Funnily enough, I'm not the only Australian who loves Jane Austen - and so we too have our very own Jane Austen juggernaut. We see the films and miniseries, we have the Jane Austen Society of Australia - and we have academics and others researching and writing on all sorts of topics relating to her. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Aussie writers and Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable creatures
Most readers experience, I think, periods of reading synchronicity when we read books in close succession that are related in some way. I am experiencing such a period now as Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable creatures is the third book I've read recently to deal in some way with the first decades of the 19th century. The … Continue reading Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable creatures
Toni Jordan, Fall girl
It's just as well I'm not one of those readers who likes to draw conclusions about writers' lives from their writing, because if I were I'd be seriously concerned about Toni Jordan. You see, her latest novel, Fall girl, is about a con-artist, a very experienced one in fact. And Jordan writes so convincingly you'd … Continue reading Toni Jordan, Fall girl
On polishing Jane Austen’s halo
My American friend Peggy who, several years ago, very generously sent me the Pride and Prejudice Game, has now sent me a link to a short interview - with a transcript - conducted on NPR (National Public Radio) with Dr Kathryn Sutherland. Sutherland is the academic who has been researching Austen's manuscripts for the last three … Continue reading On polishing Jane Austen’s halo
Jane Austen’s manuscripts: Is she the writer we think she is?
Well, it's all over the web, Jane Austen's manuscripts are full, FULL they say, of errors. They're being formally launched tomorrow, Monday 25 October, so we can all see them then, though as far as I can tell they are already up: Jane Austen's Fictional Manuscripts. Is something more going up tomorrow? Or is this just … Continue reading Jane Austen’s manuscripts: Is she the writer we think she is?
Monday musings on Australian literature: Elizabeth von Arnim
This week's Monday musings is a bit cheeky since Elizabeth von Arnim (or Mary Annette Beauchamp, her birth-name) was born in Sydney in 1866 but her parents left Australia in 1871 for Switzerland and then England. Von Arnim spent the rest of her life abroad. So, why am I writing about her? She didn't grow up … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Elizabeth von Arnim
Books into films
'Do you mind what they did to your book?' 'Well, they can't do anything to my book. They can't alter a single comma ... ' I came across the above in an article about P. D. James' in the September issue of goodreading magazine. The discussion relates to her non-crime novel The children of men which was adapted into … Continue reading Books into films
And the Jane Austen bloggernaut just keeps rolling …
Late last year I created a blog for my local Jane Austen group and in the blog roll listed some of the well-known (among Austen circles anyhow) Austen blogs. Since then I have come across many bloggers like myself - such as, say, So Many Books and The Captive Reader - who like Jane Austen but … Continue reading And the Jane Austen bloggernaut just keeps rolling …
Jane Austen: Conservative or progressive?
I must admit that, fan as I am of Jane Austen (of her wit and clear-eyed observation of humanity), I have sometimes been conflicted about whether she is, as this post title asks, conservative or progressive. She was innovative in terms of the history of the novel - her sure use of the third person … Continue reading Jane Austen: Conservative or progressive?
Jane Austen’s letters, 1811-1813
Early in my blogging career I wrote a post on the letters Jane Austen wrote (well, those remaining anyhow) between 1814 and 1816. This was to coincide with my local Jane Austen group's reading of Emma. This year we are reading Mansfield Park and so decided to read the letters she wrote during her writing … Continue reading Jane Austen’s letters, 1811-1813
Whispering Gums 