"This is the most poorly written book I have ever read. I don't understand why anybody would ever consider it a classic..."
"Pretty much a shot for shot rip off of the West Side Story, just based in the early 1800s."
"I read it at school and, being an introvert, I hated it for its superficiality and poor values."
"I love the film adaptations (especially the 1995 BBC miniseries with Colin Firth), but you can tell those screenwriters really took some liberties with the content. It's telling, I think, when a film adaptation manages to give characters more depth than they had in the book."
"I do not think Austen was interested very much in plots, tbh, or even psychology."
"I must disagree with you about her writing being technically good. As a former technical editor, I can assure you it is not; Austen made her share of grammatical errors, so I was cringing as I was yawning my way through her stories.
I earned an English degree and read plenty of classics (greatly enjoy the Bronte sisters' works), but Austen only appealed to me when I needed something to help me fall asleep. Seriously; I had to force myself to finish P&P, the most unromantic 'romance novel' in existence.
...
For all of fans' swooning over Mr. Darcy, I was expecting there to be...well, MORE TO HIM. He is a stiff, one-dimensional character. I think Austen was having so much fun fancying-up her sentences that she didn't take the time to properly flesh out Darcy--or any of the characters for that matter. P&P had potential to be better if only it were more sharply character focused (good plot naturally flows from strong, well-developed characters)."
"this book is far too long, and contains too much flimsy-whimsy, twee, cotton-wool padding."
"Her habit of making the reader painfully aware of how irritating a character is for prattling on incessantly about inane topics by having them prattle on incessantly about inane topics for pages seems like a waste of ink. I will quote myself here: 'Really? Like we couldn’t tell after the first paragraph? Does Lydia or Mrs. Bennet really have to keep going on for another… two pages?! Ugh!'"
NICE QUOTE
"Are you kidding me? If I want trivial and meaningless and surrealism it's my permanent option to help my mom cleaning our completely dustless wooden floor while dreaming Mr.Hiddleston will engage with me immediately"
"I have to say as a former English lit major and lifelong reader, this book does nothing for me and I thank all my teachers who spared me from this terribly over rated relic from 200 years ago"
"This was, without a doubt, the worst book I've ever read. As another reviewer said, it is very insipid. Reminds me of the stupid high school romances that happen every day. There are crushes and drama queens and unrealistic characters galore. The only advantage of reading it in my case was for the rather skilled writing, but this eventually got to be quite annoying as well, as I struggled to read faster near the end in order to finish the darn thing. I understand that it is supposed to be a representation of the time period and such, but as far as anybody enjoying the people and situations in this book, all I can say is that nobody really makes the right decision, and so much of it is sin. For instance, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet clearly do not love each other and are both terribly selfish. Throughout the whole book, marriage is referred to as a commodity and necessity of life, with the only advantages being money and maybe some short amount of happiness. Lydia is as sinful as to chase only after flirting and love at all times, and in the end commits adultery, not repenting in the least afterwards. Cute? No. It's just outright sin. Also, the parents aren't told about anything regarding Elizabeth's romance until all is settled, and then when one is told, the other must be told separately. What kind of communication between husband and wife is that? And another thing; what seems to be celebrated most in this book is lust! About 90% of it is girls thinking blissfully about men, or the other way around. I cannot view this stuff as anything more than sin. Maybe some girls find it 'romantic' or 'funny' when Mr. Bingley moves in and all the Bennet girls can think about is whether one of them can marry him. I don't. I think it's sad."
Showing posts with label austen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label austen. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice III
"I am so into Jane Austen. I feel like she wrote all of her books just for me. I can't tell you how many times I've read her books. I wish she was alive so I could ask her to be my friend and follow her everywhere."
"Having always considered myself to be kind of an anglophile, I thought that I would like Jane Austen, that I was supposed to, but this is just too british, even for my taste."
"This book is about people who judge it each other before they knew it the other person. In this book over they over come their prejudice and find a some what happy ending. Even though they have to their"
"I tried to read this but I couldn't keep up with who was what to where. I watch a BBC movie of this and loved it."
"I hate reading old english"
"Ughhh.
This is the whole story:
None of the girls get married cuz theyre all so ugly. 345 pages of snobs without real money drinking tea and talking about their love life."
"Old English grammer fascinating to read - like stepping back in time for awhile. Thank goodness times have changed!"
"I only got halfway through it not because it was so difficult but because the characters would just not stop talking! I understand that this was written 200 years ago, but something this classic should be accessible to all classes and genders. The words were too verbose. Maybe a little more punch is what it needed, but description other than more dialogue would help carry that punch. If you are a women writer back then, it was very limited so I understand. One thing this novel has is plot, but it did not engage me one bit. I recommend the movie instead."
"Ohmigod, have I mentioned that I hate Jane Austen?!? I really, really hate Jane Austen. It took me a year to make it through this book. So much talking about nothing. So much of nothing happening in general. Someone enters a room, someone leaves a room.
A couple of notable scenes: Elizabeth Bennett's snappy comments when Darcy slights her and Darcy's lovelorn letter. Guess what? Both are just as good in films. Honestly, even though I teach English, I firmly believe every Jane Austen book makes for a better movie."
"Having always considered myself to be kind of an anglophile, I thought that I would like Jane Austen, that I was supposed to, but this is just too british, even for my taste."
"This book is about people who judge it each other before they knew it the other person. In this book over they over come their prejudice and find a some what happy ending. Even though they have to their"
"I tried to read this but I couldn't keep up with who was what to where. I watch a BBC movie of this and loved it."
"I hate reading old english"
"Ughhh.
This is the whole story:
None of the girls get married cuz theyre all so ugly. 345 pages of snobs without real money drinking tea and talking about their love life."
"Old English grammer fascinating to read - like stepping back in time for awhile. Thank goodness times have changed!"
"I only got halfway through it not because it was so difficult but because the characters would just not stop talking! I understand that this was written 200 years ago, but something this classic should be accessible to all classes and genders. The words were too verbose. Maybe a little more punch is what it needed, but description other than more dialogue would help carry that punch. If you are a women writer back then, it was very limited so I understand. One thing this novel has is plot, but it did not engage me one bit. I recommend the movie instead."
"Ohmigod, have I mentioned that I hate Jane Austen?!? I really, really hate Jane Austen. It took me a year to make it through this book. So much talking about nothing. So much of nothing happening in general. Someone enters a room, someone leaves a room.
A couple of notable scenes: Elizabeth Bennett's snappy comments when Darcy slights her and Darcy's lovelorn letter. Guess what? Both are just as good in films. Honestly, even though I teach English, I firmly believe every Jane Austen book makes for a better movie."
Friday, June 22, 2012
Jane Austen - Persuasion III
"She does poorly in sentence structure, placing too many semi-colons, making a paragraph out of one sentence. I barely managed to grasp the plot of the story."
"I know that somewhere out there, during that time, there had to have been women that said 'NOPE! Not gonna wait around for a man to come and take my money and take care of me!' Where are they?"
"Some parts were ok, such as the scene where a girl is jumping around and cracks her head open. I laughed out loud at her idiocy."
"I was presented with this novel at my book group and I took it home filled with trepidation. I was an Austen virgin but it was time to lift the veil from my eyes and immerse myself in a classic! Everyone raves about her, TV producers cannot stop making mini series of her work so surely I am about to be blown away by the famous Austen 'wit' and the social commentary of the time? Eh, no! Whilst the insight provided into the period was fascinating and the characters relatively well rounded, the long winded prose and enormous sentences made it painful and unenjoyable. She can spin a sentence into a paragraph and by the time you've got the end you need to re-read it to remember what it was all about. One paragraph took me 15 minutes before I admitted defeat. Eventually I just gave up. Reading should be a pleasure and there are so many great books why waste time reading something that is making your eyes bleed?"
"i gaurantee that you will think about lobbing your copy out of the window once or twice. (I did actually lob it out the window and had to get a new copy as it landed in a puddle!!) ... I will be throwing my straight in the bin once ive studyed it, the recycling bin that is!"
"I must say Jane Austen is incredibly boring and all her novels are stories of women's aspirations to marry wealthy and noble men to support them. Most great literature is so wonderful because of its timelessness, touching on universal feelings and ideas. While it may have been groundbreaking in its time, it is so dull now ... This book is dull and predictable and is restricted by its time period. If you want to delve into the past then maybe pick it up, but otherwise, it's unexciting, and it still feeds on social classes and marriage as a woman's reliance on a man for social and fiscal support."
"Books like these are why Cliff Notes were invented."
"How does Chinese water torture sound?
Chinese water torture? Sounds like a welcome diversion from this boring redundant work of 'art' to me. I feel for the trees that were wasted in the process of creating this horrendously boring soap opera in paperback. It is possible that I missed something while reading this work because I spent most of the time trying to stay awake. However, in the future if I want to read something of this caliber I would write NBC and ask for the script of their least watched daytime 'soap'. In conclusion, not only do I NOT recommend this novel, but I pledge to do my best to begin an anti-Persuasion League, to prevent the widespread development of narcolepsy in high school students who are forced to read worthlessly painful novels."
"As I know Austen's works are classics, I'm sure I've just been spoiled lately by all the vampire drama in the Twilight series I just finished! ;)"
"really dated with the Victorian conceptions of etiquette and class."
"the wording was very uncomfortable."
"I found the absence of description made it difficult to flesh out the characters or locations and give them bodies and a real life.
This was exarcebated by the lack of mention of physical needs, like eating or descriptions of food or other functions"
"I felt like it had too many words"
"Does Ann and Fredrick get together all so long? You'll have to read the book to find out."
"I know that somewhere out there, during that time, there had to have been women that said 'NOPE! Not gonna wait around for a man to come and take my money and take care of me!' Where are they?"
"Some parts were ok, such as the scene where a girl is jumping around and cracks her head open. I laughed out loud at her idiocy."
"I was presented with this novel at my book group and I took it home filled with trepidation. I was an Austen virgin but it was time to lift the veil from my eyes and immerse myself in a classic! Everyone raves about her, TV producers cannot stop making mini series of her work so surely I am about to be blown away by the famous Austen 'wit' and the social commentary of the time? Eh, no! Whilst the insight provided into the period was fascinating and the characters relatively well rounded, the long winded prose and enormous sentences made it painful and unenjoyable. She can spin a sentence into a paragraph and by the time you've got the end you need to re-read it to remember what it was all about. One paragraph took me 15 minutes before I admitted defeat. Eventually I just gave up. Reading should be a pleasure and there are so many great books why waste time reading something that is making your eyes bleed?"
"i gaurantee that you will think about lobbing your copy out of the window once or twice. (I did actually lob it out the window and had to get a new copy as it landed in a puddle!!) ... I will be throwing my straight in the bin once ive studyed it, the recycling bin that is!"
"I must say Jane Austen is incredibly boring and all her novels are stories of women's aspirations to marry wealthy and noble men to support them. Most great literature is so wonderful because of its timelessness, touching on universal feelings and ideas. While it may have been groundbreaking in its time, it is so dull now ... This book is dull and predictable and is restricted by its time period. If you want to delve into the past then maybe pick it up, but otherwise, it's unexciting, and it still feeds on social classes and marriage as a woman's reliance on a man for social and fiscal support."
"Books like these are why Cliff Notes were invented."
"How does Chinese water torture sound?
Chinese water torture? Sounds like a welcome diversion from this boring redundant work of 'art' to me. I feel for the trees that were wasted in the process of creating this horrendously boring soap opera in paperback. It is possible that I missed something while reading this work because I spent most of the time trying to stay awake. However, in the future if I want to read something of this caliber I would write NBC and ask for the script of their least watched daytime 'soap'. In conclusion, not only do I NOT recommend this novel, but I pledge to do my best to begin an anti-Persuasion League, to prevent the widespread development of narcolepsy in high school students who are forced to read worthlessly painful novels."
"As I know Austen's works are classics, I'm sure I've just been spoiled lately by all the vampire drama in the Twilight series I just finished! ;)"
"really dated with the Victorian conceptions of etiquette and class."
"the wording was very uncomfortable."
"I found the absence of description made it difficult to flesh out the characters or locations and give them bodies and a real life.
This was exarcebated by the lack of mention of physical needs, like eating or descriptions of food or other functions"
"I felt like it had too many words"
"Does Ann and Fredrick get together all so long? You'll have to read the book to find out."
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Jane Austen - Persuasion II
"I can't get behind anyone who writes the 19th-century equivalent of a rom-com."
"Let me explain my vitriol. When I read Austen I read one thing: a man who is not rich or doesn’t desire to be rich shouldn’t procreate."
"From the onset of puberty I have wanted nothing more to be in love ... Yet every time I’ve tried to instigate this, and oh how I’ve tried to follow the Austen formula, my advances have their throats slit by women who desire to join a convent, are actually attracted to women thank you, or would much rather be pursued by, you guessed it, men with money."
"As I see it, time is precious. Love makes it more so. Eight years of opportunity is missed because of a stupid dying caste system; the novel raises this issue, and merely shrugs."
"This is the first Jane Austen novel I've read, and if it's at all exemplary of her work as a whole, I think I understand her appeal in some circles. This is largely a book of gossip, and in the end, of wish fulfillment. It's a reality show from late Georgian England, couched in flowery prose."
"It's no wonder that Ms Austen died an old maid. I imagine she spent her life mooning quietly over potential beaus and suffering imagined slights like a high school girl."
"My main complain is that Austen`s books are all mostly the same - there`s some more or less active heroin and there are two guys"
COLONEL WARWICKSHIRE'S FACILITY WITH A SPOON WAS VERY MUCH ADMIRED AT WARBLER'S FLAT, WHERE ANY THING WAS A WELCOME RELIEF TO THE THREE SISTERS, AND FOLLOWING THE BRAVERY HE HAD DISPLAYED IN THE INCIDENT OF MARY'S REVIVAL BY NALOXONE SHOT, EVEN CATHERINE HAD JOINED IN THE GENERAL PRAISE OF THE COLONEL. AT THE PROPER HOUR EVERY EVENING IT WAS HIS CUSTOM TO ARRANGE HIMSELF IN THE LARGE ARMCHAIR FACING THE FIRE, AND COOK THE FIRST CHUNK OVER THE FLAMES WHILE THE GIRLS COLLECTED ABOUT HIM, TYING THEIR THICK LEATHER BELTS AROUND THEIR UPPER ARMS AND SHIVERING OR ROCKING BACK AND FORTH AS THEIR FANCY TOOK THEM. TONIGHT BEING NO EXCEPTION, ALL EYES WERE ON THE SIZZLING BROWN CHUNK AS IT DISSOLVED IN THE COLONEL'S CAPABLE HANDS. EACH GIRL, EVEN CATHERINE, HOPED THAT SHE MIGHT BE THE FIRST CHOSEN, AND EACH WAS EQUALLY DISMAYED WHEN THE COLONEL, HAVING ADDED THE WATER, SWIFTLY INJECTED THE SYRINGE INTO THE WRECKAGE OF HIS OWN INNER ARM. ALL WERE SO FLUSTERED BY THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT THAT IT WAS NOT UNTIL A VOICE FROM BEHIND THEM ANNOUNCED THE PRESENCE OF AN OBSERVER THAT ANY OF THE SISTERS TURNED HERSELF ABOUT. LUCY'S ASTONISHMENT WAS BEYOND EXPRESSION -- IT WAS MR SHELBY!
"I SUPPOSE THAT IT IS THE CUSTOM IN THE WEST INDIES TO SERVE ONESELF BEFORE A LADY, COLONEL. MAY I THEREFORE ADVISE YOU THAT IN ENGLAND WE PREFER TO ATTEND TO THE DESIRES OF THE FAIRER SEX BEFORE WE STOOP TO GRATIFY OUR OWN."
"MY WORD, BOY!" SAID THE COLONEL, WITH NO SLIGHT INDIGNATION. THE GIRLS SCREAMED AND RUSHED TO STEADY HIS HAND.
"I ASSURE YOU, SIR," INTERVENED LUCY. "THE GOOD COLONEL HAS NO NEED OF SUCH ADVICE -- I MYSELF CAN VOUCH THAT HIS MANNERS CONCERNING THE FIRST HIT ARE ALWAYS EXEMPLARY. IF HE JUDGES IT BEST THAT IT FALL TO HIS OWN PART, IT IS ONLY TO FORESTALL ANY SQUABBLING BETWEEN THE LADIES OF THIS PARTY CONCERNING WHICH AMONG US MIGHT COUNT HERSELF THE FAVOURITE."
MR SHELBY ONLY SNIFFED, TURNED UP HIS NOSE AND RETREATED TO THE VESTIBULE. THOUGH LUCY AND CATHERINE HAD RECEIVED THE INTRUDER WITH THE FORBEARANCE OF CIVILITY, THE AGITATION OF COLONEL WARWICKSHIRE, AND THE TEARS OF MARY, PROVED ENOUGH TO QUITE SPOIL THE WHOLE PARTY'S BUZZ. "I NEVER MET SUCH AN ILL-MANNERED MAN!" CRIED LUCY UPON RETURNING TO HER CHAMBER. ALL NIGHT SHE SCRATCHED AT HER CHEST AND ARMS, AND HER SLEEPLESSNESS WAS HARDLY LESS OWING TO MR SHELBY'S CONDUCT THAN TO THE TWO TEN-BAGS OF TAR HEROIN BURNING IN HER VEINS.
"Let me explain my vitriol. When I read Austen I read one thing: a man who is not rich or doesn’t desire to be rich shouldn’t procreate."
"From the onset of puberty I have wanted nothing more to be in love ... Yet every time I’ve tried to instigate this, and oh how I’ve tried to follow the Austen formula, my advances have their throats slit by women who desire to join a convent, are actually attracted to women thank you, or would much rather be pursued by, you guessed it, men with money."
"As I see it, time is precious. Love makes it more so. Eight years of opportunity is missed because of a stupid dying caste system; the novel raises this issue, and merely shrugs."
"This is the first Jane Austen novel I've read, and if it's at all exemplary of her work as a whole, I think I understand her appeal in some circles. This is largely a book of gossip, and in the end, of wish fulfillment. It's a reality show from late Georgian England, couched in flowery prose."
"It's no wonder that Ms Austen died an old maid. I imagine she spent her life mooning quietly over potential beaus and suffering imagined slights like a high school girl."
"My main complain is that Austen`s books are all mostly the same - there`s some more or less active heroin and there are two guys"
COLONEL WARWICKSHIRE'S FACILITY WITH A SPOON WAS VERY MUCH ADMIRED AT WARBLER'S FLAT, WHERE ANY THING WAS A WELCOME RELIEF TO THE THREE SISTERS, AND FOLLOWING THE BRAVERY HE HAD DISPLAYED IN THE INCIDENT OF MARY'S REVIVAL BY NALOXONE SHOT, EVEN CATHERINE HAD JOINED IN THE GENERAL PRAISE OF THE COLONEL. AT THE PROPER HOUR EVERY EVENING IT WAS HIS CUSTOM TO ARRANGE HIMSELF IN THE LARGE ARMCHAIR FACING THE FIRE, AND COOK THE FIRST CHUNK OVER THE FLAMES WHILE THE GIRLS COLLECTED ABOUT HIM, TYING THEIR THICK LEATHER BELTS AROUND THEIR UPPER ARMS AND SHIVERING OR ROCKING BACK AND FORTH AS THEIR FANCY TOOK THEM. TONIGHT BEING NO EXCEPTION, ALL EYES WERE ON THE SIZZLING BROWN CHUNK AS IT DISSOLVED IN THE COLONEL'S CAPABLE HANDS. EACH GIRL, EVEN CATHERINE, HOPED THAT SHE MIGHT BE THE FIRST CHOSEN, AND EACH WAS EQUALLY DISMAYED WHEN THE COLONEL, HAVING ADDED THE WATER, SWIFTLY INJECTED THE SYRINGE INTO THE WRECKAGE OF HIS OWN INNER ARM. ALL WERE SO FLUSTERED BY THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT THAT IT WAS NOT UNTIL A VOICE FROM BEHIND THEM ANNOUNCED THE PRESENCE OF AN OBSERVER THAT ANY OF THE SISTERS TURNED HERSELF ABOUT. LUCY'S ASTONISHMENT WAS BEYOND EXPRESSION -- IT WAS MR SHELBY!
"I SUPPOSE THAT IT IS THE CUSTOM IN THE WEST INDIES TO SERVE ONESELF BEFORE A LADY, COLONEL. MAY I THEREFORE ADVISE YOU THAT IN ENGLAND WE PREFER TO ATTEND TO THE DESIRES OF THE FAIRER SEX BEFORE WE STOOP TO GRATIFY OUR OWN."
"MY WORD, BOY!" SAID THE COLONEL, WITH NO SLIGHT INDIGNATION. THE GIRLS SCREAMED AND RUSHED TO STEADY HIS HAND.
"I ASSURE YOU, SIR," INTERVENED LUCY. "THE GOOD COLONEL HAS NO NEED OF SUCH ADVICE -- I MYSELF CAN VOUCH THAT HIS MANNERS CONCERNING THE FIRST HIT ARE ALWAYS EXEMPLARY. IF HE JUDGES IT BEST THAT IT FALL TO HIS OWN PART, IT IS ONLY TO FORESTALL ANY SQUABBLING BETWEEN THE LADIES OF THIS PARTY CONCERNING WHICH AMONG US MIGHT COUNT HERSELF THE FAVOURITE."
MR SHELBY ONLY SNIFFED, TURNED UP HIS NOSE AND RETREATED TO THE VESTIBULE. THOUGH LUCY AND CATHERINE HAD RECEIVED THE INTRUDER WITH THE FORBEARANCE OF CIVILITY, THE AGITATION OF COLONEL WARWICKSHIRE, AND THE TEARS OF MARY, PROVED ENOUGH TO QUITE SPOIL THE WHOLE PARTY'S BUZZ. "I NEVER MET SUCH AN ILL-MANNERED MAN!" CRIED LUCY UPON RETURNING TO HER CHAMBER. ALL NIGHT SHE SCRATCHED AT HER CHEST AND ARMS, AND HER SLEEPLESSNESS WAS HARDLY LESS OWING TO MR SHELBY'S CONDUCT THAN TO THE TWO TEN-BAGS OF TAR HEROIN BURNING IN HER VEINS.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Jane Austen - Persuasion
"I tried. I really did."
"I tried to read this book, really I did."
"I really did try my best, and right now I'm just patting myself on the back for finally finishing this little book after starting it a dozen times."
"I have fallen asleep EVERY TIME I have read it. THAT NEVER HAPPENS."
"Jane Austen and I don't get along very well. Am I the worst female English major ever because of it? Perhaps. And I'm okay with that."
"SNOOZE FEST!!! It was as boring as the landscape depicted in the bleek winter of this book. I'm sure my review will make me seem like an uneducated boob. But, I'm not. I just don't like boring stuff!"
"I am constantly amazed that generations of readers return again and again to this turgid slop. Dull, slow and uninteresting."
"This was the last novel by Austen before she passed on. I'd die too, if this was the last book that I've written. Simply awful."
"I really think this is a terrible terrible object. Not even as a book, just in general.
That Jane Austen is a jerk."
"I came to Persuasion in reverence, as I think one should approach any of the classics, but I am turned away in utter disgust. Anne Elliot is a calculating, grasping, whining louse. Persuasion is irrelevant."
"Jane Austen has a huge problem, in my opinion, when it comes to her novels. That is: THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THE SAME THING!! A young woman meets a guy and for one reason or another can't be with him (in this case because Wentworth didn't have enough money, with Pride and Prejudice it's because Elizabeth can't stand Darcy's behaviour). Guess what? They also end the same way - with marriage.
It's boring reading the same plot over and over again. I am finished with Jane Austen. Absolutely done."
"I didn't finish it. I couldn't even get 20 pages into it. I avoided it. I read another book after starting it. I tried to force myself to read it really fast to get past the beginning. I finally gave up and flipped to the last page, and I couldn't even force myself to read that. What I did read and see at the end was very shallow, so I'm assuming I didn't miss anything?"
"The verbiage was unending. That society was superficial to the extreme. Maybe I'm a modern, jaded woman, but it was all too much.
Miss Austen seemed to have forced herself to create these most boring folk. It does make me grateful for television - and I got rid of cable a couple of years ago."
"LAME! HATED IT! NOT MY STYLE - TOO FLOWERY, TOO MANY WORDS, TOO PROPER. UGH! So glad I did not live back then! Gag me!!!!!!!"
"I tried to read this book, really I did."
"I really did try my best, and right now I'm just patting myself on the back for finally finishing this little book after starting it a dozen times."
"I have fallen asleep EVERY TIME I have read it. THAT NEVER HAPPENS."
"Jane Austen and I don't get along very well. Am I the worst female English major ever because of it? Perhaps. And I'm okay with that."
"SNOOZE FEST!!! It was as boring as the landscape depicted in the bleek winter of this book. I'm sure my review will make me seem like an uneducated boob. But, I'm not. I just don't like boring stuff!"
"I am constantly amazed that generations of readers return again and again to this turgid slop. Dull, slow and uninteresting."
"This was the last novel by Austen before she passed on. I'd die too, if this was the last book that I've written. Simply awful."
"I really think this is a terrible terrible object. Not even as a book, just in general.
That Jane Austen is a jerk."
"I came to Persuasion in reverence, as I think one should approach any of the classics, but I am turned away in utter disgust. Anne Elliot is a calculating, grasping, whining louse. Persuasion is irrelevant."
"Jane Austen has a huge problem, in my opinion, when it comes to her novels. That is: THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THE SAME THING!! A young woman meets a guy and for one reason or another can't be with him (in this case because Wentworth didn't have enough money, with Pride and Prejudice it's because Elizabeth can't stand Darcy's behaviour). Guess what? They also end the same way - with marriage.
It's boring reading the same plot over and over again. I am finished with Jane Austen. Absolutely done."
"I didn't finish it. I couldn't even get 20 pages into it. I avoided it. I read another book after starting it. I tried to force myself to read it really fast to get past the beginning. I finally gave up and flipped to the last page, and I couldn't even force myself to read that. What I did read and see at the end was very shallow, so I'm assuming I didn't miss anything?"
"The verbiage was unending. That society was superficial to the extreme. Maybe I'm a modern, jaded woman, but it was all too much.
Miss Austen seemed to have forced herself to create these most boring folk. It does make me grateful for television - and I got rid of cable a couple of years ago."
"LAME! HATED IT! NOT MY STYLE - TOO FLOWERY, TOO MANY WORDS, TOO PROPER. UGH! So glad I did not live back then! Gag me!!!!!!!"
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice II
"The story line is not too bad but the way it is written and with all the fanciness... I really don't like it."
"I read Pride and Prejudice during the fall for a highschool literature class. I was really very excited! Once I started reading it, I began to become bored. It wasn't the fact that Austen had a terrible story line or plot, but it was because they way it was written (old English), it was tragically difficult for me to understand. Jane Austen is a very talented writer. Even though it was difficult to read, I could feel her passion for writing seep through each letter. If you love a book with a love triangle (and can understand old English) then this is a book for you!"
"I found the Cliff Notes version of this to be more entertaining.
FAR too much useless text that interferes with the story"
"Book was quite difficult to understand. It was written in old english."
"This book was literally painful to read. Trying to comprehend the text made my eyes and brain hurt, not to mention the pain in my arms from holding up that E N O R M O U S book. I still Don't get what that book was about."
"I couldn't get through it. To be honest, I thought it was boring and hard to understand the language spoken in that time period. I really had to concentrate and re-read passages just to figure out what was going on. This is now on my list of books NOT to read. My advice, skip the book and watch the movie."
"Due to unfortunate job-related stuff, I'm currently teaching a Jane Austen novel. Doesn't matter which. I can't keep them straight.
...
But I hate Jane Austen.
I've tried. I really have. But these novels are so artificial, so terribly unreal. Nobody in a Jane Austen novel, as far as I can tell, ever bleeds or farts or craps or sweats or pisses or dies in a way that isn't just terribly pictureseque and dreadfully wonderful.
Gag.
Granted, you can make the argument that, as works of fiction, no novel actually reflects the real world and yadda yadda yadda.
Well, Jane Austen's world is less real than most."
"I might add that Jane Austen basically wrote about what she didn't really understand.. she never married, she always turned suitors away. Plus. Maybe it's me but this literature perpetuates female obsession over nonsense and manipulative behaviour in relationships."
"The people I know who like Jane Austen also have planned out their perfect wedding since they were grade two and swoon over Darcy as the 'perfect man' - I'm ashamed that Austen's icing-filled fairy-tale happily-ever-after stories are lauded as 'great literature'."
"I would rape Jane Austen if she were alive.And yes I am a woman."
"Thank god that there is a fan page for those who abhor Jane Austin's lame work which only revolve on predictable love stories . I mean I know she lived in a different time where women didn’t have much ambition or goal other than scouting for a husband but what really bothers me the most is that people actually consider her as one of the best writers in the history where in fact she is nothing but a pathetic spinster who had nothing better to write about other than imaginary Mr right who is just as boring and shallow as her ."
"Bad stuff....bad....bad....bad!"
"a man of large fortune must be in want of a wife! shut up austin nobody cares!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Random quips, sayings, and irreverent stories from the likes of me, a guy who really, really, really hates Jane Austen, so much that I will never mention her in this entire book, except for the two times in the title, but after that, nothing.
I mean what other book can we find vampires, psuedo-angels, man-eating Kumquats, an existential crisis of a lonely sofa, a grumpy grim reaper, and random quirky philosophical musings."
"I read Pride and Prejudice during the fall for a highschool literature class. I was really very excited! Once I started reading it, I began to become bored. It wasn't the fact that Austen had a terrible story line or plot, but it was because they way it was written (old English), it was tragically difficult for me to understand. Jane Austen is a very talented writer. Even though it was difficult to read, I could feel her passion for writing seep through each letter. If you love a book with a love triangle (and can understand old English) then this is a book for you!"
"I found the Cliff Notes version of this to be more entertaining.
FAR too much useless text that interferes with the story"
"Book was quite difficult to understand. It was written in old english."
"This book was literally painful to read. Trying to comprehend the text made my eyes and brain hurt, not to mention the pain in my arms from holding up that E N O R M O U S book. I still Don't get what that book was about."
"I couldn't get through it. To be honest, I thought it was boring and hard to understand the language spoken in that time period. I really had to concentrate and re-read passages just to figure out what was going on. This is now on my list of books NOT to read. My advice, skip the book and watch the movie."
"Due to unfortunate job-related stuff, I'm currently teaching a Jane Austen novel. Doesn't matter which. I can't keep them straight.
...
But I hate Jane Austen.
I've tried. I really have. But these novels are so artificial, so terribly unreal. Nobody in a Jane Austen novel, as far as I can tell, ever bleeds or farts or craps or sweats or pisses or dies in a way that isn't just terribly pictureseque and dreadfully wonderful.
Gag.
Granted, you can make the argument that, as works of fiction, no novel actually reflects the real world and yadda yadda yadda.
Well, Jane Austen's world is less real than most."
"I might add that Jane Austen basically wrote about what she didn't really understand.. she never married, she always turned suitors away. Plus. Maybe it's me but this literature perpetuates female obsession over nonsense and manipulative behaviour in relationships."
"The people I know who like Jane Austen also have planned out their perfect wedding since they were grade two and swoon over Darcy as the 'perfect man' - I'm ashamed that Austen's icing-filled fairy-tale happily-ever-after stories are lauded as 'great literature'."
"I would rape Jane Austen if she were alive.And yes I am a woman."
"Thank god that there is a fan page for those who abhor Jane Austin's lame work which only revolve on predictable love stories . I mean I know she lived in a different time where women didn’t have much ambition or goal other than scouting for a husband but what really bothers me the most is that people actually consider her as one of the best writers in the history where in fact she is nothing but a pathetic spinster who had nothing better to write about other than imaginary Mr right who is just as boring and shallow as her ."
"Bad stuff....bad....bad....bad!"
"a man of large fortune must be in want of a wife! shut up austin nobody cares!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Random quips, sayings, and irreverent stories from the likes of me, a guy who really, really, really hates Jane Austen, so much that I will never mention her in this entire book, except for the two times in the title, but after that, nothing.
I mean what other book can we find vampires, psuedo-angels, man-eating Kumquats, an existential crisis of a lonely sofa, a grumpy grim reaper, and random quirky philosophical musings."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
"Although the writer if this book has a lot of commendations for her books, I did not like this book very much at all. This book was too lovey-dovey for me, and i exceedingly hate romance books.
What I like about this book is that the storyline stays frequent through out the book."
"I don't question Jane Austin's ability to write a novel. She wrote a long piece of literature with scenes, characters and plot."
"(I have been informed that Austen may have been satirical in this opening line. Of course, a first-time reader automatically reads the opening line without considering tone -- tone is deduced by context, and the first sentence has no context whatsoever. So congratulations, Ms. Austen -- if you wrote the first sentence with humor in mind, you have succeeded in making readers take a false statement that you wanted them to read ironically as truth; a reader cannot be expected to find humor or irony in one individual line. Way to know your audience, Jane. Way to know the role of the opening sentence. And this novel is a masterpiece, this first sentence one of the greatest openings ever?)"
"THIS BOOK SUCKED!!! This was basically 90201 in the 1800s, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer after taking away all of Buffy’s powers, turning Spike into a human, getting rid of all of the magic and monsters, and making the show downright boring."
"It was sooooo irritating. While reading the 19 pages I could get through I kept hearing in my head some British lady speaking in that British accent. No matter what. That, plus the fact that Austen used unnecessary words like 'vanity' and 'felicity'(which by the way I couldn't find in the dictionary. I mean, I thought it was just a name) made this book just about impossible to read. I know a lot of people like this book, no, LOVE it, but I will neverrrrr get it. I mean, this book is about marriage. Really? Seriously?"
"Oh, what a terrible time for people to actually live through all of that dramatic nonesense based on detailed and unspoken social rules!"
"This book was outragus when it was published, but noe it's not that shocking, it's needs a modern version.
you should read pride and pregudist and zombies, its excelant!"
"It's like a 17th c. version of Clueless."
"I do wish though that the book was not written in Old English."
"A Man Explains Why Pride & Prejudice Is Not Great Literature!"
"When it comes to Character, Plot, and Theme, she falls considerably flat. The plots are predictable (the twists themselves a bit tepid), the characters two-dimensional at best, and the themes, whatever they be, seem all to have sprung from Jane Austen's own personal longing for an husband (I'm quite sure her plainness was the real reason she never married)."
"What I thought was crazy was the fact that although the character Elizabeth was created to be a untypical woman because of her independent mind, she becomes part of a larger romantic image that promotes the idea that 'not all men can be judged by the first impressions, therefore a jerk has potential to be a wonderful man.' This a real problem right now with many women I have known! They date men who are jerks for many reasons, and the women let themselves believe that 'there's something better inside' whatever macho they're dating."
YES I AM SURE YOU ARE A REALLY NICE GUY AND JANE AUSTEN IS ALONE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR VIRGINITY AT THE AGE OF TWENTY SEVEN
"I SEVERLY question this book as being a 'classic'."
"basically, if it was faster, and mr. darcy looked like Taylor Lautner, id be happy. But it isnt. so...no."
"This is one of my favorite stories of all time, BUT I have to watch the BBC miniseries because the 72 word (yes, I counted) sentences in the drove me insane! I could not concentrate. I guess my brain doesn't work that way!"
"I appreciate this stuff... I really do.... But it's not very good, is it? I like to remind myself that Austen's world was a pretty stable one, and thus her little romantic concerns may have seemed to be of some consequence."
SIR. CAST A DREDGE INTO THE SEWERS OF YOUR MEMORY AND YOU MAY SCRAPE FROM THE SLUDGE THAT REMAINS OF YOUR BOYHOOD EDUCATION SOME TIME-ROTTED REFERENCE TO A MAN NAMED "NAPOLEON BONAPARTE" WHO AS I UNDERSTAND IT HAD SOME SMALL BEARING ON THE SITUATION IN EUROPE AT THE TIME
What I like about this book is that the storyline stays frequent through out the book."
"I don't question Jane Austin's ability to write a novel. She wrote a long piece of literature with scenes, characters and plot."
"(I have been informed that Austen may have been satirical in this opening line. Of course, a first-time reader automatically reads the opening line without considering tone -- tone is deduced by context, and the first sentence has no context whatsoever. So congratulations, Ms. Austen -- if you wrote the first sentence with humor in mind, you have succeeded in making readers take a false statement that you wanted them to read ironically as truth; a reader cannot be expected to find humor or irony in one individual line. Way to know your audience, Jane. Way to know the role of the opening sentence. And this novel is a masterpiece, this first sentence one of the greatest openings ever?)"
"THIS BOOK SUCKED!!! This was basically 90201 in the 1800s, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer after taking away all of Buffy’s powers, turning Spike into a human, getting rid of all of the magic and monsters, and making the show downright boring."
"It was sooooo irritating. While reading the 19 pages I could get through I kept hearing in my head some British lady speaking in that British accent. No matter what. That, plus the fact that Austen used unnecessary words like 'vanity' and 'felicity'(which by the way I couldn't find in the dictionary. I mean, I thought it was just a name) made this book just about impossible to read. I know a lot of people like this book, no, LOVE it, but I will neverrrrr get it. I mean, this book is about marriage. Really? Seriously?"
"Oh, what a terrible time for people to actually live through all of that dramatic nonesense based on detailed and unspoken social rules!"
"This book was outragus when it was published, but noe it's not that shocking, it's needs a modern version.
you should read pride and pregudist and zombies, its excelant!"
"It's like a 17th c. version of Clueless."
"I do wish though that the book was not written in Old English."
"A Man Explains Why Pride & Prejudice Is Not Great Literature!"
"When it comes to Character, Plot, and Theme, she falls considerably flat. The plots are predictable (the twists themselves a bit tepid), the characters two-dimensional at best, and the themes, whatever they be, seem all to have sprung from Jane Austen's own personal longing for an husband (I'm quite sure her plainness was the real reason she never married)."
"What I thought was crazy was the fact that although the character Elizabeth was created to be a untypical woman because of her independent mind, she becomes part of a larger romantic image that promotes the idea that 'not all men can be judged by the first impressions, therefore a jerk has potential to be a wonderful man.' This a real problem right now with many women I have known! They date men who are jerks for many reasons, and the women let themselves believe that 'there's something better inside' whatever macho they're dating."
YES I AM SURE YOU ARE A REALLY NICE GUY AND JANE AUSTEN IS ALONE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR VIRGINITY AT THE AGE OF TWENTY SEVEN
"I SEVERLY question this book as being a 'classic'."
"basically, if it was faster, and mr. darcy looked like Taylor Lautner, id be happy. But it isnt. so...no."
"This is one of my favorite stories of all time, BUT I have to watch the BBC miniseries because the 72 word (yes, I counted) sentences in the drove me insane! I could not concentrate. I guess my brain doesn't work that way!"
"I appreciate this stuff... I really do.... But it's not very good, is it? I like to remind myself that Austen's world was a pretty stable one, and thus her little romantic concerns may have seemed to be of some consequence."
SIR. CAST A DREDGE INTO THE SEWERS OF YOUR MEMORY AND YOU MAY SCRAPE FROM THE SLUDGE THAT REMAINS OF YOUR BOYHOOD EDUCATION SOME TIME-ROTTED REFERENCE TO A MAN NAMED "NAPOLEON BONAPARTE" WHO AS I UNDERSTAND IT HAD SOME SMALL BEARING ON THE SITUATION IN EUROPE AT THE TIME
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