I really am bored by my biography on Jane Austen by Carol Shields. Non fiction is fairly monotonous to me, but I can also see how reading non fiction could be fascinating to some. For me, the format of the biography makes engrossing details about her life boring. But, it is interesting to learn the facts about Austen's life, instead of speculating on what information is reliable from movies like "Becoming Jane" (awesome movie by the way.... I cry every time I watch it).
For readers, having some knowledge of Austen's work really helps you make connections between her life and her novels. For example, in a few of her books, there is usually a wealthy man who falls in love with a non-suitable girl, and is removed from her life quickly by his family. Later, the man always comes back and they have a second chance at a happy life together. This same scenario is based on her own life experience with a young lawyer, Tom Lefroy. We can only assume that the endings of those novels are snapshots of what she was still hoping for in her own life. It's connections like these that help me force my eyes to continue line by line.
One thing I liked about this biography is that instead of just telling us what happened in her life, Shields tells us exactly why these things occurred as they did (social structure, time period quirks, personal experiences, etc.).
For readers, having some knowledge of Austen's work really helps you make connections between her life and her novels. For example, in a few of her books, there is usually a wealthy man who falls in love with a non-suitable girl, and is removed from her life quickly by his family. Later, the man always comes back and they have a second chance at a happy life together. This same scenario is based on her own life experience with a young lawyer, Tom Lefroy. We can only assume that the endings of those novels are snapshots of what she was still hoping for in her own life. It's connections like these that help me force my eyes to continue line by line.
One thing I liked about this biography is that instead of just telling us what happened in her life, Shields tells us exactly why these things occurred as they did (social structure, time period quirks, personal experiences, etc.).
2 comments:
Hey, I really liked your blog.I'm not too familiar with this 'Jane Austen' person, but she sounds interesting. I think I'm to check out some of her work.
I really liked your Jane Austen blog post. I loved how you explained the differences between the movies and the books. Also I liked how you gave us a little bit of insight on who Jan Austen was, not so much and not too little.
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