Jane Austen's "Persuasion"
Well, that was cute enough.
I'm somewhat amused that Austen seems to have deemed the romantic interest character, Captain Wentsworth less worthy of a differentiated characterization than even most female Hollywood movie characters are treated to. Even Alessandro Juliani got more to do than that guy when he was cast for the Barbie movies (and it should be repeated that I am a big fan of the Barbie movies, feminist manifestos that they are). Nothing much seems to matter about Wentsworth except for Anne's level of attraction to him, and the fact that he makes for an acceptable suitor. We never even learn whether he has good teeth, though I guess it would have been pointed out if he didn't. Particularly since characterizations really seem to be Austen's strong suit otherwise, this - I'd call it an issue of priority rather than a flaw - sticks out. I particularly was a fan of Anne's obnoxious sister Mary. There aren't enough characters like Mary. She's so cruel and callous in this totally careless way.
And if I choose to believe that Anne's second sister Elizabeth never got married, and remained blind to Mrs. Clay's advances towards her dad because she had a crush on her herself, nobody can stop me.
That said, it's a little saddening to read this testament of how the women of that time had nothing better to do than look for husbands and gossip about how other people are looking for husbands. You can read the whole book as a portrait of how all these young people were desperately trying to find something, anything to fill their days and brains, constantly, frantically fighting boredom. No surprise that a character such as Mary gets sick the moment she doesn't have company. These people's heads must threaten to get so empty that it would physically hurt.
I'll give special kudos to the scene where Anne argues that you can't judge women by the way they're portrayed in novels, as those novels are all written by men. Such a pleasing early observation on gendered writing.
I don't think this book is anywhere as polished, or as deserving of fame as most other classics I've read, but Wikipedia tells me that Austen didn't get a chance to edit it in full, so I'm gonna reserve judgment. Plus, the last time I read a novel that most of my friends already knew (namely Twilight), I literally lost friends when I broke into giggles about it too loudly. So I'm not gonna say more, and might or might not read Northanger Abbey, which was also recommended to me, at some later time, if I find that time. Which is not what I said about Twilight. For now, I'm back to the scifi. I've still got a long list of scifi novels to work through.
Thanks for the recs!
I'm somewhat amused that Austen seems to have deemed the romantic interest character, Captain Wentsworth less worthy of a differentiated characterization than even most female Hollywood movie characters are treated to. Even Alessandro Juliani got more to do than that guy when he was cast for the Barbie movies (and it should be repeated that I am a big fan of the Barbie movies, feminist manifestos that they are). Nothing much seems to matter about Wentsworth except for Anne's level of attraction to him, and the fact that he makes for an acceptable suitor. We never even learn whether he has good teeth, though I guess it would have been pointed out if he didn't. Particularly since characterizations really seem to be Austen's strong suit otherwise, this - I'd call it an issue of priority rather than a flaw - sticks out. I particularly was a fan of Anne's obnoxious sister Mary. There aren't enough characters like Mary. She's so cruel and callous in this totally careless way.
And if I choose to believe that Anne's second sister Elizabeth never got married, and remained blind to Mrs. Clay's advances towards her dad because she had a crush on her herself, nobody can stop me.
That said, it's a little saddening to read this testament of how the women of that time had nothing better to do than look for husbands and gossip about how other people are looking for husbands. You can read the whole book as a portrait of how all these young people were desperately trying to find something, anything to fill their days and brains, constantly, frantically fighting boredom. No surprise that a character such as Mary gets sick the moment she doesn't have company. These people's heads must threaten to get so empty that it would physically hurt.
I'll give special kudos to the scene where Anne argues that you can't judge women by the way they're portrayed in novels, as those novels are all written by men. Such a pleasing early observation on gendered writing.
I don't think this book is anywhere as polished, or as deserving of fame as most other classics I've read, but Wikipedia tells me that Austen didn't get a chance to edit it in full, so I'm gonna reserve judgment. Plus, the last time I read a novel that most of my friends already knew (namely Twilight), I literally lost friends when I broke into giggles about it too loudly. So I'm not gonna say more, and might or might not read Northanger Abbey, which was also recommended to me, at some later time, if I find that time. Which is not what I said about Twilight. For now, I'm back to the scifi. I've still got a long list of scifi novels to work through.
Thanks for the recs!