Its really interesting that Jane Austen's novels have eluded me thus far. I say that because I have heard about her and her writing in several situations and even watched a few of the Hollywood-interpretation movies since the '90s. It seems like the kind of movie that would grab me, doesn't it? An Anne of Green Gables or Laura Ingals Wilder turned adult romantic and an old-fashioned, harmless, complex exploration of relationships and their meaning. When I was in college, my favorite professor handed out a list of books she considered for our lit class. At least three of Austen's novels were on that list. I still have that list in a manila folder in my garage. And yet I've never picked up a single Austen novel.
But now.... but now I truly am inspired. On our flight from San Diego to Toronto I watched The Jane Austen Book Club. What an inspiration to read all of the Austen novels! About five women and one (lone) man meet once a month to discuss all of Jane Austen's novels. The themes of romantic relationships they discuss are so real they manifest themselves in their real-life relationships. It is truly touching. And the really cool part of it is that there doesn't seem to be just one interpretation of the themes in a single book. I'm really intrigued by it. How can each person see the characters so differently?
So today in my lazy, pre-Christmas preparations (almost complete) I spent some time updating my amazon.com wish list. I now have the complete novel set along with a complete movie set on my wish list. I actually chose to select the older versions of the Austen films for a very specific reason. Movies are only worthwhile if the content closely follows that of the text. According to the reviews the modern Hollywood renditions of the movie really don't treat the original plots of the novels fairly. Apparently some of the acting is spotty as well.
So here I am- yet to be made a Jane Austen fanatic. They'll make a Brit out of me yet. So far I'm still pining away after LM Montgomery but maybe this is the bait to transfer my drooling affections to Austen. We shall just have to see.
