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Description
Which important Austen characters never speak? Is there any sex in Austen? What do the characters call one another, and why? What are the right and wrong ways to propose marriage? In What Matters in Jane Austen? John Mullan shows that we can best appreciate Austen's brilliance by looking at the intriguing quirks and intricacies of her fiction. Asking and answering some very specific questions about what goes on in her novels, he reveals the inner workings of their greatness.
In twenty short chapters, each of which explores a question prompted by Austen's novels, Mullan illuminates the themes that matter most in her beloved fiction. Readers will discover when Austen's characters had their meals and what shops they went to; how vicars made good livings; and how wealth was inherited. What Matters in Jane Austen? illuminates the rituals and conventions of her fictional world in order to reveal her technical virtuosity and daring as a novelist. It uses telling passages from Austen's letters and details from her own life to explain episodes in her novels: readers will find out, for example, what novels she read, how much money she had to live on, and what she saw at the theater.
Written with flair and based on a lifetime's study, What Matters in Jane Austen? will allow readers to appreciate Jane Austen's work in greater depth than ever before.
Product details
Published | Oct 07 2014 |
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Format | Paperback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 352 |
ISBN | 9781620400425 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Dimensions | 210 x 140 mm |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Sends the reader back to the originals with fresh pleasure.
Tessa Hadley, The Guardian
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Delightful . . . Mullan's humorous guidebook encourages first-time Austen readers to pick up her novels and lovers of Austen to re-read for new details.
Publishers Weekly
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Highly entertaining . . . reveals a quite unexpected aspect to the novelist and her books.
Daily Mail
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A box of 20 literary chocolates for Austen fans to savor.
Kirkus Reviews
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An Austen lover's greatest wish is for more of her novels. This intimate guide to the world of her books in the next best thing.
The Atlantic
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Any new book on Jane Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from re-reading my favourite Jane Austen novel? If you decide to give What Matters in Jane Austen a chance you'll know after a few pages that you've made the right choice.
John Carey, Sunday Times