OK, I am sure. Jane Austin was NOT a romantic (though you wouldn't know it to watch the film adaptations of her books, especially the most recent adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice"). Yes, her stories are love stories, but she was writing against the romantic books of the time. She is famous for her treatment of the "human condition", and her heroines were often put in the position of balancing practical matters like financial necessity (marrying well) and other, more internal concerns, like morality, friendship, and dare I say it, love. Sounds like a romance, I know, but really, it's different. I know, most people don't care about this...about whether Jane Austin's books are misrepresented or not...but really, she's dead, she had no children. She stands to make no profit off of changing the marketing of her work. So why advertise it in a way that is completely opposite of what she was trying to do? And, for the reader, how dissapointing, to come in looking for one thing, and to come out with something so very different? A few people might really enjoy it, but I suspect that the difference between modern writing styles and 19th century writing is great enough that most people will feel hoodwinked. I know I would.
2 comments:
Even if people read her novels and feel cheated by the promise of a romance novel (when they really aren't romance novels), they'll at least feel satisfied with the thought that a Jane Austin novel graces their bookshelf. It makes them feel smart! :-)
-T
Yeah, I agree. And hopefully they will appreciate it as a book with more substance. If not, they are not worthy of a Jane Austin book gracing their shelf! hahaha Shoot, I need to get one of these books on my shelf. Sadly, all that graces our is Harry Potter. But we have the whole set so far!
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