Jane Austen in Very Concise Summary
by
, 01-13-2015 at 01:40 PM (3107 Views)
Recently finished a collection of Jane Austen's Seven Novels and came away well pleased with her writing but not her plot solutions. In these more modern and sophisticated times much agony and heartbreak would have been avoided with simple statements or honest answers to questions--just saying--tongue firmly in cheek.
Lady Susan: "Lady Susan aren't there any other family members you could stay with?" (Asked by anyone she's living off of for months at a time.)
Northanger Abbey: "That's it--no more trashy novels for you--off to the convent!!" (Modern methods of tough love would have avoided much inane silliness.)
Sense and Sensibility: "Marianne--men are scum--get OVER him. Be like me--wait and DO nothing and love WILL come." (Elinor to Marianne STILL weeping nightly over her first love--Col Brandon sighs and blows out the candle.)
Pride and Prejudice: (Well maybe there IS more to him/her then meets the eye." (Darcy and Elizabeth both who then get into an argument about who thought it first.)
Emma: "Emma we all love you but please it's really none of your business. And by the way--you're such a snob though you are cute." (Pretty much said by anyone except Mrs. Bates.)
Mansfield Park: Loved this one and only thought is a push down the stairs for Fanny's aunt would have saved much trouble.
Persuasion: "Anne, great to see you, been SO long, have you missed me?" (A very short book indeed would have resulted.)
All in all seven wonderful reads of varying degrees of satisfaction but all thru them was never clear on the cousins marrying cousins or how these people that didn't seem to know what a day job was were bringing in all these thousands of pounds per year.