A Humbug Site?

Curmudgeon or wise fan? You decide after visiting this site pointed out to us by a reader. Entitled Idolising Jane, the author claims that the blog is "for readers whose critical faculties and capacity for judgement are still intact, and for whom Jane Austen's novels are not sacred texts, but works to be loved, argued with and, above all, enjoyed - warts and all."

After reading passages like these, what do you think?

Explaining Mr. Darcy:

If Mr Darcy is to transform from a lump of wood into a being of real and comprehensible emotions we need some insight into his inner life.

Austen never really gives us that – and certainly nothing of the subtlety and depth of her account of Elizabeth’s.... click here to read the rest.

Jane the Insufferable:

Reading Northanger Abbey again I came up against that feeling I get from time to time when reading her novels – of wanting to smack Jane Austen's head. Take this extract – the last words in the book.

“I leave it to be settled by whomsoever it may concern, whether the tendency of this work be altogether to recommend parental tyranny or reward filial disobedience.”

In these arch remarks Austen demeans her book... click here to read the rest.

Surprisingly, I cannot wholly disagree with the author (a man who goes by the name of Old Fogey) about his observations. The tone is provocative for a reason - to make us think and argue, and understand that Jane, the author, is perhaps not as firmly glued on a pedestal of perfection as we would like to think. One senses that this fan of Jane is a true admirer, warts and all! -

Vic, Jane Austen's World

Comic images from Hark, A Vagrant