The Secret Dreamworld of a Jane Austen Fan

I promised I’d write down the answers to which books I quoted in my previous post. So here they are.

1. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)

2. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)

3. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

4. Middlemarch (George Eliot)

5. North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell)

6. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)

7. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

8. The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas)

9. A Room With a View (E.M. Forster)

10. Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)

11. Little House in the Big Woods (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

12. Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)

Well done you all who commented! Great job, I’m impressed!

”It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”. That is probably one of (if not the) most famous opening sentences ever. We all know where it comes from, and it’s been quoted again and again and again.
I was thinking about it the other day, and the opening sentences from the other Jane Austen books (yes, I know, strange things you think about at times…). They are all well known, or at least in these circles they are, even if no other is quite as famous as those first lines of Pride and Prejudice.

So I was thinking about that and suddenly felt curious about what other opening sentences there are. So I pulled out a bunch of classics from my shelf and started flicking open the pages to the first chapter. And I quickly discovered that although I am very familiar with how Jane Austen’s book begins, I hardly knew any other.

Here are a few of the ones I looked at.

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day”

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show”

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug”

“Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress”

“Edith!’ said Margaret gently, ‘Edith!”

And here is a long one:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going in the direction of Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received for good or for evil in the superlative degree of comparisons only”

And an even longer:

“Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through these woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.”

“On the first Monday on the month of April, 1625, the small town of Meung, the birthplace of the author of the ‘Romance of the Rose’, appeared to be in the state of revolution, as complete as if the Huguenots were come to make a second siege of La Rochelle.”

“The signora had no business to do it’ said Miss Bartlett, ‘no business at all.”

“While the present century was in its teens, and one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Pinkerton’s academy for young ladies, on Chiswick Mall, a large family coach, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat coachman in a three-cornered hat and wig, at the rate of four miles an hour.”

“Once upon a time sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs”

“1801 – I have just returned from a visit to my landlord – the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with”

Why don’t you leave me a comment and let me know if you recognize any of them!

My next interview is with Elise, whom I have actually never met but come in contact with through the blogging world. I’ve followed her blog for quite some time now and have discovered that we share many interests. Her lovely blog you can find here: Ribbons of Light.

1. What was your first encounter with Jane Austen? What made you decide to read her work?

I grew up watching Jane Austen movies. The 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was one of my favourite movies as a little girl. I watched it over and over and over. . . Sense and Sensibility 1995 and Miramax’s 1996 adaptation of Emma were also favourites. So, I’ve always enjoyed watching movie adaptations of Jane Austen’s works. Then, when I was about 11 or 12, my parents gave me a copy of Pride and Prejudice (the book) for a Christmas present. The rest is history! Over the next few years I went on to read every one of Austen’s six major novels. I continue to re-read them regularly.

2. Do you have a favorite of her novels? And if so why that one?

Persuasion. There is a tendency to think of Austen’s writing as being witty – intelligent – amusing – and it is indeed all of those. But there is also sometimes a real depth, a poignancy to Austen’s writing, and this come to the fore in Persuasion more than it does in any of her other books. Persuasion was Jane Austen’s last completed novel. Perhaps partly as a result of this, there is a touch of sadness in Persuasion. . . there is something so poignant, so beautiful and bittersweet in its pages. It moves me more than any of Austen’s other books. The movie adaptations also make me cry!

I also think Persuasion is possibly Jane Austen’s most romantic story. Imprudent matches are generally frowned upon in Austen’s books – her heroes and heroines marry for love, but they don’t marry without money, either: whereas in Persuasion, the message seems to be that it was foolish of Anne to reject Wentworth’s first proposal, regardless of the fact that he had neither money nor status. It hurt Wentworth terribly, and it meant years of heartache and regrets for Anne. It was only by a miraculous second chance that Anne and Captain Wentworth meet a second time and get another chance at happiness! More than in any of Austen’s novels, money, society and worldliness are lambasted here. True love and goodness of heart is upheld.

3. Out of her characters, is there a particular one/ones that you like more than the rest? And which character would you say you resemble most yourself?

I am an unabashed fan of a certain Mr. Tilney. I’m not usually one to fall in love with fictional heroes, but Henry Tilney is one of the rare exceptions!

As for the character whom I most resemble. . . either Fanny Price or Catherine Morland. I’m not quite as shy or timid as Fanny, but I’m not as bubbly or talkative as Catherine, either. I’m probably something across between Fanny and Catherine, if that makes any sense!

4. Do you ever watch any of the screen adaptations? Do you have a favorite of them?

I most certainly do! I have an ever-growing collection of Jane Austen DVDs. I own adaptations of every one of Austen’s novels. . . in some cases, I have several adaptations of the same book! My all-time favourite Jane Austen movie is Emma Thompson’s marvellous Sense and Sensibility. I am also very partial to the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice, and both of the recent adaptations of Persuasion. Perhaps a better question to ask would be “Which screen adaptations do I not like”!

5. What do you think it is about Jane Austen’s books that makes them so immortal? Why have they stood the test of time so well and are now more popular than ever?

Hoo boy! I think there are possibly a number of reasons. First of all: classics are classics for a reason! Only the very best books stand the test of time and go on to be read, studied, and enjoyed again and again by generation after generation. Jane Austen’s books are even more popular and widely-read than most 18th and 19th century classics because they are so strikingly modern, and easy for the 21st century reader to follow. The themes and topics dealt with in Austen’s books are also relatable and relevant for the modern reader – times change, but people don’t, and a good love story never goes out of fashion.

Other reasons for Austen’s immense popularity would obviously include the slew of Austen movie adaptations from the last 15 years or so. Countless thousands of fans (myself included) have seen one or more of the film adaptations of Austen, and have then been inspired to read some of Austen’s work for themselves.

Finally, another interesting issue that was brought up in an article somewhere (can’t remember where): in our 21st century society where rules and manners regarding courtship and how we relate to each other have been all but abandoned, there is still something in us that longs for the same societal rules and mores that we have been so proud of abolishing! In an interview with Matthew MacFadyen for Pride & Prejudice 2005, he mentioned how “releasing” he found the unspoken rules and boundaries that surrounded male-female relations in the Jane Austen era to be – as opposed to today, when many of us just don’t know how to relate to and behave around members of the opposite sex! Relations between the sexes today are in such an awful, messed up state. In an increasingly cynical age, where purity in relationships is laughed at and the institution of marriage continues to crumble, I suspect many women actually long for the long for the innocence and beauty of courtship as portrayed in Austen’s novels. It’s no secret that they also long for a gallant, gentlemanly, Austenian hero to sweep them off their feet! I wonder how many men wish that there were more women like Elizabeth Bennet or Anne Elliot around today – women of class, elegance, maturity, and true inner beauty. Like I said, male-female relations are in a seriously messed-up state right now. . .

6. Has “discovering” Jane Austen lead to anything else in your life?

Hm – not really, though it has led to a few dreams and aspirations! I would love to learn to sew one day – chiefly so that I can have a go at making my own historical costumes! I would also dearly love to visit England someday, and visit as many literary locations as possible – include Jane Austen’s House and the Jane Austen Centre in Bath!

One thing that it has certainly led to is a lot of blogging. Jane Austen is not the only thing I discuss on my blog, but it has become a major theme. My semi-obsession with Austen has also led to meeting and interacting with a lot of great people via the web – through blogging and other Austen-related websites.

7. If you had the chance to meet with Jane Austen and talk to her, what would you discuss or ask about?

Wow, what a question! To be honest, I would probably be a bit intimidated at first. But if I managed to overcome my shyness, and if Jane proved to be warm and friendly, I’d want to discuss. . . just about anything! I’d probably just see where the conversation went.

8. Do you have a favorite Jane Austen quote? Or just one that you really like?

Wow, another tough question! There are so many quotes that I love. Here’s a passage concerning a Mr. Henry Tilney. Henry and Catherine are always so adorable together!

. . .in the course of a few minutes, she found herself with Henry in the curricle, as happy a being as ever existed. A very short trial convinced her that a curricle was the prettiest equipage in the world. . . But the merit of the curricle did not all belong to the horses; Henry drove so well — so quietly — without making any disturbance, without parading to her, or swearing at them: so different from the only gentleman–coachman whom it was in her power to compare him with! And then his hat sat so well, and the innumerable capes of his greatcoat looked so becomingly important! To be driven by him, next to being dancing with him, was certainly the greatest happiness in the world. [Northanger Abbey, Chapter 20]

Indeed!

9. And lastly, what other authors and books do you like?

I have recently begun to venture into the world of Charles Dickens for the first time! I am now decidedly a big fan of Mr. Dickens. Aside from my new-found love of Dickens, I also enjoy works by: Elizabeth Gaskell (especially North and South), the Bronte sisters, Fanny Burney, Lousia May Alcott, L.M. Montgomery, Lewis Carroll. . . 19th and late 18th century classics aside, I’m not a big reader of fantasy, but I do love The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

Thank you very, very much!

A few days ago for some reason we were talking about our travels, and suddenly remembered that it was exactly, on the day, five years since we arrived in Fiji (yeah I know, we acknowledge strange anniversaries like this in my family). And I realized too that then it must be more or less five years since I started reading my first Jane Austen book. I checked my old journal from back then (oh my! My spelling was horrid at the time! And the grammar wasn’t too fabulous either…) to see if I had marked down the exact date I began. It would appear I had. And that day was the same as this, only five years ago.

In the very beginning of my blogging “career” I wrote a post on how I was first introduced to Jane Austen and my experience in first reading a book by her (Emma). And now I got thinking about it all again. As I said when I wrote that post, I had first made an unsuccessful attempt at reading the book, but given up straight away. And it wasn’t until I was “stuck” on this paradise island in the Fijian archipelago of the Yasawas without anything to read that I decided to give it one more chance. And I was thinking now, what if I hadn’t? Who knows, I might never have read a Jane Austen book! I might never have read any other classics either, since that was one of the ones that got me started, so to speak. I might never have watched any of the screen adaptations. I might never have decided to get into sewing, since the thing that really got me going with that was finding the Sense & Sensibility site and wanting to make myself a Regency dress. I might never have started this blog. I might never have attended the Jane Austen festival. And all the wonderful friends I have made as a result of getting into any of these things, I might never have met them!

So thinking about that time I feel utterly grateful! Grateful that things turned out the way they did. Grateful to Fiji, for in a way opening up this world to me. I little knew at the time how much that would influence my life. And I am grateful, because I love this beautiful world that has been opened up to me so much!

Dear me, I am getting all sentimental here aren’t I?! It is of course quite likely that somehow or other I would have gotten around to reading some of these books and doing some of these things anyway. But you never know…

I know I have posted this picture before, but it’s the only one I have of me reading Emma in Fiji, so I’ll post it again.

And then just because Fiji seems so very tempting to me right now here in cold snow covered Sweden I’ll post another picture from there. This was the view out of our window where we stayed!

I must say I wouldn’t mind a week or two there right now. And I could always bring some book that I have planned to read but never got around to. Who knows where that could take me…

When I lived in England for half a year I got to see the 2008 version of Sense & Sensibility when it was first aired on television. And since then I haven’t seen it again, not until a few days ago that is. Not because I didn’t like it, I did, but because I didn’t have it. But like I said, a few days ago I finally got around to watching it again, and I thought I’d write down some of my thoughts about the things I like and don’t like in the two newest adaptation of this story.

The Sense & Sensibility from 1995 is a bit of a favourite of mine. I really like it. But I also do like the newest one. In both there are things I like better than in the other, I’ll see if I can remember them.

First, I really think that both Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet did a wonderful job of portraying the characters! But the fact remains that Emma is in truth far too old to be playing Elinor! She doesn’t give the appearance of being 19, there it is. Now Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield did a lovely job too, but I just think that Emma and Kate are superior actresses.

I am very happy that they chose to include all the characters in the newest one! That they didn’t leave out Lady Middleton and her children, little Harry and Anne Steele like they did in the one from 1995. And Anne Steele was quite perfect! Just like I remember her from the book!

Sir John, Mrs. Jennings and Mr. and Mrs. Palmer I much prefer in the older one. They are just so much more entertaining in that one!

Out of the two Colonel Brandon’s I would choose David Morissey as I have never been a big fan of Alan Rickman’s version. I don’t know why, I just don’t like him there so much.

The costumes are lovely in both adaptations, but I think that I prefer the older one on this point.

I think it is interesting how in both these versions they have turned Margaret into a much more center character than she is in the book. Indeed, in the book she is hardly mentioned. And yet in both of these adaptations they have given her a bigger part. And I must say I get the impression that for the newer one they have more or less copied the Margaret from the other film. But I don’t really mind about that. I like the fact that she plays a bigger part actually.

Another character who is very similar in the two films, but not so much like he is in the book is Edward. In the book Edward is really shy, and not particularly funny as I recall. But in both the film versions he is funny. I actually prefer the Edward of the films; he is charming, funny and more endearing, though I feel I should be upset with them for changing him. But I’m not really…
And I have to say in the 2008 one; I loved the scene where Edward comes to see Elinor when she is in town and finds Lucy there! That was sooo good! Wonderfully played by Dan Stevens!

I also like how they included the part where Willoughby comes to Cleveland in the middle of the night and talks to Elinor. That is one of my favourite parts of the book and I was not happy that they didn’t include that in the other one. I like it so much because even if you can’t really forgive Willoughby for what he has done, at least you understand him better.

In the one from 2008 I don’t think you quite see how heartbroken Marianne really was over Willoughby. That comes out much clearer in the 1995 one. And you (at least that’s what I think) don’t get the impression either that she is really dangerously ill and dying.

As my dad pointed out, and I agree with him, in the older one you don’t quite get that Marianne marries Brandon for love. There you more get the impression that she marries him just because no one better happens to be around. So that was much better in the newer one. Because there you see how Marianne truly comes to love him, even though I think she got over Willoughby a little too soon for being Marianne.

And then the endings. In the 1995 one, the scene where Edward comes back and they discover that he is not married is just such an emotional one. Emma Thompson did a wonderful job there I think and you feel truly moved by it.
In the other one I very much like how they show Elinor’s and Marianne’s different “happily ever after’s”. It shows clearly their different personalities and how they are both so happy, in their own way. And besides, I enjoyed seeing Edward run around chasing chickens!

So in the newer one I like that they have included so much more details. Minor characters and occurrences. But I think the older one is much more emotional. I feel more effected by it.

So final conclusion, I think both have a lot of good in them, and I can’t quite say that one is better than the other.

I just came back from a walk to discover a package had arrived for me from Amazon! What a lovely surprise! I love getting packages from them, somehow it feels like getting presents, even though I know I’ve paid for it myself… (oh yes, all of £0.01!)

The book I got was Our Mutual Friend. Can’t wait to start reading it! I’ll tell you more about it once I’ve read it, and watched the film.

By the way, I really liked the address that the book was sent from! It was “Mulberry House, Woods Way, Goring By Sea”. Sounds so lovely in a way I think. We don’t have addresses like that in Sweden!

Or maybe I should say some gorgeous gowns instead, that might be more appropriate. I have just been spending some time browsing through the online collection of historical garments found on this Danish website Tidens Tøj.

They have so many pretty items on there! Apparently this collection is a part of the National Museum of Denmark, and it is only a small part of all that they have. If I understood it correctly (I don’t know how well I trust my skills in Danish) their whole collection of dress and textile items is numbered to as many as 70.000! Not bad! On this site however I think there is “only” 140 items. And for me only the first part was interesting, the rest was to “modern”.

Like I said, there are many pretty things, have a look at some of my favorites.

Ca. 1820.

1816

Wedding gown 1837

I love the color of this one!

1840’s

1860’s.

1870’s

This outfit I think just looks so very elegant. Quite simple, yet so elegant.

1890’s

Aren’t they pretty?!

I wish I could share a picture of my, at the moment, favourite dress. It’s not from this collection, and I don’t know if I can find pictures of it anywhere online. I have it in a book. It’s a 1866 ball gown, in pink silk! And it’s just so beautiful!

Talking about fashion and historical garments by the way, I am no longer sure that I will make my next Regency gown out of that silk I showed you earlier. After consulting some ladies with a lot of knowledge on the subject I have come to realize that it might actually be to stiff for a Regency gown. I have not yet decided 100% how I will do. But don’t worry, even if I decide not to use it for that I have come up with some very grand plans for what I could use it for! But like I said, nothing is decided.

I wrote about Lark Rise to Candleford before, this summer when we had just finished watching season one of this series. We all loved it, and for a long time I have impatiently been waiting for the opportunity to see season two. And finally that opportunity came!

I was delighted when I found out that this season was not 10 episodes like the last one was, but 12! So for the past week we have been working our way through it. And for some reasons we have to watch it on the computer, which means that every night we’ve had to rearrange the living room in order for it to work. So that we can all five of us squeeze down in the sofa (one good thing about this arrangement is that it has been far from cold when we have been watching! Something which can otherwise be a problem here at this time of the year…) to be able to all see. We’ve developed a certain routine for this by now. And I have to say that I feel very fortunate in having a family who also enjoy watching these things! They are all more or less as well-watched in period dramas by this time as I am!

When we sat down to watch the first episode (the Christmas one) I was all excited, but by the time we had finished it we were all rather disappointed. That one wasn’t very good. Or, it was an alright one until they decided to put in super natural things in it! That sort of destroyed it. And we were getting slightly worried that they would have destroyed the whole series by putting in stuff like that! But thankfully that was not the case, and the rest of it has been every bit as delightful as the first season was!

I know for a fact that there actually are quite a lot of people who do not like this series. I’ve heard it described as boring by some, and others have claimed that it is not a very accurate portrayal of late Victorian England. I don’t think it is boring in the slightest! It is interesting and funny! And as far as accuracy goes, well maybe it isn’t all exactly the way things were at the time, but I doubt that any of the films we have today is that! So maybe it is a romantic view of rural England in 1895, but does it matter? Can’t you enjoy it anyway? I know I too can be picky about accuracy and such things, but at least in this case it doesn’t stop me from really enjoying this series! And it’s nothing that much, or that obvious I think. And by the way, Dickens portraits Victorian England in a far grimmer way, and I for one think that it can’t possibly have been all that bad all the time either! So why not enjoy a romantic view of it too!
Having said all that I also know that there are many, many who like me loves Lark Rise too! And deservedly so I think!

Yes, so Lark Rise to Candleford is a story about people who live in these two different places. Lark Rise is the little village and Candleford is the somewhat bigger town, about eight miles off (that is one thing I have to say I find pretty remarkable, they walk back and forth between these two places all the time! Often several times a day! They all must be in excellent shape after all that exercise!). And we get to follow the lives and little adventures of some of the inhabitants of these places. Most of the main characters are the same as in season one: Dorcas Lane the post mistress, Laura who works for her, Thomas who also does, the Arless family, Laura’s family, Queenie and Twister and the misses Pratt. And then of course there are several new characters who have entered the story too.
I’m not even going to try to explain the plot, it doesn’t work since every episode more or less has it’s own little plot.

Some of the costumes in this one are absolutley beautiful! Especially Dorcas and Laura’s! Almost every time that either of those two enter the screen either I, my mom or my sister will go “oooh what a pretty dress!” or “wow, look at that outfit!” or something along those lines (pretty dresses are my one weakness! ). My dad once asked whether we had to say that every time we saw them?! We explained that we actually did, since the costumes were so pretty that they required it! And once, when we were oooing and aaahing over some outfit, he made the remark “oh so that is a new outfit?”! Dear papa, clothes and dresses are not his biggest interest, as he has admitted on several occasions himself. It reminded me of a Jane Austen quote, from Northanger Abbey: “It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire…” Obviously that isn’t true in all cases, but what he said made me think of it.

But back to what I was supposed to write about. Ah yes, the costumes. They have me itching to make something like that myself. But we are all agreed on that the hats the ladies wear are definitely not our favourites! Most just look really silly!

Growing up in a home without television (we only use the one we have for watching videos and DVD’s on) I have not been in the habit of watching TV series. I mean, sure I’ve seen many of the BBC short series, but not many longer ones. Not like this one, several seasons long and still growing, so to speak. And I can understand now how TV series can be addictive! This one certainly is! Now I know that not all series are like this one, but I still think that it is probably a good thing that we don’t have a TV! I have to say I really like the way it feels like you get to know the characters! When you get to follow them for so long.

We have only two episodes left of this one now, and we shall probably finish those tonight. And the I’ll have to wait again before the next one comes out so I can see it (it’s being aired at the moment in the UK I think)! But I shall probably survive.  Hopefully…

The second interview I got here is one with my good friend Justin Gist Preuninger. Justin too I met at the Jane Austen Festival in Bath. I can tell you that it was a very good place to meet people who share my passion about this subject!

Justin has recently started a very nice blog, which you can find here:Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Elegance.

1. What was your first encounter with Jane Austen? What made you decide to read her work?

Well, I had heard that it was a good thing to be familiar with her works, but I never dared read them until after I went to university, even though Emma had sat on the shelf at home for years (I don’t think my family had any idea of what was in it). When I was in university one of my friends was watching the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility (with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet) in our dorm lounge and I walked in at about the halfway point. I liked what I saw and watched the rest of it till the end, after she had to leave. Afterwards I took greater notice, I read the books one by one, starting with Emma, as I had it at home and then whatever other ones I could get from the library or download on audiobook from audible. I also began to watch the various adaptations and became quite attached to the fact that she wasn’t just interested in characters flirting with one another, but with the actual business of life and morality. I often think that much of life can be explained with the help of the Bible and Jane Austen.

2. Do you have a favorite of her novels? And if so why that one?

I particularly like Mansfield Park. I know most people don’t seem to agree, but I find it her most moralizing work; I therefore think the more highly of it.

3. Out of her characters, is there a particular one/ones that you like more than the rest? And which character would you say you resemble most yourself?

I like Fanny Price. The modesty and propriety of her character is very appealing. Perhaps today’s readers may think of her as too much of a prude, but really, she understands better than to do wrong against her conscience… which is the true strength of her character. The depth of her heart and thoughts is simply impressive. I think most of the time I probably most resemble Mr. Bingley. At other times I may have some of the faults of Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bennet, Marianne Dashwood, Sir Thomas Bertram, etc. I may also have some of the moral feelings and faults of Edmund Bertram, but not the same ideas as to style, taste, or aspirations, etc. My friends will probably think of what I have missed or scold me for being overly hard on myself…

4. Do you ever watch any of the screen adaptations? Do you have a favorite of them?

Of course! I love the screen adaptations. I am collecting them a little at a time, I probably have the greater part of the ones created in the last 15 years now. My favorites are probably Sense & Sensibility BBC 2008 and Pride and Prejudice BBC 1995. The worst has got to be Mansfield Park 1999 from Miramax… oh my word…

5. What do you think it is about Jane Austen’s books that makes them so immortal? Why have they stood the test of time so well and are now more popular than ever?

I think she brings out what we know to be true, even when we don’t want to admit it. She rests her works on things that have not changed over the centuries, things like morality, honor, and humor. She is not merely witty, but she is also instructive. We identify with people in her books as they are very real… they aren’t so fantastic that we think it is a fairytale. There are some people today who seem annoyed though that Jane Austen would make characters who actually are worth something, considering that in this modern period, many of the values Jane Austen writes about have been discarded or considered non-essential… perhaps the return to Austen is that we see something in her characters that we’re simply missing today in society at large.

6. Has “discovering” Jane Austen lead to anything else in your life?

Ha, not only has the actual reading and watching been of great enjoyment… I have also travelled to the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England… where I met many good people… including a certain Miss Aurora… Additionally, I have joined the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and attended my regional chapter’s December brunch. I’m preparing to sew period costume when I make room, time and finish finding the right patterns and fabric. Hopefully I will be finished sometime late summer 2010. Oh… and I started blogging as a secondary consequence of some of the former things.

7. If you had the chance to meet with Jane Austen and talk to her, what would you discuss or ask about?

Oh dear… I feel as though she already has shared so much in her novels… I might ask to know more of her philosophy on the internal workings of people and her way of observation. My worry would be what sort of character she might later base upon her impression of myself in a future novel, lol!

8. Do you have a favorite Jane Austen quote? Or just one that you really like?

I don’t know that I have a favorite, because there are too many good ones… but I did recently quote Mr. Knightely in Emma on my facebook status and it was a good one… “Men of sense, whatever you may chuse to say, do not want silly wives.” Another passage I like is from Mansfield Park, but I am still trying to find the exact words for it.

9. And lastly, what other authors and books do you like?

I recently discovered Elizabeth Gaskell… North and South is an amazing book… I’m starting on Wives and Daughters, and should have a review later. Outside of that, there aren’t many related authors I’ve read… at least from the period and genre. I did like Regency Etiquette: The Mirror of Graces, written by a Lady of Distinction.

Thank you so much!

Alright, I thought I’d give you a little update on how the society/ball project is going.

I mentioned in a comment on my last post about a ball that I thought I might have found something, and what I meant by that was this. After I had written that post I decided to do one more search before deciding for myself that I’d start something, so I typed something like “Jane Austen society” (in Swedish obviously) in to Google without expecting any results, as there had never been any before. But this time there was!! This discussion came up, on some Swedish sewing forum that I had never heard of, on exactly this subject! Someone wrote in to ask whether anyone knew of any 19th century or Jane Austen societies or groups in this country. And the response was that no one did know of any such thing, but everyone (everyone who wrote there that is) thought there should be something! And they talked about how they would have to start something themselves, arrange balls, picnics, workshops, meetings, film nights with period dramas and those kind of things!

You can probably imagine my excitement upon finding this! Kindred spirits! Yay! I was thrilled! So excited that I ran upstairs to tell my mom all about it straight away, bringing the laptop with me so I could read it all to her!

I then quickly joined this forum so I could write there, expressing my happiness at finding this discussion, and my interest in being a part of the project.

There has been more discussion since then of course, and as it looks now we shall probably start a 19th century group/society (that is the biggest discussion at the moment, which is best, a official society or just a group). Spanning the years 1790 to 1910. There is already a 18th century society, but nothing for the 19th. And since everyone wasn’t interested in only doing something with the Regency period we decided this was a good idea. And then there will be smaller “under groups” for example like a Jane Austen group, a Victorian group and so on. At least that is the plan. For my part I am really happy about the prospect of a group like this, because that way I there will be several different eras included. And that means I can make many, many more outfits! And since the Regency period isn’t the only one I am interested in I really like this idea.

At the moment I am impatiently waiting for answers to my last post on the forum, it appears maybe not everyone is quite so eager as I am to get started with this… But it does look like something will happen, sooner or later! Though of course, until it actually has, there is no guarantee, and I guess anything might happen. But it looks promising!