Those who best gave life to the page often have their own lives immortalized upon the page and few others have left a lasting legacy of household nameThose who best gave life to the page often have their own lives immortalized upon the page and few others have left a lasting legacy of household name recognition than the late, great Jane Austen. Though she passed at the young age of 41, her life, letters, and much loved literature have taken on a life of their own and touched countless lives. Following the ‘breadcrumbs of facts,’ as Austen scholar Janine Barchas puts it, The Novel Life of Jane Austen is a rather wonderful graphic novel on the life of the great writer, illuminated upon the page through the whimsical artwork of Isabel Greenburg. A brief yet robust account of Jane’s life that details her family life, her comings and goings from Stevenson, Bath, and, finally, Chawton, and the inspirations in her world that became inspiring novels through her pen, The Novel Life of Jane Austen is a great resource told in a fun narrative format and overflowing with tiny details from her life and books that will charm both Austen fans and those hoping to first learn a bit about this absolute icon of literature.
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Barchas makes great use of the “breadcrumbs” telling the life of Austen in a way that has a nice forward drive to it without streamlining her life too much into a convenient narrative. You get pretty much what you would expect here without much in the way of surprise and the graphic novel adheres rather closely to the relationship between her family as well as the inspirations and efforts to bring her early stories to life. Much is gleaned from the letters she wrote though not many have remained. Of the over 1,300 letters Jane sent to her sister Cassandra, for instance, only 160 remain as Cassandra destroyed most of them ensuring ‘younger nieces did not read any of Jane's sometimes acid or forthright comments on neighbours or family members’ as she put it. Ouch, but also nobody could spit an heady insult like Jane and we love her for it and will just have to imagine all the epic jabs of the pen put into those letters deemed too edgy for young maidens. But we have plenty of letters here, hope you don’t get corrupted!
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The art is quite whimsical, has cool use of color and reminds me a bit of Kate Beaton. Which is cool but then I also kept expecting it to fall into comical parody, which this does not but also is not intended to. It isn’t my favorite art to present this story but it is rather serviceable to the “story” and the use of frames is able to really progress the book along hoping around time quite effectively.
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A quick graphic biography that is rather accessible for readers of practically any age, The Novel Life of Jane Austen is a cool little book. I would certainly recommend it for students or Austen fans in particular, and it is a fun way to engage with such an epic giant in English literature. Austen is remembered for a reason and this was a nice way to remember Austen the person as well as Austen the author.
'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'
What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'
What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'? As we are all individuals, with our own needs, is it sensible to always act according to our countenance (to steal a lovely phrase from Austen), to keep true to ourselves, or is there a code of manners that we should adhere to in order to maintain a proper course of action? Austen’s aptly titled Sense and Sensibility, a staggeringly impressive first publication from 19 year old Austen, probes the very ideas of it’s title. Told through the juxtaposition of two sisters forging their own sensible rationalities as they find themselves in a society fueled by social standings and money, they discover that love does not always fit pleasantly into such a world.
An impressive feature of the Jane Austen novels is her ability to construct a broad scale society to immerse her heroines. She juggles a large cast of characters, each with a uniquely rounded personality and varied level of likeability, which gives a realistic scope and portrayal to the story. Just like in our own lives, we see Elinor and Marianne dealing with friends, rivals, busybodies and outright scoundrels. Austen manages to flesh her characters out with positive and negative traits, giving even the despicable ones a moment to plead their case. The reader is left to either accept or reject such justifications on their own terms, and, in a way, if even the ‘villainous’ act in what they see to be a sensible manner, Austen calls into question our own ideals and interpretations on the matter. She is clever at keeping an ironic flair to her characters, offering a dark side to ones you initially thought amiable, and bestowing grief of less-than-Prince-Charming characteristics to those who should be the true champion of hearts.
The actions of each character show the variety of ways one can interact and react within society, offering a wide number of actions to decide between when declaring what is ‘truly sensible’. The two sisters experience near-mirrored heartbreak and respond in polarizing manners. Is it more sensible to keep your feelings buried, suffering in solitude, always appearing calm and collect at the risk of seeming cold, or more sensible to wear one’s heart on their sleeve, falling into self-pity while drawing the attention of those who can care and offer support? Even the smallest characters can be looked at in this ways. Is sensibility, to toy with hearts, to stick your nose in another’s business, to marry for love with no money or for money with no love?
Perhaps a proper title could have also been Cents and Sensibility, as Austen takes careful aim at the dominating social constructs. The opinions on money, and it’s unavoidable, necessary power over society and the not-so-well-off Dashwood’s particularly, is a crucial element to what is sensible. The social commentary is thick and delicious. We witness many broken hearts in the name of money, and many hearts set on love faced with crippling financial consequences. The final results of the novel however, goes to prove the lyrics 'you can't always get what you want, but when you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need.'
While I began reading the Austen/Bronte novels feeling like it is something I should know going into a literature degree, thinking ‘oh well, I guess I should know these’, I’ve come to discover I really enjoy them. Especially reading them alongside so many post-modernist works of genius; Austen has been the anchor keeping me from being lost in the Zone. Occasionally it is nice to escape the bells and whistles of modern lit, to step out of the multi-layered metafiction and swirling narratives that I so love, and read a novel that is just as incredible on a powerful but elegant voice, ironic wit, and an acute sense of society alone. I highly recommend Jane Austen to anyone. I want to show up with flowers for Elinor and spend all day sipping tea with her from dainty cups and sighing about weather and society. However, I would be doing a great disservice to you and two the two fine reviewers I am about to speak of, to continue keeping your time and not sending you to these two outstanding reviews: Liberty’s, who I’ve come to consider my professor in all that is Austen/Bronte/Woolf, etc, and the wonderful Kelly, who has said everything I wanted to say and more, but far better. Austen’s world makes us all question our morality and actions, and the world is a better place for it. 4/5...more
‘Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised or a little mi‘Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised or a little mistaken.’
Emma Woodhouse, the heroine and namesake of Jane Austen’s last novel to be published within her lifetime, spends her days of leisure playing matchmaker and offering the reader her keen eye for the character of the locals of Highbury. However, this keen eye may not be as accurate as she would wish it to be. Through her inaccurate impressions of those around her, and of her own feelings, the reader is able to construct a strikingly accurate and detailed portrait of the events and players at hand. Emma is a comedy of social errors that displays Austen as an expert novelist exercising her careful control over the ironies and implications of ambiguous observations and Emma Woodhouse is one of my favorite characters in all of literature.
Austen has a charming method of careful show and tell at work in Emma, and stands back from any authorial instruction to allow the reader to piece the evidence together through the deductions revealed by Emma. She is able to place events out in the open, yet lead the reader astray down a path of thinking that will turn out to be hilariously false and embarrassing for all those involved. Emma, who fancies herself quick witted and wise – which she truly is, although prone to a gross misdiagnosis of events – sets many of her friends and family up for failure and blunder by trying to position their hearts in the direction she sees best. However, these goals of hers rarely work out and, as usually explained by Mr. Knightly, are wholly unrealistic. Take her first blunder for instance, when she tries to place a match between Harriet, a pretty yet not...necessarily known for being particularly sharp woman of unknown parentage, with Mr. Elton, a handsome and handsomely wealthy bachelor with an eye for business. Emma, living a life in high society with no concern with finances or needs, is blind to the notion that matches of the time must be ‘smart’ and that a man of his stature couldn’t fathom marrying a girl such as Harriet. Austen uses these mistaken beliefs and faults to highlight the truths of her society, truths that are never fully expressed or detailed other than as the negation of these misdirected observations.
Throughout the course of the novel, Austen paints a portrait of perfection strictly through brushstrokes of imperfection. Characters are revealed primarily through their annoying faults, and often come across as exceptionally irritating at first. There is Mr. Woodhouse and his painfully narrow-minded opinions, who sees marriage as ‘dreadful business’ because it affects a change in the fabric of his society (the governess at Hartfield is married in the novels opening, which causes her to move from Mr. Woodhouse’s home to live with her husband. Although this is a happy match, he only speaks of her as ‘poor Ms. Taylor’ through the entire novel as if his burden of being left behind should blanket over anyone’s happiness and that she should be looked at as being a victim for having to leave his side), and views any aberration from spending a quiet night before his fire as an inconceivable offense. We also have Ms. Bates, who cannot stop talking to save her life, John Knightly who finds pretty much everything in poor taste, Harriet and her lovesick ways, the list goes on. Yet, despite the annoying habits of virtually every character in the book (Emma must also be included, but her flaws are so lovable and I like that she is just a messy character we love for that) the reader will learn to love them, especially when juxtaposed with characters whose faults are truly unbecoming and unforgivable. Mrs. Elton, who arrives in the second half of the novel, is pompous, arrogant, conceited and, worst of all, passive aggressive. All the faults of characters that initially aggravate the reader will melt away under the brute force of the truly annoying characters. Plus, as Emma learns, the reader will begin to see these characters as real people, who bleed when cut and grieve when offended. Much like the real people around us, we must learn to accept people for their good qualities, which added up, outweigh the bad ones, i.e. Ms. Bates may not be able to shut her mouth, but she has a good heart and cares for all those around her. Through only seeing faults, we are able to understand the goodness of others: ‘“Perhaps it is our imperfections that make us so perfect for one another!’ When Mr. Knightly scolds Emma for her insult to Ms. Bates, Austen is using him to directly scold the reader for their ill-feelings of such a kind hearted women (but also its a man telling the woman what to think perhaps?). We are asked to check ourselves and behave with proper respect that we expect from the characters. There is a very positive message about treating one another right that underlines this novel. We watch Emma falter and fall, but eventually the real satisfaction came from watching her get back up and carry on with dignity. Plus her mistakes remind us we are all human and all make errors in judgement and can rise above our own shortcomings.
We are presented with a very unique vision of perfection with this novel. Even the eventual happy wedding which closes this novel is described primarily by its shortcomings, and the ways it failed to meet any quality of standards in Mrs. Elton's eyes. This conclusion offers a perfect summation of the novel in two ways. First, that perfection is attainable despite flaws, and that if in the end we are left with a happy instance, or a character who's positive qualities outweigh their flaws, then we have achieved the sense of perfection allotted to humans beings, a flawed species by nature. Secondly, we see that this wedding was a failure based on Mrs. Elton's opinion, a character depicted as always insisting upon their opinions, style of dress, manners, acquaintances, vacation places, former homes, etc. as superior to anyone else's. This insistance of 'being perfect' of hers is her ultimate flaw, and for something to not meet her expectations makes it seem all the more amiable simply for irritating her (as she is sure to be a source of constant irritation to the reader as well as Emma). Austen shows us that we should aim for what makes us happy and is fitting with our character than for what is truly perfect, a utopian notion that if actually aimed to meet, as in the case of Mrs. Elton, will only appear as snobbery and faulty. All in all, Austen shows us to embrace our flaws as what makes us unique and endearing.
Misdirection is the name of the game in Emma, and it is quite funny to watch how so many different inferences can be deduced from the same set of observations. Austen exploits the double entendre quite masterfully here. The reader must be wary when setting foot out in Highbury, as things are not always what they seem (they must also have pockets full of gold as there is a bit of disdain for anyone not wealthy enough. The characters show a bit of snobbery. There is a scene when Harriet and a friend come across the Roma and it can more or less be understood as "oh no! Poor people!" And also Emma often puts forth the belief that farmers are trashy illiterates, though we see a lot of growth in Emma and this opinion is eventually overturned.) This is quite the novel to laugh along with, and I think I even liked it more than Pride and Prejudice. This book seems to still feel relevant and translate well to modern events. Check out the movie Clueless (well okay, 90's events), and you will find the plot cleverly satirized. One would do well to keep in mind that Austen meant much of this novel as satire, so when characters become too irritating or too high and mighty, it helps to realize Austen is poking for at these cliches in the world around her. It is quite fun to laugh at these events along with Austen. I would highly recommend this to anyone, and it would make a great introduction to this wonderful author. 5/5
'One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other'...more
‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,’ begins Jane Austen’s Pride and‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,’ begins Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, an opening sentence nearly as famous as the novel itself. Austen’s comedy of manners has taken on an immortality, being a title frequently represented in art, knick knacks or decor for book lovers. I mean, this is a book that has tshirts for it as recognizable as a Pink Floyd shirt and if there were a Mt. Rushmore for white people popular classics this would be one of the first to be carved into the rock. Luckily for readers everywhere, it is a book that truly deserves such status and is eminently readable and enjoyable to this day. Pride and Prejudice is sharp, humorous and picturesquely romantic with a cast of characters that practically walk off the page, shake your hand and intermingle in your life as Austen dives into criticisms of class and conventions.
‘I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.’
Of the many reasons Pride and Prejudice has captured hearts for generations, Austen’s heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is the most endearing of them. A woman with a great wit and cutting dialogue, she is not without her flaws and hubris which makes her feel so authentic and approachable. The dynamic between Elizabeth and Darcy is a perfectly balanced power struggle of personal judgements as they attempt to maintain individuality under social pressures and obdurate conventions, each stradling a position of both protagonist and antagonist. And antagonize each other they do! Though in the end they come to each other with equal scars and blame. Elizabeth’s belief in her ability to judge others leads her to misjudge—a trait not unlike Emma Woodhouse of Emma who’s pride in her own wit obscured what was right before her—overlooking the blatant flaws of Wickham simply over his adversarial role towards Darcy, and coming too harshly to conclusions on Darcy before knowing him better. It should be with no surprise to learn that Austen originally intended to title the novel ‘First Impressions’.
‘From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.’
We see Elizabeth working on herself internally while also working on the external social factors. ‘There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others,’ Elizabeth confesses, ‘my courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.’ Her pride makes her malign others, assuming Miss darcy, for instance, to be a ‘proud, reserved, disagreeable girl’ only to find she is ‘amiable and unpretending.’ It is her intelligence I find most charming, and while she may misjudge, she has the emotional intelligence to self-diagnose and course correct.
Darcy, on the other hand, must overcome his own pride and snobbery. His disdain for those who work a trade, for instance, is part of a larger depiction of those held in high esteem of class being crude and cruel and a predominant theme in the novel. Caroline, Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine are among those who operate like an extension of class hierarchy, allowing their ideas of social position to guide their thoughts and actions and making them feel immune to criticism. Darcy and Elizabeth lowering their guard, looking at the individual instead of at their social circle/status, and coming to a mutual understanding gives the novel a tender nature, one that asks for empathy and understanding in the world and warns against holding on to judgements too tightly.
‘Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.’
Another aspect of the novel that really resonates is just how visual it is. Austen has a gift for description and this quality has lent itself to many visually stunning film adaptations. Austen excels at embedding much of her social commentary into her depictions of settings and characters, such as Elizabeth’s first visit to Darcy’s house, with ‘high woody hills’ and a large, tall garden surrounding a the house, ‘a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance.’ This is a major insight into Darcy as a character: a man without artifice and full of ‘natural beauty’ that he keeps hidden from view. His arrogance is merely his grandiose garden that obscures the him beneath the exterior. Similarly, judgements on character are often made in dialogue that focuses on aspects of dress or decor. ‘By describing a material object,’ Roland Barthes writes in The Language of Fashion, ‘if it is not to construct it or to use it, we are led to link the qualities of its matter to a second meaning.’ The criticisms of taste are, in this regard, a criticism of character, so when Caroline and Louisa talk at length about the mud on Elizabeth’s petticoat, we can infer they are telling us they find her herself to be wild, unkempt and unruly. It is in ways such as these that Austen can make such keen observations that don't announce themselves yet amalgamate to portray a life-like impression of a society that thrives on gossip and social interactions that are plotted like chess pieces moving across the board.
‘I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.’
Austen’s Pride and Prejudice drifts at the pace of life, enrapturing you in its lush language, vibrant landscapes, dancing with you through the great halls of ornate homes and giving you an introduction to the high society of the times. This is an eternally charming novel that bites with sharp satire and humor while letting deep lessons and emotional bubble up from tender moments and brilliant insights. It is quite funny at times as well. Jane Austen is remembered for a reason, and while I still favor Emma to be my favorite, this comedy of manners is certainly a Must Read.
4.5/5
‘What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but most advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.’...more
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