reading under the covers
... well, not exactly. i don't have to take a flashlight under the covers anymore, but anyone who's known me for very long will know that every once in a while, i will (always unadvisedly) stay awake as long as it takes to finish a book. i don't know exactly will set me off on a mission, but i'll just get this sense that i can't go to sleep until the book is finished, and ... then it's 3:30 on a school night. and in the worst case scenario, it's not even that good a book.
so that's exactly what happened last night. for some reason i reached the conclusion that i needed to finish reading Mansfield Park last night. wow, did i hate the ending to that novel. i found it very odd and out of character for Jane Austen. i mean, technically it had a happy ending, but ... it felt like the wrong people ended up happy. as if Emma marries Frank Churchill. or as if Mary Bennett and Mr. Collins became the protagonists of Pride and Prejudice. most strange of all is that Austen writes of a woman whose main character flaw is that she has little esteem for the clergy, but this this is Jane Austen, the author who wrote Mr. Collins and Mr. Elton -- two clergymen upon whom she heaps scorn! and the blackguard of the piece gives little or no warning of his impending evil. i feel like i'm missing something here. anybody care to fill me in? i think a little research may be necessary.
anyway, i'm a bit short of sleep now, and wondering if i may end up passing on trivia tonight because i stayed up to finish a truly vexing novel last night. a poor trade indeed. (and yes, every time i read Austen i end up writing with an odd turn of phrase. like Anne Hathaway in Get Smart, apparently)
so that's exactly what happened last night. for some reason i reached the conclusion that i needed to finish reading Mansfield Park last night. wow, did i hate the ending to that novel. i found it very odd and out of character for Jane Austen. i mean, technically it had a happy ending, but ... it felt like the wrong people ended up happy. as if Emma marries Frank Churchill. or as if Mary Bennett and Mr. Collins became the protagonists of Pride and Prejudice. most strange of all is that Austen writes of a woman whose main character flaw is that she has little esteem for the clergy, but this this is Jane Austen, the author who wrote Mr. Collins and Mr. Elton -- two clergymen upon whom she heaps scorn! and the blackguard of the piece gives little or no warning of his impending evil. i feel like i'm missing something here. anybody care to fill me in? i think a little research may be necessary.
anyway, i'm a bit short of sleep now, and wondering if i may end up passing on trivia tonight because i stayed up to finish a truly vexing novel last night. a poor trade indeed. (and yes, every time i read Austen i end up writing with an odd turn of phrase. like Anne Hathaway in Get Smart, apparently)