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Title: Jane Austen's Letters
ISBN: 0192832972
Author:
Jane Austen
Publicate Date: 1997-04-03
Publish: 1997-04-03
List Price: $25.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $14.08
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $12.88
Amazon Merchant Price: $16.50
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Quality of actual book could've been much better
I love Jane Austen, so reading through her letters - and getting a glimpse into the mind of such an amazing person - was fantastic. I only want to warn potential buyers that this book is very poorly manufactured. I only got to the second letter before the first page literally FELL OUT - and I'm an avid reader and know how to care for my books - and subsequently more pages have followed. I realize the book is only $9.95 new, but one would expect that it would at least stay 'together' for that price. Other than that, it's brilliant - just don't sit outside or near a fan while reading.
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2: Great, easy read
This little book was great. It contained all the available letters without any later interpretation. The only problem is that the book is cheaply made. Pages immediatly fell out, and the presentation is crappy.Also, if you know nothing of Jane or he family its hard to follow, you may want to get a family tree before reading.
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3: A Must-buy for Jane's fans
If you're an enthusiastic fan of Jane Austen, then this must be your necessary choice. But if you're just attracted by her book, then don't bother it. It will be quite dazzling with all those names and small details of her life which if you're not familiar with her life will find extremely devasted in reading through.
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4: An Intimate Glimpse into the Life of Jane Austen...
1995's "Jane Austen's Letters" is Austen scholar Deirdre Le Faye's updated edition of R.W. Chapman's earlier collection. Le Faye includes additional Austen letters that have come to light since 1952 and, on the basis of context and additional scholarship, revises the order of the letters. Finally, Le Faye has updated Chapman's footnotes on providence and content.
"Jane Austen's Letters" constitute one of the major sources of information on the life of Regency romance writer Jane Austen, along with her published novels and a handful of short memoirs written by members of her extended family. These letters, which survived destruction or editing by her family following her death, cover the period between December 1796, when Jane Austen was just twenty, and the summer of 1817, when she died at the age of 41. The majority are addressed to her beloved older sister Casssandra; others were intended for extended family, friends, and publishers.
Some general observations may be of interest for the prospective reader. First, the collection is difficult to appreciate without prior knowledge of Jane Austen's life and novels; Austen was writing to people who already knew her context. Second, the gaps in the available letters, which in places amount to months or years, minimize the continuity of their content. Third, those looking for direct insight into Austen's novels may be disappointed. There are relatively few direct references to the stories or their characters.
What these letters do provide is an intimate glimpse into Jane Austen herself as revealed by an ongoing dialogue of twenty years, primarily with her sister. The very first letter refers to her romance with Tom Le Froy over the winter of 1795-1796. Many of the letters capture her continuing interest in the affairs of her large family, including cousins, nieces and nephews. They document daily concerns with food, clothing, and shelter for a woman who knew genteel poverty for much of her adult life. Indeed, letters written after her novels began to be published suggest a subtle but new and unmistakable sense of financial freedom. Best of all, the letters capture the observant wit and charm of a woman who, if she accepted her place in the world, found much that was ironic or whimsical about it. In her letters, one easily finds echoes of some of her beloved characters such as Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, and Anne Elliot.
Of particular interest to Jane Austen fans may be her letters of 30 November 1814 and 21 February 1817 to her niece Fanny, which offer her sincere advice on the subject of marriage, and perhaps reveal Jane Austen's heart as well. Also of interest are three letters by Cassandra Austen in July 1817, which are heart-breaking accounts of her final days and death.
"Jane Austen's Letters" are very highly recommended to serious fans of Jane Austen as an intimate glimpse into the woman behind the novels, and to students of her life, as an irreplacable resource for scholarship.
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5: Terrible treatment of an important collection
I was looking for an unabridged edition of her letters, rather than a selection, and was thrilled to find this; then when I received it, I found it badly bound, the pages falling out as soon as I opened the book, badly typeset, with no footnotes or other explanatory material. The fault is my own, for not looking up the publisher beforehand; I will certainly avoid them in the future.
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