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Title: What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England
ISBN: B00150GHSS
Author:
Daniel Pool
Publicate Date: 1994-04-21
Publish: 1994-04-21
List Price: $15.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.70
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.98
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Immensely pleasurable research read!
History fans and lovers of 19th Century literature will adore this wonderful guide to the everyday lives of people in England in that era. Everything you might care to know about work, transportation, dress, play, manners and morals and so much more is here. Perhaps you have a novel in the works about a Victorian British family and there is a question about inheritance of property? Well, the answer about who would be in line to inherit the family mansion is right here. Want to add a juicy sub-plot about a grave robber? Well, that's here as well! There's also a great deal to familiarize yourself with the language of the day.
This book is a marvelous and enjoyable research tool that will enhance your enjoyment of literature and films set in this period. History buffs will find this book to be quite a pleasurable read that they will refer to frequently. The glossary adds to the value, and I highly recommend What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist - The Facts of Daily Life in Neneteenth-Century England.
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2: Good Concept, Questionable Execution
I found the book informative and interesting, but I discovered some arguable details in the references to the novels that left me wondering whether or not the accuracy of the book's contents can be trusted.
An example of the type of reference to novels that I found arguable can be found in the chapter 'Reader I Married Him':
"On the other hand, you could...marry your cousin...Emma and Mr. Woodhouse scheme for her to do just that."
Emma eventually marries her brother-in-law, not her cousin, and to my knowledge, no cousins of hers are mentioned in the novel. Aside from that, Mr. Woodhouse is opposed to marriage as change in the status quo, and would scarcely be scheming with anyone to bring one about!
I think this is a decent introduction to Victorian times, but I'd double-check it as a reference!
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3: Use with caution
Two and a half stars. The basic concept of this book is a useful and interesting one: describe for the general reading public the vanished world of the 19th century. But the 19th century saw an enormous amount of change, and it should be remembered that the lives of Austen and Dickens overlapped for only five years--he was born in 1812, and she died in 1817. It was a measure of the social change which took place during the century that Austen's beloved niece Fanny in her own old age viewed her aunt as having been somewhat vulgar by Victorian standards. Although there are many interesting details (sometimes repeated too often!), author Pool does not do enough to distinguish manners, morals, and conditions at one end of the century from those at the other. There do seem to be as well some literary inaccuracies. (What, for example, does he mean in a discussion of marriage between cousins, that Emma and Mr. Woodhouse are trying to promote a marriage between her and her first cousin???)
Although there is some good information here, be sure to take it with a grain of salt.
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4: An amazing tool!
This book is a marvel, understandable to any person intelligent enough to enjoy Charles Dickens. Every aspect of life is within its scope. Easy to use, it is easily the best resource on my shelves. Indispensable to readers (and writers).
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5: An Easy to Read and Interesting Reference
If you read Regency or Victorian literature this is a reference you will want close at hand. Both Interesting and fun to read, the author says he wanted to "answer some of the questions that nag any half-curious reader of the great nineteenth-century English novels." He does just that. This book is meant as an overview, or introduction, to the period not an in-depth reference. You will not find lengthy discussions of what Jane Austen might have eaten, but there are several sections on foods and dinner parties.
The book includes a large glossary of terms peculiar to the period. I have found it handy when I've come across an unfamiliar word in a novel and didn't want to stop reading and go research it.
While I feel the book does cover both the Regency and Victorian era fairly well, I believe it can be criticized for spanning too great of a period. Imagine a book attempting to give insight into the entire twentieth century, a period that would include the Wright Brothers and the moon landings and corsets and miniskirts, and many more contrasts. The nineteenth century had many similar contrasts making it difficult to write a single volume cover the entire period.
I recommend two other books for anyone reading Victorian literature, Inside the Victorian Home: A Portrait of Domestic Life in Victorian England and To Marry an English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol McD. Wallace
Recommendation: I recommend this handy reference for anyone who enjoys Regency or Victorian literature.
Kyle Pratt
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