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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
slow-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It is quite incredible to read stories written by teenager Austen, who already had wit, and clear opinions on the flaws of the society, and a critical view of it all
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A lovely book to see how Jane Austen’s perceptive writing we know now developed.
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Jack and Alice - This is one of Austen’s early writings, only about nine chapters and fairly short. I can’t believe Austen was only 12 when she started these writings. Already you can see the drama and humor come through in her short stories that she masters in her novels later in life.
Edgar and Emma - This is a very short “novel” (three chapters) that is part of Austen’s juvenilia writings. It’s very short but there’s a lot of humor and drama packed into a few pages. Emma is smitten with a boy named Edgar who we never really meet, but the story ends up with her crying for the “remainder of her Life” for not being able to be with him. It’s very clear that already Austen was so witty and poked fun at overly dramatic people, particularly women. This wasn’t quite as dramatic as Jack and Alice, but still funny.
Henry and Eliza - This stories are just so bizarre. In this one, a girl named Eliza is adopted after being found in a grove by a couple but is then cast out when she is found stealing a bank note. She then manages an affair with a Dutchess’s husband and they marry and run away and the Dutchess sends 300 men after her. After escaping Henry dies and Eliza returns only to be imprisoned with her two children and she escapes but then has to find a way to get food because her children EAT HER FINGERS??? Anyway she runs into the couple that adopted her only for them to remember that Eliza is, actually, their own daughter. What in the heck.
The Beautifull Cassandra: This is a very short 12-chapter “novel” by Austen that follows a girl and her bonnet on a day out in the city with no money. This was less gruesome and more just cute and clever.
The Three Sisters: This one by far had the most comparisons to Pride and Prejudice, in my opinion. It follows three sisters, Mary, Sophy and Georgiana. Mary has been proposed to by a Mr. Watts but she hates him. But she doesn’t want to say no because if she does he’ll ask to marry one of her younger sisters, and she doesn’t want them to get married first. So she accepts the marriage but complains about it constantly. It was a funny short piece where you can see some of her latter pieces shining through.
“Love and Freindship” - This is the longest of what I’ve read so far, following a woman named Laura who is writing letters to the daughter of her friend about her life and basically the misfortunes she’s experienced. It accounts how a man shows up seeking shelter and she marries him, leaving her parents, only to have them both die shortly after, and then her husband disappears and when she sees him again he dies in her arms, and then her friend who she’s been traveling with dies as well. There’s also a lot of fainting involved and it sounds as though Austen was poking fun at her main character and woman and fainting in general. There were some parts that were just so bizarre they made me laugh, which I guess was the point.
Catherine, or the Bower: This is the second longest piece in this Love and Friendship collection of Austen’s early works. It follows a girl named Catherine, or Kitty, who misses being social as two of her friends are moved away. Her aunt is quite dreadful in that she prevents Kitty from really socializing with anyone. When a ball comes around Kitty has a toothache and stays home only to find that Edward, the son of a wealthy family, shows up to her house after arriving home from France and convinces her to go see his family with him. At the ball some members of his family are upset that her status is “elevated” by Edward’s attention and she gets a scolding from her aunt. (It reminds me of Austen’s later works, which always seems to have a grumpy older lady.) Her aunt tells Edward’s family that he has to leave, and eventually he does, leaving Kitty stricken, but Edward’s sister Camilla tells her he was very much in love with her and Kitty is satisfied. The story ends there, as Austen never finished it.
“Lady Susan” - This was the longest story in the book and it was certainly... interesting. It’s about a woman named Lady Susan who is widowed in her thirties and she’s all around a big, as the characters put it, “flirt.” She has an affair with a married man and is also mean to her teenage daughter, trying to force her to marry a man she doesn’t want to marry and shipping her off to boarding school when she refuses to. Her daughter, Frederica, tries to run away but is stopped and sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who love their niece but despise Lady Susan. All the while Lady Susan is trying to marry this Reginald man, and it’s super weird because Frederica also likes him. But Reginald is blinded by Lady Susan and can’t see who she really is. Finally, he finds about the affair and he turns his back on her. Lady Susan - ironically - marries the man she was trying to force her daughter to marry. It was so bizarre that it’s practically comical. I think there was a movie based off this that I want to watch.
Edgar and Emma - This is a very short “novel” (three chapters) that is part of Austen’s juvenilia writings. It’s very short but there’s a lot of humor and drama packed into a few pages. Emma is smitten with a boy named Edgar who we never really meet, but the story ends up with her crying for the “remainder of her Life” for not being able to be with him. It’s very clear that already Austen was so witty and poked fun at overly dramatic people, particularly women. This wasn’t quite as dramatic as Jack and Alice, but still funny.
Henry and Eliza - This stories are just so bizarre. In this one, a girl named Eliza is adopted after being found in a grove by a couple but is then cast out when she is found stealing a bank note. She then manages an affair with a Dutchess’s husband and they marry and run away and the Dutchess sends 300 men after her. After escaping Henry dies and Eliza returns only to be imprisoned with her two children and she escapes but then has to find a way to get food because her children EAT HER FINGERS??? Anyway she runs into the couple that adopted her only for them to remember that Eliza is, actually, their own daughter. What in the heck.
The Beautifull Cassandra: This is a very short 12-chapter “novel” by Austen that follows a girl and her bonnet on a day out in the city with no money. This was less gruesome and more just cute and clever.
The Three Sisters: This one by far had the most comparisons to Pride and Prejudice, in my opinion. It follows three sisters, Mary, Sophy and Georgiana. Mary has been proposed to by a Mr. Watts but she hates him. But she doesn’t want to say no because if she does he’ll ask to marry one of her younger sisters, and she doesn’t want them to get married first. So she accepts the marriage but complains about it constantly. It was a funny short piece where you can see some of her latter pieces shining through.
“Love and Freindship” - This is the longest of what I’ve read so far, following a woman named Laura who is writing letters to the daughter of her friend about her life and basically the misfortunes she’s experienced. It accounts how a man shows up seeking shelter and she marries him, leaving her parents, only to have them both die shortly after, and then her husband disappears and when she sees him again he dies in her arms, and then her friend who she’s been traveling with dies as well. There’s also a lot of fainting involved and it sounds as though Austen was poking fun at her main character and woman and fainting in general. There were some parts that were just so bizarre they made me laugh, which I guess was the point.
Catherine, or the Bower: This is the second longest piece in this Love and Friendship collection of Austen’s early works. It follows a girl named Catherine, or Kitty, who misses being social as two of her friends are moved away. Her aunt is quite dreadful in that she prevents Kitty from really socializing with anyone. When a ball comes around Kitty has a toothache and stays home only to find that Edward, the son of a wealthy family, shows up to her house after arriving home from France and convinces her to go see his family with him. At the ball some members of his family are upset that her status is “elevated” by Edward’s attention and she gets a scolding from her aunt. (It reminds me of Austen’s later works, which always seems to have a grumpy older lady.) Her aunt tells Edward’s family that he has to leave, and eventually he does, leaving Kitty stricken, but Edward’s sister Camilla tells her he was very much in love with her and Kitty is satisfied. The story ends there, as Austen never finished it.
“Lady Susan” - This was the longest story in the book and it was certainly... interesting. It’s about a woman named Lady Susan who is widowed in her thirties and she’s all around a big, as the characters put it, “flirt.” She has an affair with a married man and is also mean to her teenage daughter, trying to force her to marry a man she doesn’t want to marry and shipping her off to boarding school when she refuses to. Her daughter, Frederica, tries to run away but is stopped and sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who love their niece but despise Lady Susan. All the while Lady Susan is trying to marry this Reginald man, and it’s super weird because Frederica also likes him. But Reginald is blinded by Lady Susan and can’t see who she really is. Finally, he finds about the affair and he turns his back on her. Lady Susan - ironically - marries the man she was trying to force her daughter to marry. It was so bizarre that it’s practically comical. I think there was a movie based off this that I want to watch.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
2024 While not included in
#JaneAustenThenAndNow I wanted to reread these early works for #JaneAusten250.
2022 It occurred to me after reading in A Truth Universally Acknowledged that one can easily read all of Jane Austen's work - 3 Volumes Juvenilia - 2 Unfinished - 7 Novels in a year. 12 =12 Months. So of course I made a Schedule:
Jan - Juvenalia Volume 1
Feb - Juvenalia Volume 2
Mar - Juvenalia Volume 3
Apr - Lady Susan
May - Northanger Abbey
Jun - The Watsons
Jul - Sense and Sensibility
Aug - Pride and Prejudice
Sep - Mansfield Park
Oct - Emma
Nov - Persuasion
Dec - Sanditon
Litsy PemberLittens Group decided to do a Readalong of Sanditon this month. Since it's such a short read I decided to go ahead and read now even though l'll be reading in December.
Reading her 1st and her Last work at the same time is really interesting. One of the things I noticed is how in early works her sentences really ran on.
Juvenalia is charming and witty. And you see bits of the writer Jane will become.
#JaneAustenThenAndNow I wanted to reread these early works for #JaneAusten250.
2022 It occurred to me after reading in A Truth Universally Acknowledged that one can easily read all of Jane Austen's work - 3 Volumes Juvenilia - 2 Unfinished - 7 Novels in a year. 12 =12 Months. So of course I made a Schedule:
Jan - Juvenalia Volume 1
Feb - Juvenalia Volume 2
Mar - Juvenalia Volume 3
Apr - Lady Susan
May - Northanger Abbey
Jun - The Watsons
Jul - Sense and Sensibility
Aug - Pride and Prejudice
Sep - Mansfield Park
Oct - Emma
Nov - Persuasion
Dec - Sanditon
Litsy PemberLittens Group decided to do a Readalong of Sanditon this month. Since it's such a short read I decided to go ahead and read now even though l'll be reading in December.
Reading her 1st and her Last work at the same time is really interesting. One of the things I noticed is how in early works her sentences really ran on.
Juvenalia is charming and witty. And you see bits of the writer Jane will become.