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  New to Jane Austen

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  I read historical fiction, but I've never read Jane Austen. As a "newbie", where should I start?

  Suzanne B started this discussion 4 years ago. ( reply | permalink )

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  Libragrl 

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  As a newbie my suggestion would be to start with Pride and Prejudice. You join in the group read for the month of Sept/Oct! We are voting on which book we feel the group should read as a whole and P&P is a nominee!

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Robin B 

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    Absolutely start with Pride & Prejudice. It's her most famous and most important novel. And there are so many debates between Jane Austen fans about the different interpretations of the characters in P&P that you really want to form your own opinions.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Barbara Vazquez (edited)

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  I agree with Annie, Pride and Prejudice is Austen's most important novel, so it's a good place to start.
  Personally, when I'm starting to read a new author, I like reading their books in the same order they where written, but then, I'm a bookworm, and kind of crazy. In Jane Austen's case, that would make Sense and Sensibility my first choice.

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Meghan G 

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    To get a little nerdy here, I believe P&P was the first novel Jane Austen wrote, while S&S is the first novel Austen published.
    
    So Suzanne, I think you are covered either way!

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

  • Suzanne C 

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    Barbara, I agree with you about reading an author's works in the order in which they were written. I do the same thing.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Barbara Vazquez 

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    Yes, Meghan, I read somewhere that P&P was the first, and somewhere else that it was S&S...
    When I don't know for sure, I go for the publication date.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Mary L. Simonsen 

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    Northanger Abbey was Austen's first completed novel, but it wasn't published until after her death. If you read that novel first, you will really see how Austen grew as an author.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    snapdragn 

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    I am reading them in the order they were published right now! :) I will be starting Mansfield Park soon... I can never find a copy of it in my local Half Price Books so I am waiting to get it in the mail from Amazon

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Ballroom_Pink 

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  One should always begin with Pride and Prejudice, then to Sense and Sensibility, then Emma. Leave Northanger Abbey for last, or not at all.

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Mary L. Simonsen 

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    If I had to skip one Austen novel, it would be Mansfield Park. I never took to the characters, and I didn't like Bertram's relationship w/Fanny. At one point, he thought of her as his sister. I know first cousins married at that time, but it was difficult for me to put that out of my mind.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Meghan G (edited)

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    Funny you mention this...I've been reading Northanger Abbey for a while now, and I'm not really eager to finish it. On the other hand, I don't really want to give it up either. So I've been "reading" it for over a month, and am only on page 25. I keep it in my work bag, but I only read it if I don't have anything else to read.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Ballroom_Pink 

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    Oh, yes, Mansfield Park. There's the one a reader could ignore. I'd rather read Northanger Abbey than Mansfield Park again.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Barbara Vazquez 

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    I did like Mansfield Park, I think it has some of the best "bad" characters of Austen's novels. I like mean Mrs. Norris, and the Crawfords are very entertaining, with their absolut lack of morals.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Robin B 

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    I don't think Mansfield Park one of Jane's greatest novels by any stretch but I don't think it should be ignored at all. As an author she really stepped away from her comfort zone of the strictly country manor house setting and into the more gritty side of life that certainly also existed during her time. Something I'm sure she also saw as her family traveled around. She also wrote characters that were truly bad, not just unlikable because they were rude, like the Eltons or the Bingley sisters. She stretches herself as an author in Mansfield Park. It's just not a good introduction into her work.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Ballroom_Pink 

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    Leave MP or NA for last.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    Julia F 

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    But DON'T skip Persuasion. It's my sister's favorite and I think the first one I read on her advice. I then went on to Emma, and then P & P. I think you would be OK reading them in any order. I suggest picking the one with the story line that most appeals to you. The only one I "suffered" through was Mansfield Park and I only finished it because it was Jane Austen. I'm glad I read it if only to be able to dicuss the characters with other JA fans.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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  Emily H 

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  I totally agree with Julia. dont skip Persuasion! what ever you do, don't skip it. i really liked it alot.

  posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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    amyr (edited)

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    Persuasion was the first Austen I read~and I loved it! It was my favorite for awhile, until I read Pride and Prejudice. (I actually read P&P last, unlike most, and was completely enthralled by the wit. It was the "icing on the cake", excuse the cliché.)
    
    NA was my least favorite book~I found Catherine harder to sympathize with. MF was also not one of my favs, but it wasn't a complete waste of time either. Reading it, I felt alternately annoyed by, and sorry for, Fanny. Not sure if I'd read either again. Maybe NA, though, just to see if I could appreciate it better the second time around.

    posted 4 years ago. ( permalink )

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