Reading the 20th Century discussion

This year is the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. Austen has long been a favourite of mine. Is anyone planning to do anything, go anywhere, read anything to celebrate?

I love the author Janet Todd and plan to read her new book Living with Jane Austen

Fanny Price, in Mansfield Park, tells her persistent suitor that 'we have all a better guide in ourselves...than any other person can be'. Sometimes, however, we crave external guidance: and when this happens we could do worse than seek it in Jane Austen's own subtle novels. Written to coincide with Austen's 250th birthday, this approachable and intimate work shows why and how - for over half a century - Austen has inspired and challenged its author through different phases of her life. Part personal memoir, part expert interaction with all the letters, manuscripts and published novels, Janet Todd's book reveals what living with Jane Austen has meant to her and what it might also mean to others. Todd celebrates the undimmable power of Austen's work to help us understand our own bodies and our environment, and teach us about patience, humour, beauty and the meaning of home.

I love Janet Todd and can strongly recommend her non-Austen books too:

Death and the Maidens: Fanny Wollstonecraft and the Shelley Circle
Mary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life
The Secret Life of Aphra Behn

Yes, I discovered her through Death and the Maidens. Thanks RC.

Is anyone planning to do anything, go anywhere, read anything to celebrate?
Hi RC, unknowingly, I had decided to reread some of the Austen books this year. I have already finished Persuasion and over the next four months I plan to read the rest.

Do let me know if you'll be interested in a buddy read.

I plan to read Janet Todd's Living with Jane Austen (see above). Not at the moment, but maybe in Oct/Nov if anyone else is interested.

Hi Anubha, sorry - only just seen this. I've read and re-read Jane Austen so often that I can practically recite them in my sleep! So for me Austen tribute, I think I'm going to read Jane Austen's Textual Lives: From Aeschylus to Bollywood.

There are a LOT of great Austen books. I am currently still reading the Biography of Mrs Dalloway - another literary anniversary.

Roman Clodia wrote: "Hi Anubha, sorry - only just seen this. I've read and re-read Jane Austen so often that I can practically recite them in my sleep! So for me Austen tribute, I think I'm going to read [book:Jane Aus..."

No problem at all Roman. I agree with you on the re-reading part. It's as if Austen wrote her novels to be re-read. There's something so irresistible about it.
I'm thoroughly enjoying my re-reads and even went to the trouble of making finger sandwiches and tea to complement it. I mean it's no "excellent boiled potatoes"... but still. :)

I still have Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility to read, so if anyone would like to Buddy Read either one in September or later I'm in.

(If I keep finding books I want to read, I'll never finish Proust. No, Ben, never say never!)

I had planned to listen to all the novels again, but the year is getting along and I’ve not started.

Ben wrote: "I still have Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility to read, so if anyone would like to Buddy Read either one in September or later I'm in.

(If I keep finding books I want to read, I'll never ..."

Hey Ben,
Count me in for Northanger Abbey.

If I keep finding books I want to read, I'll never finish Proust.

I can relate to this. I kept thinking I'll catch up with the reading schedule but other books kept coming in the way and now I'm too hopelessly far behind.

Is September good for you?

Ben wrote: "Is September good for you?"

Yes, sounds perfect.

I've set up a thread, added it to the list, and added it to RTTC bookshelf