Men on Austen

[sartorias]

D. A. Miller’s Jane Austen, or the Secret of Style is a very short book, extremely well written, dense with fascinating thought. Disquieting thought, even, as I find myself wanting to explain, excuse, make everything nice when he discusses the comfortable het world’s assumptions about Austen's books from a non-het POV. Like his analysis of the

Comments

[fiveandfour]

This posting reminded me of the late, great Male Voices in Praise of Jane Austen web site that discussed things such as these books you mention. I unfortunately found it after the webmaster decided to stop hosting it, so I could only read and not participate in the discussions. (I think it's been completely pulled now so you can't even read it any more, which is a shame.)

It is quite fascinating to me how very dense JA's books are with details that, if not read closely, can give the reader one impression of a character or situation that could be quite false. Mr. Woodhouse is a great example of that, I think: in a casual reading he seems mostly kindly and doting, but if you dig a little deeper, he comes off as quite selfish with his illnesses - you wonder if he's really ill or just wants others to live for his convenience.

[sartorias]

Oh, I would have loved that site!

[kalimac]

Archive of Male Voices in Praise of Jane Austen. You're welcome.

[fiveandfour]

Oh, that's tooooo fabulous. I've saved it as a favorite and expect many future hours of lost time as I re-visit all those interesting conversations on Jane.

[tharain]

That's wonderful. I was highly amused by this comment from Mark Twain:

"I haven't any right to criticize books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone."

Mark Twain Letter to Joseph Twichell, 9/13/1898

He can't STAND her writing. But! "Every time I read 'Pride and Prejudice'..."

So. He hates her stuff, but reads P&P frequently enough to reference "every time"??

Innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnteresting.

[fiveandfour]

Yeah, that was one of the things discussed at Male Voices a few times - the "methinks Twain doth protest too much" thing. I was dubious at first, thinking words that strong meant he truly hated her, but over time the protest too much argument has worn me down and now I'm merely on the fence.

Also of interest to me were the Bronte vs. Austen discussions.

[tharain]

I've only read two Bronte books. I've never been fond of them. They're too melodramatic and trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrragic for my taste.

I detested Jane Eyre (the whole "he can dimly see!" thing at the end...gack), and severely disliked Wuthering Heights. So perhaps I can't comment.

By the Charlotte vs. Jane bit, you mean a) Bronte's comments, and b) the poster's flat out admission to Bronte Bashing? I looked for, but didn't see, a compare and contrast page of the two.

[fiveandfour]

By the Charlotte vs. Jane bit, you mean a) Bronte's comments, and b) the poster's flat out admission to Bronte Bashing?

Yep, that's what I was referring to. I hadn't noticed until then that people seem to like either Jane or the Brontes. I call it the literary version of that thing from a Tarantino movie which I'll misquote: you either love The Beatles or The Rolling Stones and if you say you love them both equally you're lying. Thus far I've come across only one person who professes to like Austen and the Brontes equally; I say such a person must be very rare and open-minded.

[ellen_fremedon]

I say such a person must be very rare and open-minded.

Or just lukewarm to both *g*. I have enjoyed and appreciated Austen, two of the Brontes, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, but I don't have a deep emotional attachment to any of them.

[movingfinger]

It is quite fascinating to me how very dense JA's books are with details that, if not read closely, can give the reader one impression of a character or situation that could be quite false. Mr. Woodhouse is a great example of that, I think: in a casual reading he seems mostly kindly and doting, but if you dig a little deeper, he comes off as quite selfish with his illnesses - you wonder if he's really ill or just wants others to live for his convenience.

This isn't magic. It's good plotting and good characterization, found in many fine pieces of writing.