that, and life isn’t like that, for most of us.
I think Jane’s wry and insightful social observations will NEVER grow stale, and will continue to furnish a wellspring of creative inspiration to all who seek to make sense of everyday life.
November 29th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Very nicely put!
I see what you mean. Austen does seem to show us the plethora of company we have to choose fron, along with the relationships we could end-up in.
Further, I think it takes an experienced mind that has lived an observant, thinking life to appreciate what Austen is portraying (not to say that men don’t fall into this category- although per the statistics of how few like her, apparently many of them don’t)
December 1st, 2005 at 1:36 am
I agree with many of the things you ladies say. I also love JA for her observations of human interactions and her ability to portray our species in all its wonder, banality, cruelty etc.
I am also wondering whether you think that the current popular appeal of her work is partly due to a certain complacency on our part. That sometimes we are so sure of knowing what she means that we appropriate her works for our own means. I’ve heard it said that she was ahead of her time. When you think about it, this type of comment is less of a compliment to her own themes and unique writing style than to us. I’ve also heard people say that her female characters are attractive because they are headstrong, tough etc. That was part of the marketing for this film (not slagging it, P&P3 lovers). I thought towards the end, I distinctly heard KK’s Lizzy say something about how she and Darcy are perfectly equals. However, this is not the reason given in the book, is it? Equality is not the same as respect. So why do we import this very important quality of our time into JA? Why do we tame JA to fit our own world?
I’m also guilty of complacency. I’ve just started reading NA because of Mags’ other wonderful site, Tilney and Trapdoors. I’m only on chapter 3 but it feels like I’m discovering Austen again- I’m particularly captivated by her playfulness. So that’s another reason why I love her- not only is she a keen observer of human interactions but she does it in such a cunning manner.
December 2nd, 2005 at 1:07 am
NA is a funny book and a brilliant parody. It’s shamefully ignored and slighted by the so-called experts IMO.