December 20, 2005

• 
  My goodness!
  Surely you jest, Jessica!  So many Austen-neophytes. Jane Austen
  isn’t for everyone.  Mark Twain hated her books.  Here are a
  few of the things he had to say about her:
  
  
  “Jane Austen? Why I go so far
  as to say that any library is a good library that does not contain a
  volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book.”
  
  “To me his prose is unreadable–like Jane Austin’s [sic]. No there is a difference.
  I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane’s. Jane is entirely impossible.
  It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death.”

  “I haven’t any right to criticise books, and I don’t do it except when I hate
  them. I often want to criticise 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. Everytime I read Pride and Prejudice I want to dig her up and
  beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

  Ah, that Twain!  Personally, I’ve never felt the need to exhume an
  author to beat her with her own bones, but it makes for fun imagining.

  Despite these aspersions, Jane Austen  was and is loved by
  many.  If you were to read an Austen novel (and there are only six
  of them not counting unfinished ones),  I’d start with Pride and Prejudice,
  her most famous.  But, you might want to just watch the movie
  first. If you hate the movie, then you’ll more than likely not enjoy
  the book.  Take the easy way out!

  I am pleased to say that I finally finished the Hamilton bio. I learned
  so much about Federalists and the early formation of our government
  system and…wait! Wake up!  It really was quite interesting. I
  recommend the book wholeheartedly. 

  I got a treat in the mail today, a book I ordered from Amazon which
  wasn’t supposed to arrive before Christmas. It’s the final book in a
  trilogy telling the story of Pride and Prejudice
  from Darcy’s point of view.  The first two were great (okay, the
  first one and one-third were great), so I’m eager to dive in. 
  (See what passion Austen devotees have?  We spend $15.95 for fan
  fiction!)

  Tonight was sibling night, the evening the children exchange presents
  with one another.  We played all-family hide-and-seek and several
  rounds of Boggle (Guess who won?) and dined on Papa John’s pizza and
  had milkshakes.  Libby delighted Rachel by getting her an
  American Girl Doll pony and AG doll eye glasses.  Legos,
  Playmobil, an antler mounting kit, a wallet, and a watch comprised the
  other exchanged gifts.  Tim223
  joined us one year for this event.  Here’s a picture of the
  picture David drew for Nathan as one of his gifts.  Unfortunately,
  it’s not the best shot, although my camera flash resembles a sunset.

  

  A special welcome to anyone who is reading my blog due to the Christmas letter. Welcome, Lydia!

  
  
  

  
  

  • 10:41 pm
  • 7 Comments