“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
Henry Tilney said so, so you know it must be true.
Alert Janeite Kelly sent us a link to Bookshelves of Doom’s review of the upcoming novel Austenland by Shannon Hale, including an excerpt from the novel, one part of which made the Editrix’s eyebrows raise so high that Dorothy positively ran for the teapot.
Sure, Jane had first read Pride and Prejudice when she was sixteen, read it a dozen times since, and read all the other Austen novels at least twice, except Northanger Abbey (of course).
Of course? What the Frederick Tilney is that supposed to mean? Does the Editrix have to Cluebat a bi–a person?
But it wasn’t until the BBC put a face on the story that those gentlemen in tight breeches had stepped out of her reader’s imagination and into her nonfiction hopes. Stripped of Austen’s funny, insightful, biting narrator, the movie became a pure romance. And Pride and Prejudice was the most stunning, bite-your-hand romance ever, the kind that stared straight into Jane’s soul and made her shudder.
What a picture of intellectual poverty. (We’re using that line an awful lot lately. But that Mr. Tilney, he’s so quotable! Not that “Jane” would know!)
April 12th, 2007 at 3:55 am
*cringes*
April 12th, 2007 at 8:19 am
And now, “Austenland” has official been removed from my Amazon wishlist.
April 12th, 2007 at 9:08 am
That should say “officially”
Oh the perils of rushing!
April 12th, 2007 at 9:31 am
*scratches head* Hand-bitting romance? No Northanger Abbey? Surely this is a farce of some kind. And… we’re supposed to be glad there’s no snark? Yes, this has to be a joke.
April 12th, 2007 at 9:49 am
You know, I am normally an advocate for fan fiction, but if I’d ever feel the urge to read something about an insipid, stupid heroine …
Well, I guess that won’t happen.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
…except Northanger Abbey (of course).
There is a subset in the Austen community that separates Northanger Abbey from the other five novels and considers it not only inferior but also not worth reading. This really pisses me off. Pardon my French, ladies. I consider NA to be… no, strike that. NA is the most scintillating of Jane’s novels. And she herself saw this coming—“Alas! If the heroine of one novel be not patronized by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?”
…Stripped of Austen’s funny, insightful, biting narrator, the movie became a pure romance. And Pride and Prejudice was the most stunning, bite-your-hand romance ever…
Mr Davies, doing more damage than we can ever imagine. I guess he has his purpose—catering to the simple-minded crowd. Damn zombies.
April 12th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I managed to get an advance copy of the book and stopped reading somewhere around page 28. Seems like Hale is not a true Janeite - she’s pandering to those who put down Northanger Abbey.
I was really looking forward to this book and was thus very disappointed. She uses language which shouldn’t be associated with a novel that tries to evoke an Austenesque atmosphere. The language should, while not sounding like Regency English, nonetheless have an elegance. It’s just way too casual and, at least on one occasion, crude.
…a young woman who dreams of Darcy inherits a Regency-themed vacation where love might bloom - Such a good idea. Such a lost opportunity.
Glad others noticed.
April 12th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
The whole P&P/Darcy/Firth obsession meme is so 2002, anyway.
April 12th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
While Nature & Spirit cover many sins of a wandering story it appears to me that Austenland is yet one more piece of raffishness. I, however, am not in raptures.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:23 am
I read all of AUSTENLAND and enjoyed it, pretty much. The main character doesn’t inherit a Jane Austen theme park — she goes to stay at one to cure herself of her Darcy/Firth obsession, and succeeds through meeting a couple of nice men and playing the Austen heroine game of “Which man is the right one for me?” The only problem was that, because this does take place at an Austen theme park, and the heroine has a real life and job back in the States, it all felt a bit unreal and toothless — there weren’t any consequences (moral, financial, etc.) for her failure, as there are in the Austen heroines’ choices. Still, it was a pleasant entertainment, and fun to imagine what life *would* be like in such a theme park . . . I’m sure it will be a whole section in “BBC/Past Times World” whenever they build it.
April 13th, 2007 at 12:25 am
I’m sorry, I misquoted Jemima above — I thought she said the heroine (Jane, natch) inherited the theme park, and not just a vacation. This is what I get for posting after midnight!
April 13th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
I also read an advanced copy of Austenlad and enjoyed it. But that might be because I am a 32-year-old in search of my Mr. Darcy, so it was very easy to relate to the heroine. And in Hale’s defense, I had read Pride and Prejudice at 16, and didn’t love it. It wasn’t until I met Mr.Firth as Mr. Darcy that my eyes were opened to the true brilliance of Jane. Shallow, I know, but true. I have since read all her novels numerous times, and LOVE them. But I probably wouldn’t have, had it not been for Colin Firth.
April 15th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Hear, hear, Molly!