Bookish Musings: 08.05.26
This week started with the first May Bank Holiday and whilst it is always nice to have one of those, I have spent the whole week not quite knowing when it was. To my mind, Wednesday has happened at least 3 different times! Throw in a severe dose of sleep deprivation, thanks to my kids, and I am very much limping towards what I hope is the weekend😂 A bit of a different take in this week’s musings, but I hope you will permit me a little indulgence as familiarity always help when my brain in feeling muddled! Happy Reading! 📚💕
My personal rankings and ratings of Jane Austen’s Complete novels
It has been really heartening to see all the recent discourse about The Other Bennet Sister! I love Jane Austen’s novels (mostly) and who doesn’t adore a well produced period drama! It has been eye-opening to discover that there is essentially a whole sub-genre of Jane Austen Variations, of which the The Other Bennet Sister - the book - is part. I am not sure if I am persuaded to read the source material just yet. However I am definitely keen to watch the adaption as it seems simply delightful! I have taken my interest in all things Austen as the inspiration for this week’s musings and I am going to rank and rate her novels. I appreciate that this may be controversial, but as with most things on my blog, this is a good faith undertaking. A few caveats, I am not a literary academic and this based firmly on my own preferences, we might not agree and I am always open to congenial and polite discussion. Secondly, I have read each book at least once and seen a TV adaptation of each novel at least once, and as such I will try to keep my preferences towards the book, though I dare say some of the adaptations do also have a special place in my heart too. Finally, I reserve the right to not share all my reasonings, sometimes my gut reaction is sufficient enough! I have tried not to put spoilers but there is some brief discussion of plot points.
Without further ado, see below for my rankings starting with my least favourite.
6. Mansfield Park
My least favourite novel in terms of both the storyline and female protagonist. I read this book once, many years ago and I have never returned. Even though the story was well written, it did not engage me all that much and I did not particularly care what happened ultimately. I could not warm to Fanny Price at all, which made it much harder for me to follow her and Edmund’s storyline. I was very relieved to get the end.
5. Emma
My next least favourite is Emma. Funnily enough, I think the premise is very very good, Emma is unusual from the other heroines, in that she is financially secure and doesn’t face the same pressure to marry well for security. I would argue that her main issue is that she gets in her way and other peoples with her constant meddling! I am not sure if Austen wished us to view her meddling with fond exasperation rather than menace, but I just viewed it with exasperated exasperation! Mr Knightley was a darling character and a saving grace for my attention overall! Emma and Mr Knightley are very good match and it is satisfying happy ending to read! The less said about Frank Churchill the better, I believe…
4. Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility is perfectly placed in both ranking and rating for me, I am pretty much in the middle about it. The story is fascinating as it shows the peril of property being entailed down the male line, when the three Dashwood sisters, and their long-suffering mother, are turfed out of their family home following the death of their father. As with everything in Regency times, the older girls - Marianne and Elinor - need to make good marriage matches to secure their futures but their current circumstances conspire against them. Marianne and Elinor are completely different characters and I go back and forth as to which I prefer more or which drives me to distraction more. Elinor, the older of the two, is so buttoned up, almost to the point of painful penitence, whereas Marianne, is much more wilder and freer than her sister. And sadly pays the consequences of falling for the scoundrel Willoughby (I have no sympathy for him as he used her abominably). Both sisters suffer quite appalling heartache and heartbreak during the story, but ultimately their respective male protagonists save the day. I have a huge amount of time for Colonel Brandon, I think he is as close to a perfect male character as Austen could have written and he adored Marianne. Edward Ferrars is a good match for dear Elinor and to be honest, I was always impressed more than one woman liked him! Having thought about it, I believe Margaret, the youngest Dashwood sister is probably my favourite…
3. Pride and Prejudice
Probably the most well known I would wager of Jane Austen’s novel and the inspiration for so much Romance and Literary Fiction with romantic elements! What’s not to like, there’s humour and wit, frivolity, misplaced passion and villainy! Darcy is such a wonderful protagonist, who can begrudge a grumpy socially awkward hero who falls in love against his own best interest, which he confesses to poor Elizabeth, and is subsequently surprised when she bats him back! There is so much humour in this book and it is a testament to Austen’s writing skills that so many flawed characters can be endearing. Special shout out to Mrs Bennet who is ridiculous and Mr Collins, who is equally ridiculous in a completely different way! Did I mention the Villains? Wickham…the worst cad imaginable and Lady Catherine de Bourgh is positively glacial at any given moment! I imagine this a favourite of many, but not mine as it happens.
2. Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is absolutely a favourite of mine, in fact it is almost a joint favourite but my final choice just edges ahead. I love the writing style of this book, I think it is Jane Austen at her most biting and witty! We follow young Catherine Moreland as she embarks on her way in the world but she is imbued with a love for gothic novels and overactive imagination, she seemingly sees and seeks peril around every corner! She’s a brilliant character, as is Henry Tilney who will ultimately be the beau of Young Miss Moreland. He is the at younger end of male protagonists but wise beyond his years, due to his sad family history and I love the way he stands up to his father over Catherine. I am being particularly vague as I think everyone should read Northanger Abbey at least once and I don’t want to spoil the story. Please do seek it out, it is definitely worth it!
Persuasion
We have made it to the top of my list. My favourite Jane Austen novel of all time is Persuasion. A beautifully written and characterised second chance romance story featuring Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth. A lot of the drama in Austen centres around the female protagonists trying to secure a match before entering spinsterhood (coughs Charlotte Lucas coughs). In Persuasion, our heroine is pretty much considered a spinster and is the only sensible member of a particularly cold calculating family that is perilously close to bankruptcy. Years earlier, when Anne was much younger and her family wealthier, she was engaged to Frederick Wentworth but was then encouraged to break off the engagement because he wasn’t considered an appropriate choice. Where the story begins, Anne and Wentworth cross paths again and their fortunes have reversed as Frederick is now a Captain in the Navy and has made his fortune and Anne’s standing has declined in polite society. What follows is a perfect story of hurt, loss, pining and hope. Anne and Captain Wentworth are such perfectly written characters and so well matched. I adore this story despite my near universal hatred of second chance romance tropes. If you haven’t read this book yet, please do so!
I hope you enjoyed this article, a little different than usual but I consider Jane Austen’s novels to be at the very least, a Romance novel prototype, so not completely out of my usual remit. I am going to bring this to a close with one of my favourite quotations from Persuasion. Wishing you a good weekend ahead!
“I am half agony, half hope.”
