What's your favorite Jane Austen Book?No spoilers, please.
>>25411044Pride and Prejudice, peak comedy, and Mansfield Park.My problem with her works is how much they rely on coincidences so that the heroine can have her happy ending. While these two also use that elemnt, they are the only ones don't abuse it like her other works.
>>254110441. Emma Woodhouse <32. Mrs. Norris3. Belle Thorpe
persuasion was a good read, had a nice adaptation too (1995 film)
Persuasion, with Mansfield Park in second place.
I read the full Jane Austen series (sans the Juvenilia) this year and here is my tier ranking:> 1. Pride and Prejudice Both dramatic and funny. It's a classic for a reason. What I particularly liked about the book is how well fleshed out the male characters are. Mr. Darcy completely internalised his feelings and emotions and was entirely shocked when Elizabeth did not know of or reciprocate the feelings. He was obviously obsessed with her and thought about her constantly, but being a big old autist bound by 'muh societal rules' wasn't able to manifest those feelings in a meaningful way to court Elizabeth.> 2. PersuasionThe best female lead. She actually made some decisions and was an active leader of the plot rather than just being swept along by the story and landing in the rich guy's arms at the end.> 3. EmmaEmma is a cute, well meaning brat and its nice that everything backfires in her face. She fucked over Harriett though and it felt like we were going to get some sort of statement in the ending but her ending up with the rich Mr Knightley and Harriett with the farmer boy felt way too predictable and like "this is how it was always going to be." Would've been more satisfying if Emma ended up with no one, but that's not how romance novels end.> 4. Northanger AbbeyIt was funny and not the serious, but enjoyable. The two halves felt very disjointed.> 5. Sense and SensibilityFeels like a first and lesser attempt at Pride and Prejudice. The male characters were not fleshed out at all and the whole finale felt like an afterthought occurring in the final chapter.> 6. Mansfield ParkThis book is the longest but has the least right to be. Why is Fanny so fragile and apparently constantly close to death but not actually sick? Every time she goes for a stroll she seems like she's going to die. Mrs Norris is funny in her overt cruelty but the book doesn't have many redeeming factors. The whole play arc was a major plot point and talk up so many pages but almost nothing actually came from it. I had assumed this book wasn't well liked as I'd never heard of it before buying my folio set at a thrift store, so am surprised to see >>25411069 and >>25411517think it one of the best.
>>25411568Mansfield Park is the only book by a female writer that Nabokov ever liked.
>>25411574Interesting, just read the summary of this. The point of the functional death of Mrs Norris and Mary is interesting and was my favourite part of the conclusion, given I thought Fanny was wet blanket and I had no real sympathy for her impassivity.
'Emma' was Austen's personal favorite and 'Pride and Prejudice' is the most famous even though it's merely the two set pieces (the original proposal and the meddling Aunt) that account for that.
>>25411574Okay? Nabokov was an obnoxious prick
