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The Jane Austen Book Club

Seeing as I wrote about Jane Austen yesterday, I wanted to continue in that vein and write a bit more about an Austen spin-off I recently enjoyed. The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler was published in 2004, but I did not read it until this past summer.

This was a book I had been somewhat interested in, but never felt fully motivated to pick up. Last summer I finally checked it out of the library, and read it while traveling to visit a friend. I became instantly absorbed, and found the novel both humorous and moving. I thought Fowler created a novel that was both innovative and entertaining, and which borrowed from Jane Austen, while still remaining subtle and original. I felt like she was really able to capture Austen’s style and wit, while using her own voice to create fresh stories and characters.

The novel follows the formation of a book club in the Sacramento area—a group comprised of six members who plan to read and discuss Austen’s six novels. The group is made up of five women, and one man, and an adventure of love and self-discovery results for each member of the group. While each section begins as they meet for book club, I found the character “flashbacks” the most interesting and poignant parts of the novel.

I found The Jane Austen Book Club to be one of those novels that’s just a real pleasure to read, and I’d thoroughly recommend it. (Though, as a houseguest, I did wander off a bit in my eagerness to keep reading!)

The Complete Jane Austen

I heartily enjoy Jane Austen’s six novels (though I find Persuasion divine, and Sense and Sensibility merely good) and I also usually enjoy the manifold film and television representations of her stories. So I was quite excited for PBS’s new Masterpiece Theater season opening with The Complete Jane Austen—broadcasting adaptations of her six novels, along with a Jane Austen biopic. So far new ITV (a British channel) productions of Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park have aired. I’m not quite sure what to think.

If I love a book, I usually enjoy seeing an adaptation, even if I think it fails to fully capture the original. And one thing that I am frustrated by is how other ‘fans’ can often become a critical mob, eager to find faults, and unwilling to appreciate the unexpected or something that deviates slightly from their own vision. With these recent Austen adaptations I am a bit perplexed. I’ve read that they’ve trimmed down these versions to fit into a 90 minute running time. I know all the stories well, but I feel like if I didn’t I’d be quite confused. These seem less like complete stories than illustrated Cliffsnotes.

However, I don’t want to become too wacky of a fan. I studied English in college, and the late 18th century/early 19th century in particular, so I always felt a bit self-conscious about the zaniness of Austen-maniacs. In addition to film and television, there’s a whole cottage industry of spin-off books.

What do you think about Austen adaptations? How about the PBS series? And do you ever feel chagrin when you see your fellow fans (whatever your topic of interest might be)?

And another thing about “Little House”

So how did Pa manage to avoid the draft during the Civil War? Apparently two of his brothers served in the Union army. I promise that’s all I will blog on this topic here!!

Laura Ingalls Wilder, anyone?

I was talking with Hillary Corbett a couple of weeks ago about the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, which I am rereading with my 10-year old. I mentioned how well they are holding up over time, and Hillary observed that you see different things in them when you read them as adults. Little incongruities raise new questions, some of the events have a different cast once you’ve taken a few history classes. For me, what I notice is what a real character Pa is. Clearly Ingalls wanted to honor him, and I can understand that. For example, he is an incredible carpenter with skills ranging from being able to build a log cabin to being able to carve a delicate wall bracket. Second, he’s a musician with hundreds of songs in his repertoire. Third, he obviously has a sixth sense about how to communicate without words, with animals and with Native Americans. But there’s a little dark side, too, he’s really restless and can’t seem to stay in one place more than a couple of years, even at the expense of his family’s comfort and prosperity he seems very impulsive about moving around. Ma clearly doesn’t like it but she always just goes along, which really bugs me, too. Hillary said she’s curious about Dr. Tan in Little House on the Prairie. He’s the first black man Laura sees, and he is said to be “a doctor with the Indians.” What’s up with that? Were the Osage in the practice of hiring African Americans to provide them with healthcare? Was it a government program? And has anyone researched him as a person? Here’s my burning question: why did Pa go to Osage territory? Who is “a man in Washington” who told him it would be OK to settle there, which it clearly wasn’t. Did he feel guilty when he realized that the government was going to honor its Indian treaty, is that why he was so anxious to leave even before the soldiers came to resettle them? There are a LOT of web sites about the little house books, here are two I found in which the authors appear to know what they’re talking about: http://www.pioneergirl.com (click on “my blog” at the bottom) http://extras.denverpost.com/books/chap141.htm (an excerpt from Miller’s “Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder” ) About Dr. Tan–turns out he’s really Dr. George Tann and is buried in the Mt. Hope Cemetary in Independence. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/Seafarer/travel-in-the-usa/stepping-inside-the-little-house-on-the-prairie.html

Book Clubs

Even though I really love to read, I’ve never been part of a sustained, organized book club. One of my favorite elements of college was the discussion sections for my English classes. I enjoy thinking about aspects of a text, analyzing them, and also getting to hear what others thought. Of my friends who’ve been part of book clubs, the general consensus seems to be, that after the first meeting or so, no one usually ends up reading the book, and the get-togethers become more haphazard and purely social affairs (which can also be fun, but deviate from the original goal.)

I’ve thought about trying to start a book club at the library. Do you think that students would want to participate, or are they too entrenched in their own studies, to want to pick up additional reading? Do you think library staff, or other faculty and staff from the Northeastern community would be interested? And how narrow of a book club topic yields the best inquiry?