genre: nonfiction
As someone who does absolutely love Jane Austen's novels (some more than others), I was initally attracted to this book purely by the title. What books would have been on Jane Austen's bookshelf, especially in her formative years? That's an interesting question! But what I got from reading was so very much more.
To investigate what books might have been on Jane's shelf, the author looks into both Jane's letters and into the text of her actual books. It is amazing how many are mentioned! And the set up of this book is to go through each of those authors individually, their personal lives, how they got into writing, the books they wrote, how they may have influenced Austen AND how their books went from being very popular to being unknown. THAT part of this book was so eye opening to me - figuring out how books go out of fashion and how little an author can do about what happens. The "canon" is discussed - both its usefulness and the way it limits us.
I loved the window into rare book collecting - and book collecting in general. I've never thought of myself as a "book collector" (yes, despite my crowded shelves), but as I read I realized that over time, I HAVE collected by theme in a similar way and I didn't ever notice! I also really appreciated the way this book looks with such an understanding eye on the female experience during the period - the ways in which women's lives could just make it so hard to find the time, energy or especially money, for their creative genius to ever make it to the public.
I finished feeling like I'd learned some important things and have looked at my own experience with books in a new light. I really enjoyed it.
No comments:
Post a Comment