Yes, I did use that proper name as a verb. I was not the first. Given the number of Austen fan clubs, reimagining of her stories, and productions based on those same stories (and let's not forget the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, UK), "Austening" is something to do.
Desperately searching for something light to read this summer, I happened upon this book on the NEW shelf at the library. It turns out that there was a bit of science fiction involved, but that was fine with me, even if it was time travel which is quite the fad. Author Flynn does have a bit of a twist at the end when it comes to time travel. Because that element was thought-provoking, I won't include any plot spoilers here but will bring it up in one or both of the lower two sections of my blog.
The story itself:
Light, summer beach read, even if you are in the mountains snowed in: Check. This will work.
As good as Austen: Nah. Characterization so-so. But, see up above. Still worth checking out of library.
What did I like about the book (beside wanting something light to read): the historical and biographical parts of Austen's life are woven fairly seamlessly in, and I enjoyed learning about those parts of her life. Also, this commentary from the protagonist is a good response to people who find Austen's characters petty and annoying (yes, people who dislike reading Austen do exist):
"What I love about Jane Austen has never been the marriage plot; the quest for a husband in her novels struck me, even when I was younger and more susceptible, as a MacGuffin [for my non-English speaking friends -- an element used to move the plot, perhaps even develop the characters, but not explained], or at least a metaphor. I have always suspected this is how she meant her books to be read. Many people from my world find it strange, even tragic, that the author of such emotionally satisfying love stories apparently never found love herself, but I don't.
"For one thing, she was a genius: burning with the desire to create undying works of art, not a cozy home for a husband and children. For another, she wrote the world she knew, and what she felt would appeal to readers. The marriage plot is interesting mostly for how it illuminates the hearts of her characters, what they learn about themselves on the way to the altar. She concerns herself with bigger questions: how to distinguish good people from plausible fakes; what a moral life demands of us; the problem of how to be an intelligent woman in a world that had no real use for them" (113, italics mine as is the explanation of a MacGuffin).
Caveats: Requisite sex scene in the latter half of the book. I don't think it was necessary. Frankly, if publishers or authors think they have to have a sex scene in the book, I will just write here that Harlequin Romances are a lot cheaper (particularly when you can get them even cheaper at yard sales and thrift stores) with all the sex you want.
I mentioned a different take on the ending of a time traveling novel so, be aware, the rest of this blog post includes information about the ending.
They find out that changing the past is good. Time travel is still sci-fi so we don't have to consider this possibility in actuality; however, it makes for a great discussion. Would I go back and change the past, knowing that I would be a different person, hopefully for the better, right? Which elements of our lives are what make us to be the people we like being and which elements make us into the people we dislike or even hate in our lives? While thinking these thoughts, another book has come into my life by Amy Morin, but that review has yet to be written.
---A spiritual practice...hmmm, good question. God inhabits past, present, and future, yet the I AM is outside of time. Would the Creator go back and change the past? It's an intriguing question. Some of my friends will pray (as I do also) for a prayer request even if the event, say a surgery, already happened and we are just now seeing the prayer request because God is outside of time and, as all-knowing God, knew we would be praying. I wonder if a good practice would be to talk with God about the past, present, and future, but particularly in talking about the past sins, not always with a shame-faced, hopeless, "consequences are consequences" attitude, but with a forgiven, hope-filled, "You are God of the past" attitude.
Desperately searching for something light to read this summer, I happened upon this book on the NEW shelf at the library. It turns out that there was a bit of science fiction involved, but that was fine with me, even if it was time travel which is quite the fad. Author Flynn does have a bit of a twist at the end when it comes to time travel. Because that element was thought-provoking, I won't include any plot spoilers here but will bring it up in one or both of the lower two sections of my blog.
The story itself:
Light, summer beach read, even if you are in the mountains snowed in: Check. This will work.
As good as Austen: Nah. Characterization so-so. But, see up above. Still worth checking out of library.
What did I like about the book (beside wanting something light to read): the historical and biographical parts of Austen's life are woven fairly seamlessly in, and I enjoyed learning about those parts of her life. Also, this commentary from the protagonist is a good response to people who find Austen's characters petty and annoying (yes, people who dislike reading Austen do exist):
"What I love about Jane Austen has never been the marriage plot; the quest for a husband in her novels struck me, even when I was younger and more susceptible, as a MacGuffin [for my non-English speaking friends -- an element used to move the plot, perhaps even develop the characters, but not explained], or at least a metaphor. I have always suspected this is how she meant her books to be read. Many people from my world find it strange, even tragic, that the author of such emotionally satisfying love stories apparently never found love herself, but I don't.
"For one thing, she was a genius: burning with the desire to create undying works of art, not a cozy home for a husband and children. For another, she wrote the world she knew, and what she felt would appeal to readers. The marriage plot is interesting mostly for how it illuminates the hearts of her characters, what they learn about themselves on the way to the altar. She concerns herself with bigger questions: how to distinguish good people from plausible fakes; what a moral life demands of us; the problem of how to be an intelligent woman in a world that had no real use for them" (113, italics mine as is the explanation of a MacGuffin).
Caveats: Requisite sex scene in the latter half of the book. I don't think it was necessary. Frankly, if publishers or authors think they have to have a sex scene in the book, I will just write here that Harlequin Romances are a lot cheaper (particularly when you can get them even cheaper at yard sales and thrift stores) with all the sex you want.
I mentioned a different take on the ending of a time traveling novel so, be aware, the rest of this blog post includes information about the ending.
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💕💕💕 If you're any type of introspective person, you're going to look back on the past and have at least one or two regrets. Most time traveling novels focus on how important it is not to change the past and the characters in this book follow that same protocol until you get to the end and Flynn switches it up.They find out that changing the past is good. Time travel is still sci-fi so we don't have to consider this possibility in actuality; however, it makes for a great discussion. Would I go back and change the past, knowing that I would be a different person, hopefully for the better, right? Which elements of our lives are what make us to be the people we like being and which elements make us into the people we dislike or even hate in our lives? While thinking these thoughts, another book has come into my life by Amy Morin, but that review has yet to be written.
---A spiritual practice...hmmm, good question. God inhabits past, present, and future, yet the I AM is outside of time. Would the Creator go back and change the past? It's an intriguing question. Some of my friends will pray (as I do also) for a prayer request even if the event, say a surgery, already happened and we are just now seeing the prayer request because God is outside of time and, as all-knowing God, knew we would be praying. I wonder if a good practice would be to talk with God about the past, present, and future, but particularly in talking about the past sins, not always with a shame-faced, hopeless, "consequences are consequences" attitude, but with a forgiven, hope-filled, "You are God of the past" attitude.
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