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carmenna's review against another edition
3.0
Il Ricordo di Jane Austen scritto dal nipote James Edward è una delle testimonianze più complete e attendibili che possediamo riguardo alla scrittrice inglese.
Ho trovato interessanti le informazioni riguardo al suo background, e, già solo dopo due capitoli, mi sono ritrovata, inaspettatamente, a sentirmi commossa nel leggere della vita di questa donna, soprattutto del suo amore per i bambini.
Ho apprezzato particolarmente le memorie di Anna Lefroy e Caroline Austen poste alla fine del volume.
Da segnalare la quantità di interessati note di cui è corredato il volume tradotto da Giuseppe Ierolli (e fruibile gratuitamente online).
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.com/2020/04/persuasion-screenplay-ricordo-di-jane-austen-longbourn-s-songbird.html
Ho trovato interessanti le informazioni riguardo al suo background, e, già solo dopo due capitoli, mi sono ritrovata, inaspettatamente, a sentirmi commossa nel leggere della vita di questa donna, soprattutto del suo amore per i bambini.
Ho apprezzato particolarmente le memorie di Anna Lefroy e Caroline Austen poste alla fine del volume.
Da segnalare la quantità di interessati note di cui è corredato il volume tradotto da Giuseppe Ierolli (e fruibile gratuitamente online).
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.com/2020/04/persuasion-screenplay-ricordo-di-jane-austen-longbourn-s-songbird.html
alexandraemjly's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
While being wonderfully appreciative of both the personal and literary value of Jane Austen, this biography oftentimes strays from the matter at hand and unnecessarily reproduces in full many letters and quotations. A more selective approach would make the book more succinct and flow better.
kacie_08's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
manglitter's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars in respect of J.A
I decided to read this book for the July Jane Austen as my read a non-fiction work about J.A or her time and also because I wanted to read this book for such a long time but I ended up not really liking it mainly because I felt like it wasn't really the Jane Austen that I know about and that I love who is portrayed in this book.
It felt overdone with some irrelevant informations not about Jane but about His little recollections of everything at that time and then about dear aunt Jane whom he was portraying her more as a kind of a pious saint woman with no faults.
Anyway, I discovered Jane Austen since 2005 and all this time I've read and watched an amount of things about her life and her character, so I kind of think that I know her a little somehow. Here, it looks like he is talking about his dear domestic old grandma!! I'm disappointed by this book written by a male chauvenist clergyman and not someone who really knew who was Jane Austen. I mean, has he really read all her books? Or,do you think that he took long walks with her while sharing their thoughts about things?
I decided to read this book for the July Jane Austen as my read a non-fiction work about J.A or her time and also because I wanted to read this book for such a long time but I ended up not really liking it mainly because I felt like it wasn't really the Jane Austen that I know about and that I love who is portrayed in this book.
It felt overdone with some irrelevant informations not about Jane but about His little recollections of everything at that time and then about dear aunt Jane whom he was portraying her more as a kind of a pious saint woman with no faults.
Anyway, I discovered Jane Austen since 2005 and all this time I've read and watched an amount of things about her life and her character, so I kind of think that I know her a little somehow. Here, it looks like he is talking about his dear domestic old grandma!! I'm disappointed by this book written by a male chauvenist clergyman and not someone who really knew who was Jane Austen. I mean, has he really read all her books? Or,do you think that he took long walks with her while sharing their thoughts about things?
minniesmiscellanies's review
4.0
4*
By now, the various family "biographies" of Austen have become more valuable for their lessons on hagiography and distortion rather than the quality of information they provide (even though they are doubtlessly the most important of the precious few accounts we have on Austen's life), which I thought Sutherland did a very good job at highlighting in her introduction and notes. I thoroughly enjoyed this as a collection of edited works, not so much for their own worth - although it is charming to imagine Austen in her private moments, stylised though they may be -, but to see how different the image we get from reading her letters is from the one her family worked so hard to carve out of a completely unyielding material.
By now, the various family "biographies" of Austen have become more valuable for their lessons on hagiography and distortion rather than the quality of information they provide (even though they are doubtlessly the most important of the precious few accounts we have on Austen's life), which I thought Sutherland did a very good job at highlighting in her introduction and notes. I thoroughly enjoyed this as a collection of edited works, not so much for their own worth - although it is charming to imagine Austen in her private moments, stylised though they may be -, but to see how different the image we get from reading her letters is from the one her family worked so hard to carve out of a completely unyielding material.
clairen's review
2.0
Mah, da una parte non si può pretendere che sia diverso da ciò che è, una sorta di agiografia diminutiva che si preoccupa di far notare le virtù religiose e le qualità di piegatrice di lettere (prima che esistessero le buste adesive!!), dall'altra è insopportabile, restituisce una Jane Austen veramente tame ed è in sostanza molto, molto noioso, soprattutto considerando il fatto che esistono tanti libri sulla vita della Nostra che possono dare queste informazioni e molte altre e che sono scritti in modo di gran lunga migliore.
E poi fa molta tristezza vedere un'autrice di questa grandezza la cui scrittura viene paragonata ai suoi ricami. Avete di fronte roba come Orgoglio e Pregiudizio e vi premurate di farci sapere che sapeva ricamare? Vabbe' ripeto, cosa ci si poteva aspettare di diverso.
La Oxford fa del suo meglio per renderlo un volume interessante ma sta di fatto che il tempo sarebbe stato meglio speso a rileggere Emma, ché sono passati anni.
E poi fa molta tristezza vedere un'autrice di questa grandezza la cui scrittura viene paragonata ai suoi ricami. Avete di fronte roba come Orgoglio e Pregiudizio e vi premurate di farci sapere che sapeva ricamare? Vabbe' ripeto, cosa ci si poteva aspettare di diverso.
La Oxford fa del suo meglio per renderlo un volume interessante ma sta di fatto che il tempo sarebbe stato meglio speso a rileggere Emma, ché sono passati anni.
ehmannky's review
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
3.5
I think this is an interesting insight into Austen's Victorian relatives and the differences between the Regency and the Victorian era. Like the embarrassment and disdain that the younger generations felt over the fact that Henry Austen included the fact that his sister had entertained her relatives on her death bed with a silly rhyme or how absolutely determined they were to ensure that everyone thought that she was a Good Pious Christian Woman Who Respected The Church. The annotations were incredibly useful. I don't know if this would be of any interest to a general reader, but if you are an avid Austen fan than it's probably worth a read.
I did find all of the details about how good she was with young kids, how she was talented with games like the ball and cup, told everyone fairy stories, and that kids just sort of followed her around at Chawton, incredibly charming. Those were the parts I found uniquely valuable and I wish Austen Leigh spent more time with those instead of going off on snobbish tangents about their obscure aristocratic past or trying to convince everyone his aunt was a Good Pious Christian Woman Who Respected The Church.
I did find all of the details about how good she was with young kids, how she was talented with games like the ball and cup, told everyone fairy stories, and that kids just sort of followed her around at Chawton, incredibly charming. Those were the parts I found uniquely valuable and I wish Austen Leigh spent more time with those instead of going off on snobbish tangents about their obscure aristocratic past or trying to convince everyone his aunt was a Good Pious Christian Woman Who Respected The Church.
kristin's review
4.0
This is an interesting little book that gives you a big insight into who Jane Austen was as a person. The descriptions of her appearance, beliefs and achievements help you to understand her better and make you feel as if you knew her.
It's very apparent that her character allowed her to be 'the most astute observer of the human heart'.
It's also interesting to see which parts of her life appear in her books, as you go along you can work out what inspired her to write certain people and to put certain events in.
I love that there are rare pieces of her writing, her letters, an original ending to persuasion an that she did actually speak about what became of her characters after the books.
'Miss Steele never succeeded in catching the Doctor; that Kitty Bennet was satisfactorily married to a clergyman near Pemberley, while Mary obtained nothing higher than one of her uncle Philip’s clerks, and was content to be considered a star in the society of Meriton; that the ‘considerable sum’ given by Mrs. Norris to William Price was one pound; that Mr. Woodhouse survived his daughter’s marriage, and kept her and Mr. Knightley from settling at Donwell, about two years; and that the letters placed by Frank Churchill before Jane Fairfax, which she swept away unread, contained the word ‘pardon.’
It's very apparent that her character allowed her to be 'the most astute observer of the human heart'.
It's also interesting to see which parts of her life appear in her books, as you go along you can work out what inspired her to write certain people and to put certain events in.
I love that there are rare pieces of her writing, her letters, an original ending to persuasion an that she did actually speak about what became of her characters after the books.
'Miss Steele never succeeded in catching the Doctor; that Kitty Bennet was satisfactorily married to a clergyman near Pemberley, while Mary obtained nothing higher than one of her uncle Philip’s clerks, and was content to be considered a star in the society of Meriton; that the ‘considerable sum’ given by Mrs. Norris to William Price was one pound; that Mr. Woodhouse survived his daughter’s marriage, and kept her and Mr. Knightley from settling at Donwell, about two years; and that the letters placed by Frank Churchill before Jane Fairfax, which she swept away unread, contained the word ‘pardon.’
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