7. Jane Austen Ruined My Life

I'm going to admit, I've never read a book by Jane Austen. Shocking I know considering my love for literature and all things Bronte, Alcott and sappy. In all honesty when I was in college we were supposed to read Pride and Prejudice (I think that was the one) and I guess I was busy that semester because I just got the basic run down every day before class (Thanks Katy!) and somehow managed to pass the quizzes. Maybe I did myself a disservice but I think its good I haven't read Austen. I just don't think there are enough chocolates and tissues in the world to get me through one of her novels.

I'm not really sure where to go with this review. Not really knowing much about Austen's life or her works- besides what I remember from the film version of Mansfield Park, I didn't really have an expectation for what I was going to read. Really- I just thought the cover looked kinda cool (Yes, I just judged another book by its cover. Sue me.) But what I read came out as sort of a surprise. Jane Austen Ruined My Life was the story of Emma, a woman who has based her whole career on the study of Austen, only to have her real life romance to crumble. One might find the story a bit cliche but the characters and storyline, I truly believe, would have made Austen proud. I think she would have enjoyed the twist and turns this novel took and the true conclusion to the central conflict. Although, if what Pattillo said in this book is true and Jane Austen really didn't want the world to know about her- she might actually have been apalled at the secrets that have been revealed around her and that there are actually people out there who would devote their whole lives just to study and to teach others about her own.

Which brings me to the one thing this novel made me think about- celebrity. Austen was a gentleman's daughter. The couple of things she had published before her death did not have her name on them. The scandal that would have been involved in the fact she was a female writer would have overshadowed what she wanted the world to gain from her written word.. yet today we have instant fame. Show your lady bits on a reality show and you're on the cover of every smutty magazine in the checkout aisle at the grocery story. We've come a long way and I personally think it's disgusting. We're teaching our girls to grow up to be pop stars and porn stars and smart mouthed clones of whoever is popular at the moment. I think we should be teaching more about the women who made such an impact on society and did it quietly and with grace and dignity. If we don't- I'm scared something important may be lost.

That's all you get for this week. Hopefully it was enough to make you think and to make you want to read this novel. Its definately worth picking up!

Up next week: Gesundheit by Patch Adams.

7/52 Books
2211 Pages Read.