Jane, et al.

[garretfw]

I finally finished reading Northanger Abbey and now I know that I don’t love all of Jane Austen. I feel particularly let down because the novel is one of Ian McEwan’s favorites. I guess that the enemy of your friend is your enemy, but the beloved novel of a beloved writer is not always your particular favorite. Bummer. This slim novel by

Comments

[literaticat]

Favourite Austen = Emma. BUT, I do have a soft spot for Northanger Abbey, because when I liv'd in Turkey I spent a good 6 months with only a couple of books in English -- N.A. was one of them, and I read it about 30 times. I liked the parody of the gothic novels. I also liked the fact that it wasn't in Turkish.

(What were the other books? Well you might ask! Ivanhoe, Moll Flanders, Bleak House and Memoirs of a Geisha. Bizarre combo.)

On another note - for something fun - I just finished Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon and thought it was thrillingly inventive.

[garretfw]

I love that story and think you should write an essay on how books read in other countries changes the books we read and how we think about them.

[handworn]

I'm embarrassed to admit I haven't read any of her stuff, despite loving the Ang Lee movie of Sense and Sensibility. I've liked the squibs from the books that I've seen quoted; it's just that the confluence of time, a copy of one and the will hasn't happened yet. Any suggestions for the most addiction-forming?

Have you read Christopher Moore's latest, You Suck? I haven't, myself, but his stuff is definitely fun. Or if you're in the mood for a change of pace, Joe Gores's mystery 32 Cadillacs is definitely a fun book (in which, I might add, nobody dies).

[garretfw]

My husband read Already Dead when You Suck came out and so I have them mixed up. Is the Joe Gores book scary? I think Sense & Sensibility is quite addictive. Persuasion is very short and a fast, almost perfect read. But she is not for everyone. After all.

[handworn]

The Joe Gores book is not scary; it's fun. He has written other books using the same characters-- the DKA files, DKA being the auto repo agency all the main characters belong to-- but the others, while also quite good, are more conventional mysteries (i.e., someone dies).