How to Start with Reading Jane Austen
Jane Austen’s excellent collection of novels is a great place to start reading classics. Many people have seen one of the eight million adaptations. But Austen’s writing style can be intimidating. Austen was writing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Her stories are infinitely easier to read than many other works produced at that time.
You may be wondering where to start when you read Austen’s novels. Many people will say that Pride and Prejudice is her most famous and lasting work. While I think Pride and Prejudice makes a great starting point for watching the movie on the screen, it is not the best book to start Austen’s work with. Each of her six novels has its strengths, making them all worth exploring. Our Jane Austen reading guide will help you get started.
The number one place to begin Austen’s works is Sense and Sensibility. This novel is shorter, making it easier to grab and read.
This story is typical of Austen: a down-on-its-luck family, an anxious mother and daughters with whip-smart senses, misunderstandings, and handsome suitors. This novel will tell you everything you need about Jane Austen.
Eleanor and Marianne Dashwood are sharp and funny, as is their youngest sister Margaret. Although their mother is a classic Austen archetype, you’ll find as irriAusten’ss any other mothers you’ll find in Austen’s books. Edward Ferris is a joy to be around, and Colonel Brandon is a grown-up Austen’stor which makes him refreshing for Austen’s writing. The bad guy is rightfullycan’tand the resolution is Austen’s. You can’t get a better taste of Austen’s worries than Sense and Sensibility.
Many recommend Northanger Abbey as a place to starAusten’s. It is definitelyIt’sthere. It is Austen’s mosAusten’sbook. It’s also a clever parody of Austen’s Gothic novels. Because it is a parody, the emphasisAusten’smitating the tropes rather than on Austen’s actual subjects, this is the best place to look for humour if you are looking for it.
At seventeen years old, Catherine Morland, the heroine, is a young girl who enjoys reading Gothic stories more than she is healthy. CatherTilney’snvited to spend some time at Henry Tilney’s family estate after she meets him, a kind-naturedTilney’san. Catherine discovers that Henry Tilney’s father has a dark and horrible secret through her overactive imagination.
