Jane Addiction
USAToday has a feature article on Jane Austen today, in which the eternal question once again is examined: Why Jane Austen?
Plain Jane is suddenly a babe.
There’s no denying that Jane Austen, brilliant early-19th-century spinster novelist, is Paris-Hilton hot, circa 2007.
New rule: Comparisons of Jane Austen To That Hilton Creature Will Result In Application of Cluebat, With Extreme Prejudice.
Sadly, poor Jane Austen may have never gotten to first base in real life.
Sigh.
And Mr. Darcy. There is an entire sub-genre of sequels that bring Elizabeth Bennet’s husband into sharper focus. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife (2004) and Darcy & Elizabeth (2006), by Linda Berdoll, are the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling Pride and Prejudice sequels, according to publisher Sourcebooks.
*weeps*
But it all begins, and ends, with Austen. “She’s almost eerily contemporary despite the bonnets, the balls and the carriages, because she’s so keen and hilarious an observer of human nature,” says author Laurie Viera Rigler. “To me, it’s as if she’s a modern-day psychotherapist who time-traveled back to the Regency period and writes a novel about everyone who spent time on her couch.”
At last: A voice of reason. (Thank you, Laurie.)
There also are articles on some of the recent Austen-related novels and an excerpt from Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.
Thanks to Alert Janeites Lisa and Kirsten for the links!
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
“New rule: Comparisons of Jane Austen To That Hilton Creature Will Result In Application of Cluebat, With Extreme Prejudice.”
I disagree. Comparisons of Jane with that Stupid Insignificant Odious Nothingness should be met with a referral to a mental institution for life, or ripping out their tongue and cutting off their fingers so they can never do something so hideous again.
August 2nd, 2007 at 5:44 pm
If you can get past the first half of this article, get past AH’s “expert” opinions, get past rave reviews of “the #1 and #2 best-selling sequels” … then I think you’ll see that the second half is an excellently written piece on Jane Austen’s eternal appeal!