Any other guys out there brave enough to admit liking her books? I always read non-fiction, mostly history and science, and had read very few novels until I married a London girl and moved to England from Michigan. She has a good collection of 'classic' novels that I started to dip in to. I was pleasantly surprised at how 'readable' Austen's books were. The girl knew how to tell a story! I've read all 6 of them and have moved on to other 19th Century writers - Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, Arnold Bennett, William Dean Howells and Wilkie Collins among others. Oh yeah, Dickens, too. I thought Great Expectations would be 'orrible (my older sister had to read it in high school and hated it), but it was quite entertaining. Barnaby Rudge is my favorite, though. I almost forgot the Bronte girls. Took awhile to get around to them; good, but not as good as Austen. I'd say I'm like the guy in 'The Jane Austen Book Club' movie, but I'm old and you'll never catch me riding a bicycle.
I love Jane Austen--Mansfield Park is my jam. But I don't understand why you feel embarrassed about admitting it. She sort of has a reputation for having been a love-conquers-all type of romantic, but anyone who has read her books will quickly find out she was quite the opposite. She was a very cynical and sarcastic women, and her novels definitely reflect that. But yeah, I also love Victorian novels (though Austen technically isn't classified as one). I suggest Dickens' Bleak House and George Eliot's work if you haven't gotten around to them yet.
It's only men who seem embarrassed to admit they like her. Not me. I'll even confess to reading my sister's Nancy Drew books when I ran out of Hardy Boys mysteries....... Oh! I like the smileys on here!
I love Austen too (I'm a chick). Her books are timeless as they navigate the same social land mines that have plagued relationships forever. Her stories remind me of a recency era Seinfeld episode. It's little wonder that there has been countless modern adaptations of her novels in films. I mainly read non fiction, specifically history. I've always been fascinated by the mundane aspects of daily life and social customs. There was such an elegance in the Recency era in dress, customs and conversation. God I think the way men dressed with breeches, high boots and facial hair that was just so damn sexy. I also went through an Edith Wharton jag another great observer of her time.
Do you ever read historical fiction? Some of my favorites include English writer Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series. It's got a cult following and BBC has started making a series about it. One of my all time favs is Steven Pressfields The Afghan Campaign which tells the story of Alexander the Great's military progress through the middle east. It's told from the perspective of ordinary grunts. Those novels are very testosterone fueled, gory at times but well written with strong characters.
get your hands on a copy of Evelina it precedes your Jane Austin in fact she based her books on this yarn Evelina - Wikipedia good luck
Male Jane Austen fan right here. Have any of you read any of her Juvenilia (stuff like "Love and Freindship" and "History of England")? It is damn hysterical!