novels, comets, movies
My blog is new, so I've never picked out favorite books for a year, but here we go. My ten faves for 2021, fiction and nonfiction, out of the 66 books I read: 1. New Testament -- the recent translation by David Bentley Hart 2. Notre Dame de Paris Translated by Alban Krailsheimer 3. Lonesome … Continue reading Favorite books of 2021 (and 2020)
December 31, 2020 I’ve read Charlotte Lennox's “The Female Quixote” (Kwicksoht), and I struggled through much of the first half, but the effort was well worth it. I flew through the last 100 pages. Lennox’s novel was inspired by Cervantes and later inspired Austen, two authors I’ve recently discovered, so I really wanted to read … Continue reading The Female Quixote
December 15, 2020 Online there are many lists ranking favorite novels in order. My own ranking is really not well thought-out. Just going by enjoyment, I'll list them by how completely I enjoyed each one, ie, the degree to which I found any part of them to be hard going. 1. Mansfield Park2. Northanger Abbey3. … Continue reading Favorite Austens
November 24, 2020 If I searched right, the terms “persuasion” and “persuade”, or variations like “persuadable”, appear – 68 times in “Emma” 46 times in “Mansfield Park” 52 times in “Pride and Prejudice” 42 times in “Sense and Sensibility” 32 times in “Persuasion” 24 times in “Northanger Abbey” The novels are listed from longest to … Continue reading Jane Austen stats
November 17, 2020 It’s often said that “Northanger Abbey” is similar to “Don Quixote.” I would think that Austen read Cervantes, but I’m just finding out about a 1752 novel called “The Female Quixote; or, the Adventures of Arabella,” by Charlotte Lennox, that Austen read and even praised in an 1807 letter. https://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/the-influence-of-the-female-quixote-on-northanger-abbey/ This is … Continue reading Arabella
November 16, 2020 I’ve just seen the 2007 version of “Northanger Abbey”, and maybe my expectations were too high, but it was disappointing. Everything is too broad and obvious. We know, for example, who are the bad apples because they are clearly, ominously bad as soon as we see them. All mystery, ambiguity, and uncertainty … Continue reading Northanger Abbey movie (2007)
November 13, 2020 Spoilers ahead Finished “Northanger Abbey.” Ok, I’m going to be grossly unfair to Austen here, but I’ve got to call this one “The One With the Brothers and Sisters”: the Morlands (Catherine/James), the Thorpes (Isabella/John), and the Tilneys (Eleanor/Henry/Frederick). “Persuasion” can be “The One With the Widow(er)s.” I guess “Emma” would have … Continue reading Northanger Abbey