Traditional Regency Romance Aficionados discussion

An interesting documentary I found <3

As a historian and unashamed fan, Professor Amanda Vickery is fascinated by how Jane Austen, an anonymous minor novelist in her lifetime, is 200 years later recognised as a unique British literary genius whose fame rivals Dickens and Shakespeare.

From a convention centre in Texas to Princess Diana's family home, and from the trenches of World War I to the silver screen of Hollywood, Vickery explores how and why generations of readers have been won over by just six classic novels


Watch >>> The Many Lovers of Jane Austen documentary part 1 (of 5)

No other author that I've recently read produces what I describe as "the projection phenomenon." Her stories seemingly wrap-up very quickly and I have found myself day-dreaming about most of her characters, be they major or minor, and what happened to them where the author left them off. Just about every single character is fertile ground for prequels, sequels, contemporary parallels, and mash-ups. Although the rapidly expanding field of Jane Austen 'fan-fic' has its share of duds, I have found most of them to be written by authors of considerable talent and creativity. Miss Austen's characters fairly leap off the page at us as if fully alive. They're neither totally good nor totally bad, but we have all known those personalities in the people we deal with every day. Such is the appeal of Jane Austen, in short. What do you think?

Well said!