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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
My Recommendation: If you want to learn more about how Austen (probably) wanted her books to be read then definitely read this book. It's a fascinating look at the time when Austen was writing and the many intricacies she laced throughout her books. There is so much more than we as 20th/21st century readers can possibly imagine held within these six novels.
My Response: Perhaps I'm too smart for my own good, but overall this book was a bit disappointing. With a title like Jane Austen, the Secret Radical, you'd expect there to be revelations of sorts and yet there weren't. I mean that's why I requested a copy from the publisher.* I was hoping as the 200th anniversary of Austen's death rapidly approaches there'd be something completely new and innovative to talk about, but there wasn't.
Sure Kelly highlighted a few things that I missed when reading Austen, but really she just expounded upon the things that those of us who don't read Austen ONLY as a romance novelist, but as a social commentator hopefully picked up on. She provided more detail of course, especially when it came to names and places, but overall there just weren't a lot of revelations.
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for my honest opinion, no additional goods or money were exchanged.
My Response: Perhaps I'm too smart for my own good, but overall this book was a bit disappointing. With a title like Jane Austen, the Secret Radical, you'd expect there to be revelations of sorts and yet there weren't. I mean that's why I requested a copy from the publisher.* I was hoping as the 200th anniversary of Austen's death rapidly approaches there'd be something completely new and innovative to talk about, but there wasn't.
Sure Kelly highlighted a few things that I missed when reading Austen, but really she just expounded upon the things that those of us who don't read Austen ONLY as a romance novelist, but as a social commentator hopefully picked up on. She provided more detail of course, especially when it came to names and places, but overall there just weren't a lot of revelations.
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for my honest opinion, no additional goods or money were exchanged.
I always knew there was something incredible about Austen ever since I picked up P&P for the first time when I was 13. I wrote about her and her work extensively my junior year of college mostly in relation to 1st wave feminism. I am quick to defend her when my unread peers attempt to undermine her work’s significance. This book solidified my deep love not only for Austen’s beautiful story weaving but also her incredibly modern, progressive, radical mind. I grew up in a community in which the girls I knew were obsessed with Austen love stories, but I wonder if our conservative parents would’ve let us read her if we were her contemporaries. This book touches on everything that Jane wrote about (explicitly or implicitly): politics, abolition, women’s rights, sex, religion, even history and science. One should be familiar with plots and characters before reading this. Even better, use it as a reading guide.
I'm glad I read this. I've read some of Ms Austen's works more than others and was able to follow all of this equally for all. I need to read them all again soon. I enjoyed this read.
The chapters on Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility were good, the rest was terrible. I don't agree with a lot of the interpretations.
My daughter gave me this book for Christmas because she knows that Jane Austen is my favorite author. Full disclosure - I have read all of Miss Austen’s books just once with the exception of P&P which I have read twice. And I read them several years ago and so my memory of plots and characters have faded. Each chapter of this book is devoted to one of Miss Austen’s books and describes what the author believes to be Miss Austen’s point she was trying to make. While some points are clearly conjecture, most of them have merit based on what historians know about Jane Austen.
An added bonus of reading this book was that I learned a lot about the common thinking and norms of Britain during the late 1700s and early 1800s. This helped me to better appreciate and understand some of the other classic British novels I have read. Topics such as abortion, slavery, the role of the church, unfairness of inheritance laws, and infidelity are all covered aptly.
I now have a significantly better appreciation for who Jane Austen was. And I will definitely read through Jane’s books with a more careful eye.
This may not be fair, but the reason I gave this book a 4 rather than a 5 is that, while interesting, it was not riveting for me. I read it with my morning coffee and then put it aside for more intriguing books. But all in all, I am a smarter person for having read it.
An added bonus of reading this book was that I learned a lot about the common thinking and norms of Britain during the late 1700s and early 1800s. This helped me to better appreciate and understand some of the other classic British novels I have read. Topics such as abortion, slavery, the role of the church, unfairness of inheritance laws, and infidelity are all covered aptly.
I now have a significantly better appreciation for who Jane Austen was. And I will definitely read through Jane’s books with a more careful eye.
This may not be fair, but the reason I gave this book a 4 rather than a 5 is that, while interesting, it was not riveting for me. I read it with my morning coffee and then put it aside for more intriguing books. But all in all, I am a smarter person for having read it.
This was my second Jane Austen July pick this year. I listened to this book on audio, which is usually a medium that I have trouble maintaining attention, but this book failed to disappoint.
Kelly asserts that Austen was a feminist, progressive, ahead of her time in every way. She painted a condensed story of Austen's life, while using each of Austen's main books to argue a different way Austen was unlike the modern viewer's conception of her. Despite reading all of Austen's works, many of them several times, I'd never considered Austen through any of the lenses Kelly presented.
I'm not sure I agree with Kelly on any of her basic assertions but reading this book made me want to go back, reread all of Austen's books and look for Kelly's claims while doing so. I plan on rereading this book again.
Kelly asserts that Austen was a feminist, progressive, ahead of her time in every way. She painted a condensed story of Austen's life, while using each of Austen's main books to argue a different way Austen was unlike the modern viewer's conception of her. Despite reading all of Austen's works, many of them several times, I'd never considered Austen through any of the lenses Kelly presented.
I'm not sure I agree with Kelly on any of her basic assertions but reading this book made me want to go back, reread all of Austen's books and look for Kelly's claims while doing so. I plan on rereading this book again.
Denna var kul men kändes som jag kunde ganska mycket redan.
If I could rate this with 10 stars I would. The author uncovers the layer just beneath the surface of Austen's well-known stories for the modern reader. Some themes I knew of, in the case of Mansfield Park's slavery issue, but Emma's enclosure acts was news to me. My favorite was the Sense & Sensibility chapter. I couldn't believe it, yet it is all there! Fascinating stuff, and so well researched.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced