Dear OR/SW JASNA members, We hope you can join us for our upcoming meeting this November 11th! On this occasion, we will be comparing and contrasting Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. We feel that we must just mention -- we feel it incumbent upon us to hint -- that there remain only a few weeks in which to read North and South, if you have not already. (We naturally assume that you've already read Pride and Prejudice,probably several times.) As you are reading, please be thinking about the following topics:
Thank you for taking the time to read the books; we hope you will really enjoy reading or rereading them. Also, most of you will have recent editions of Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal, and if you will check No. 30 (from 2008), you will find an excellent article on page 53 entitled "Mrs. Gaskell's North and South: Austen's Early Legacy" by Janine Barchas. Further details about the meeting and how to find our hosts, Bill and Marna's house will follow. See you then! Warmly, Alex and Kelly |
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A new Austen title came out this past summer, All Roads Lead to Austen: A Year-long Journey with Jane, written by Amy Smith. This title comes highly recommended by our very own Pauline Beard: "[N]o monsters or mash ups -- just a really good travel/memoir of an English professor traveling in Mexico and South America, setting up book clubs to discuss Jane Austen's novels... and she finds her own Darcy! I loved it!" For more on this fun title, click here for a review via the AustenProse site, and here for more info through Amazon.com. Happy reading! It's a big year coming up -- 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice! And to mark this occasion, Hazel Jones and Maggie Lane (both well-known authors of other Austen-related books and historical works) have written a special commemorative book, celebrating the history of the novel Jane Austen called her "darling child." The book's title, which will be published this fall, is Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen's 'Darling Child'. More info about this title is available online at http://www.janeaustencourses.co.uk/celebratingPandP.htm. You can also read more about Hazel Jones here at http://www.janeaustencourses.co.uk/tutor.htm. Hello all you JASNA OR/SW Washington Fans! Below is a message/request from our member Debbie Guyol. She is working on a wonderful book project and could use our help!! If you can help her please let her know directly. Enjoy ~ Janet Rohrbaugh I reported in January that my co-author and I had an agent for our silly book project, Pride and Prejudice and Kitties, or Purr and Petulance [see the Austencats web site plus an earlier blog post about the site]. Well, now we have a publisher! And we have cat-photos to take. Well, I do anyway (my friend is back East). And perhaps some local Janeites could help.
Anyone who'd like to share can respond directly to me. Big thank you! Debbie Guyol dguyol@aol.com Thanks to member Debbie Guyol, here is an entertaining, and thought-provoking, article by John Mullan in The Guardian on Jane Austen's work and her genius use of details and accuracy. Mullan's book, What Matters in Jane Austen?, will be published in early June. Click here to view the article online in a new window, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/18/ten-questions-jane-austen. "Jane Austen's admirer Virginia Woolf said that 'of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness'. It is a brilliant insight. The apparent modesty of Austen's dramas is only apparent; the minuteness of design is a bravura achievement. But it cannot be shown by some grand scene or speech. Accuracy is her genius. Noticing minutiae will lead you to the wonderful interconnectedness of her novels, where a small detail of wording or motivation in one place will flare with the recollection of something that happened much earlier. This is one of the reasons they bear such rereading. Every quirk you notice leads you to a design. If you ask very specific questions about what goes on in her novels, you reveal their cleverness. The closer you look, the more you see. Try these 10 questions."
Persuasion illustration by C.E. Brock, 1909 Our next reading group discussion is set for March 11, 2012 @ 1pm (see our 2012 Events page). The topic is Austen's novel Persuasion. LOCATION CHANGE: Please note that our March discussion group will now be hosted by member Kathleen McCann. Our regional Secretary Janet Rohrbaugh was originally scheduled as host but is unable to do it in March, so Kathleen has graciously filled in. THANKS KATHLEEN! Please RSVP directly to Kathleen if you can come. For contact info, please see our Contacts page. DISCUSSION POINTS TO PONDER: Our discussion leaders Kate Lozano and Jennifer Snoek-Brown have given us some words to ponder before we gather to share our thoughts of Persuasion: One of the novel's major themes is remembrance, as well as reevaluating one's reactions, outlook, and/or character over time. So as you read -- or reread -- Persuasion, please keep the following in mind:
Elsa Solender, former JASNA president, is the author of a new Jane Austen-related book, Jane Austen in Love: An Entertainment. The book is currently available as an Amazon Kindle e-book. Here is a description of the book from the JASNA Vermont region's site: "Solender’s sub-title of “An Entertainment” clearly states what this book is about – a fanciful confection of Jane Austen in love, where we are given a birds-eye view of episodes in her childhood, intimate moments with her sister, her family, and friends; an imaginary take on her feelings for Tom Lefroy; her 1-day engagement to Harris Bigg-Wither; and the fateful meeting with the rumored and wished-for ‘Gentleman suitor of the seaside’ – part real, part imaginary, and part straight from Austen’s own fiction, all beautifully woven together into this tribute to love in the life of Jane Austen." There is an extensive interview with Solender on the JASNA Vermont region's site, plus an opportunity to enter a drawing to win a free download of the e-book. If you don't have a Kindle, then the winner will be sent a print copy of Chawton House Library's Dancing with Mr. Darcy. The deadline to enter the giveaway is 11:59 pm, Sunday, March 4, 2012. Worldwide eligibility!
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