I met Jane Austen at age 14. My high school English teacher recommended I read Pride and Prejudice for one of the required book reports, and I absolutely loved it. I adored Darcy of course, but more than that, I deeply admired Elizabeth. Her unwillingness to settle for a lesser man impressed me, and her sense of humor—her ability to find the absurd in everything—is very like my own.
When I finished, I asked our librarian if Miss Austen had written anything else. She recommended I try Sense and Sensibility next… a fact for which I haven’t quite forgiven her.
Having loved Pride and Prejudice so much, I purchased my own copy of Sense and Sensibility. I read the first chapter and put it down for fifteen years. I absolutely despised Fanny Dashwood, and I simply could not read any farther.
Of course, there are four other Austen novels I could have tried, but then I found Wuthering Heights and The Three Musketeers, and I wandered away from Jane. I watched Gwyneth Paltrow’s Emma, but beyond that, I didn’t return to Austen until a few years ago, when my best friend/roommate insisted we watch the Emma Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility. We fast forwarded through the beginning with Fanny, and I was able to see what a marvelous story it was.
That summer I started work on His Good Opinion, and once I made the decision to write Austenesque novels, I knew I needed to read all six major works, just to have a deeper understanding of how her mind worked.
Three years later, I’m almost done. Northanger Abbey was the next one I completed, and once again, Jane’s sense of humor entranced me. Next, I tackled my own personal Goliath: Sense and Sensibility. It will never by my favorite, but I can appreciate it more now. I read Persuasion in a Twitter read-along last fall, and it occasionally knocks Pride and Prejudice out of first place.
That’s when it became tricky. Working full time and revising a novel doesn’t leave much room for reading, so I started listening to the audiobooks. Even so, I only finished Emma yesterday.
I began Mansfield Park today. Any tips a first time reader should know ahead of time?
Special Announcements:
- Saturday is our first movie night. We will be watching the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility in the chat room at 9 Eastern, 6 Pacific. After our fantastic chat last week, we can’t wait to watch a movie together.
- Monday, August 1 we will begin our group read of Sense and Sensibility. Discussion questions will be posted in the book group thread every Sunday, and we’ll conclude with a wrap-up chat on Sunday, September 25.
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It’s been a few years but I seem to recall that Manfield Park was MY least fav Austen. Good luck on the read
I haven’t read Sense and Sensability for a few years. I’ll have to join in on your read along
I found her when I heard that Keira Knightley (who I was a fan of from Pirates of the Caribbean) was doing Pride and Prejudice and decided I should read the book first.
No high school English teacher told me about JA (shamefully negligent!). So I was completely ignorant until about 10 years ago, when I was in Costco and picked up the ’95 P&P video on an impulse buy (maybe Colin Firth’s picture on the front did the trick). I fell in love with it, and went on to read/watch everthing JA related that I could get my hands on. When I ran out of books to read and didn’t care for the 2 P&P sequels I found, I decided to write my own. Six years later, I’m finally sending The Darcys of Pemberley out into the world. My goal was to write it as I imagines the JA would have – faithful to her style, sensibilities, and characters. I hope I’ve done her justice. (PS – MP is my least favorite too. But any JA is better than no JA.)
I met Jane Austen one rainy afternoon when I was home sick from school, sniffling and miserable. On TV there was an old black and white movie (I have always loved old movies) and there I saw the most beautiful man in the world (I was very young yet) – Laurence Olivier as Fitzwilliam Darcy. It was love at first sight, with Olivier and with Jane Austen. Been hooked ever since :>
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I told my story below but then read your post and it reminded me that this WAS the first JA film I saw! We got it from the library when I was a kid. So lovely!
I am not entirely sure. I was pretty young . . . it was before Wuthering Heights and that was at about 10, so I’m going to call Pride and Prejudice at 9. I don’t know what to tell you, I was a nerdy homeschooler
Think I had them all read by early teens (13/14).
My first intro to Jane…I was 16, the quiet homeschool junior taking classes at the community college, and my Lit-Based Research prof let me borrow her copy of the 5-tape BBC ‘Pride & Prejudice’. I. Fell. In. Love. I don’t remember when I first *read* P&P, but I know I read S&S quickly thereafter. And Emma fell in somewhere…Persuasion I read last summer (meh, I wanna strangle Anne Elliott, sorry!
)…Mansfield Park & Northanger Abbey are on my list to read ASAP. But I’ve seen at least one movie version of all of them, and own a delightful collection of said movies. As well as a sweet edition of the collected novels from 1940 
(And, uh, individual novels, and the huge illustrated collected novels from B&N 
)
So I found Jane at impressionable 16, going through a rough year, but I keep coming back to her – and I know her better now, I understand her better now…and now I should stop before I write a blogpost here
I first met Jane through the 1995 Sense and Sensibility adaptation- a class field trip in high school to see the movie. I then struggled through reading the book my freshman year of college (took all year) but then (I’m not sure how) I saw the BBC/A&E Pride and Prejudice… love at first sight. I have now read all the novels (favorite novel is Persuasion closely followed by P&P), and seen every movie adaptation (favorites are the 1995 P&P, 1995 S&S, and 2009 Emma). During voice lessons in college I also studied and performed the songs that were written for the 1005 Sense and Sensibility movie, “Weep You No More Sad Fountains” and “The Dreame”.
Jane Austen literally changed my life. Well, the entertainment side of it in any case. I grew up in an extremely conservative religious family. My mother and grandparents had never set foot in a movie theater, seen a circus, or been to a concert unless it was the symphony. My mom believed theaters supported a worldly and decadent lifestyle. My father didn’t agree, but, as with most things, quietly capitulated.
When I was 14 years old, the Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility came to cinemas. I heard numerous wonderful things about it, but could not go see it. My family went on a road trip that summer, and on one particularly happy day, when we all felt spontaneous, my father suggested we see what was playing at the local theater. My mother was cautious, not knowing how to choose a movie of which she would actually approve. I told her all the wonderful things I had heard about Sense and Sensibility. It was playing at this particular cinema, and, despite her trepidation, me, my dad and sister talked her into it.
Well, as you all well know, S&S is a beautiful, charming, witty, quality film. Our first experience ever in a movie theater was so positive that not even my worried mother had a single negative thing to say. Since that day, my family often enjoys going to theaters together, and I’ve even convinced my grandparents to go to a circus! I truly believe that if that first time had not been perfect, I would have been an adult before I set foot in a cinema again but because of Emma Thompson’s brilliant screenplay and Jane’s beautiful story, it was a wonderful day that my family looks back to fondly. Thanks, Jane, for giving my family a great bonding experience and lightening my mom up a little
What wonderful stories everyone has! Letitia, I always knew Jane could change lives, but I’d never heard it illustrated in such a profound way. That was a beautiful story; thanks for sharing.
As for Mansfield Park, I’m now two chapters in and I pretty much hate every adult in the novel. I knew that would be the case–that benign neglect of a child was the reason I put off reading the book in the first place. However, I love Fanny and I adore Edmund, so I’m willing to soldier on.
persuasion first place for me too “) luv your choice to try audio – excellent. i luv being read to ever since a child.
much success to you as you work full time, revise your novel, and read Jane’s {or listen “)}
[...] the spirit of the true confessions on my blog, I must admit I have yet to finish Mansfield Park. If you recall, I started reading/listening to it last summer, but then the business of publishing one book, [...]