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A review by ilegnealle
Love and Freindship: And Other Youthful Writings by Jane Austen
4.0
"Many have been the cares and vicissitudes of my past life, my beloved Ellinor, and the only consolation I feel for their bitterness is that on close examination of my conduct, I am convinced that I have strictly deserved them. I murdered my father at a very early period of my Life, I have since murdered my Mother, and I am now going to murder my Sister. I have changed my religion so often that at present I have not an idea of any left. I have been perjured witness in every public tryal for these last twelve Years, and I have forged my own Will. In short there is scarcely a crime that I have not committed - But I am now going to reform."
On my quest to read basically all of Jane Austen's published work I couldn't pass by Love an Freindship, a collection of short stories (sometimes only a page long, sometimes close to 50) and snippets that she wrote during her youth. This was such a delight to read! JA clearly portrays the same wit and sharp tongue that we all love in her later, most famous works, but this is mostly a young girl having fun and writing stories in which she weaves inside jokes of her family, portrayals of her siblings and friends, and her hatred for Queen Elizabeth I. It really endeared Austen to me even more, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that she had support from her siblings and parents, and that they delighted in her works as much as we do centuries later.
It's incredibly interesting to see some of her later habits form in these early snippets, and she portrays the same awareness and criticism of societal norms that can be found in her later novels.
If you're interested in getting to know JA better, this is a must-read!
On my quest to read basically all of Jane Austen's published work I couldn't pass by Love an Freindship, a collection of short stories (sometimes only a page long, sometimes close to 50) and snippets that she wrote during her youth. This was such a delight to read! JA clearly portrays the same wit and sharp tongue that we all love in her later, most famous works, but this is mostly a young girl having fun and writing stories in which she weaves inside jokes of her family, portrayals of her siblings and friends, and her hatred for Queen Elizabeth I. It really endeared Austen to me even more, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that she had support from her siblings and parents, and that they delighted in her works as much as we do centuries later.
It's incredibly interesting to see some of her later habits form in these early snippets, and she portrays the same awareness and criticism of societal norms that can be found in her later novels.
If you're interested in getting to know JA better, this is a must-read!