What's the best Jane Austen book for a female college student?

Something for pleasure reading, not formal. Also, why is the world so "entranced" by Jane Austen these days? Asked by Sakura 52 months ago Similar questions: Jane Austen book female college student Arts > Books.

Similar questions: Jane Austen book female college student.

We 'did' Pride and Prejudice at school, but.... it has taken me several decades, and watching the completely BBC serialised version in one sitting (a UK TV summer holiday treat), to appreciate the wit, word-plays and subtleties of the exchanges of words, particularly between the heroine and hero. It also took me until now (after the near 12 hour showing) to see the various Prides and Prejudices and how each character has at least some of each, and how these interact. It is only with several re-readings that I have grown to appreciate JA's pacing of the overall story, and the interactions between the several inner story lines.

I also appreciate her wide vocabulary and use of words, often in ways that are no longer in fashion or as used today. However, that being said, as a book, I prefer Persuasion, whose title also gives some clues as to the overall theme to the story and its sub-stories. Here, one needs to bear in mind that persuasion is not just making someone do something they prefer not do, but also can be that someone convinces (persuades) themself that something is so, or persuade themselves to think/believe differently.As for why the world is so "entranced" by Jane Austen these days, *her stories are funny (I spent my time giggling, sniggering and laughing through the P&P screening) *her stories have love stories where the lovers gradually fall for each other, maybe then think they hate the other, and come to reach true love and union against various adversities *her language is rich and elegant, like a prose poem *she uses narrative mis-direction, where you see the story as if sitting at the heroine's shoulder, so you feel you are seeing everything, but only see a smaller part of the overall story.

The upshort of such mis-direction is surprises throughout a JA, right until its end. And, in our sometimes scary, worrisome and ugly modern world, immersing oneself in a more charming, older world has its attractions. Sources: a very amateur appreciator of English language salamanda's Recommendations Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996) Amazon List Price: $39.95 Used from: $15.50 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 1114 reviews) Persuasion (Oxford World's Classics) Amazon List Price: $5.95 Used from: $1.82 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 9 reviews) Jane Austen For Dummies (For Dummies) Amazon List Price: $19.99 Used from: $9.24 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 20 reviews) Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $12.19 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 6 reviews) Austen's Unbecoming Conjunctions: Subversive Laughter, Embodied story Amazon List Price: $69.95 Used from: $54.16 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 1 reviews) Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders Amazon List Price: $14.95 Used from: $9.953 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) Jane Austen: A Companion Amazon List Price: $19.953 Used from: $12.15 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 1 reviews) I have added several books that may help understanding of Jane Austen's social, physical and moral environment and so 'persuade' you that neither prejudice against JA nor pride in such a position is of continued worth.

(Sorry, JA-speak is contagious! ) .

Sense and Sensibility For pleasure, my favorite is still Sense and Sensibility, though I've got a friend campaigning for me to reevaluate Mansfield Park. I think S&S has her best humor in it, and her characters were the best drawn. That makes it the easiest one to get into for the sheer pleasure of reading.It doesn't hurt that Emma Thompson's script and Ang Lee's directing made it the best of all the Jane Austen movies.

That's what inspired me to start re-reading Austen after a rather traumatic encounter with her in high school. I'm afraid that the reason the world is "entranced" by Jane Austen because she sells well. Her books are good, lively, proven stories, and Hollywood just adores a story which is (a) not under copyright, and (b) known to have already worked.

Oh, and since it's a "classic", you get to score all of those literati points without having to slog through Tolstoy or Hardy. We rarely dub a book as "classic" when it's got any sense of humor at all. But don't let cynicism let you get in the way of enjoying her books!

.

All of them are good. But that said, I would start with Pride and Prejudice if you've never read it just because that is probably the main novel people associate Jane Austen with. I personally love Emma as well.

Emma is more playful and light-hearted if you are looking for a little lighter reading. They are both classics and well worth your time. As to why people are so entranced, I couldn't say.

This is my second question I've answered about Austen today though. I have always loved her. I read P and P my sophomore year of high school and have loved her novels ever since.

I have also read some of the "sequels" to Pride and Prejudice that have been published over the years. Those are fun but not as satisfying as the real thing. BarbieM's Recommendations Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues Amazon List Price: $16.95 Used from: $4.28 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 395 reviews) Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley (Pride & Prejudice Continues) Amazon List Price: $16.95 Used from: $4.73 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 61 reviews) Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) Amazon List Price: $6.953 Used from: $0.40 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 762 reviews) Pride & Prejudice Amazon List Price: $16.957 Used from: $6.953 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 761 reviews) Emma (Penguin Classics) Amazon List Price: $6.958 Used from: $6.953 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 195 reviews) Emma (1996) Amazon List Price: $16.957 Used from: $6.953 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 274 reviews) The first two are very risque sequels.

;) .

Pride & Prejudice, Marriage and Intelligent Women Jane Austen wrote half a dozen novels. Pride & Prejudice is the standard mature work. If your daughter only has time for one of her novels, make it P&P.

Here she will see Austen in her fully mature work as a master of the novel of comedic manners. Her work is popular today probably because of her focus on middle class life in the provinces of England where a series of novels focus on the maturation of young women facing marriage and the responsibilities and troubles of finding a successful path into life. These are recurrent themes facing intelligent women in any age and make her comedic intelligence emotionally relevant to this day.

The best of fictional literature is an essential part of a liberal education because it shines a light on humanity's deep gossip about its eternal verities. Jane Austen had a light but accessibly profound perception on the machinations of character and family, emotional landscapes as true then as now. Fiction4Sale's Recommendations The Annotated Pride and Prejudice Amazon List Price: $16.95 Used from: $10.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 29 reviews) Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) Amazon List Price: $4.95 Used from: $0.40 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 762 reviews) .

I would recommend either Emma or Persuasion if you are not new to Austen, Pride and Prejudice if you are... My favorite Jane Austen book has changed as I have aged (as has my opinion of Jane Eyre, but that is another post..). I'll walk you through my progression, maybe that will help you decide which book will satisfy you right now. ... My first Jane Austen obsession was Pride and Prejudice, like most people I think.

This is probably Austen's most well known book. I loved the witty, sarcastic humor of Elizabeth, the wildly romantic Mr. Darcy and the comfortable way the plot unfolds. This book is probably the most familiar and most accessible of Austen's works.

The heroine is strikingly modern in her POV, unlike, say, Fanny Price in Mansfield Park. ... When I was in college, my favorite Austen was Emma. The titular heroine of Emma is every bit as witty and biting as Elizabeth Bennet but significantly more flighty.

I have often seen this book described as "a mystery story without a crime," as Emma is obsessed with investigating the feelings and intentions of most of the other characters in the book, while often completely misconstruing her own. In Emma, romance is still present, but far more important is the main character's realization of her self delusion and her personal growth. ... Recently, I have become very fond of Persuasion.

Persuasion is Austen's last novel, and was actually published posthumously. Many people feel that, had she not become ill, Austen would have revised the book further. Persuasion follows Anne Elliot who, some years earlier, was persuaded to turn down the "addresses" of the then-poor Capt.Wentworth.

The novel picks up when Wentworth, now wealthier than Anne's family returns to the area and Anne, now in her late 20s, begins to realize how much her yielding has cost her. This is a quieter and somewhat more melancholy book than most of Austen's other works. Anne is overlooked and marginalized by her own family and has not the sparkle of Elizabeth Bennet or Emma Woodhouse but, to my mind she is somewhat more realistic and sympathetic for the lack.... Really, you would do fine with any of Austen's novels (save maybe Northanger Abbey, which is more of a spoof than it is cannon Austen).

If none of these sound good, flip on over to http://www.bibliomania.com/0/0/6/frameset.html and check out the summaries, read through the first chapter and see for yourself.... As far as why people are so "entranced," I don't know that I know the answer to that. To me the novels are attractive because of their universal themes and Austen's very perceptively drawn characters. I do know that at least Pride and Prejudice has never been out of print since it was published.

That certainly says something! BryroseA's Recommendations Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) Amazon List Price: $4.95 Used from: $0.40 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 762 reviews) Emma (Penguin Classics) Amazon List Price: $8.00 Used from: $4.48 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 195 reviews) Persuasion (Penguin Classics) Amazon List Price: $6.00 Used from: $3.00 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 14 reviews) The Jane Austen Book Club: A Novel Amazon List Price: $14.00 Used from: $0.01 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 236 reviews) My recommended novels, plus an excellent fiction book plotted around a group of people reading Jane Austen for a book club..

I AM LOOKING FOR THE MOVIE WRITTEN BY JANE AUSTEN ABOUT A GOVERNESS AND HER LOVE AFFAIR WITH HER MASTER. " "Have you seen "Becoming Jane" or "The Jane Austen Book Club? "" "What is the book Tom Lefroy gives Jane Austen to read in "Becoming Jane"?" "Where can I find my college books cheaper than at the campus book store?

" "Jane Austen's Persuasion: What did you think of the new Masterpiece version of the story? " "Where to find sweater worn on the beach by Mario Bello (Jocelyn) in Jane Austen Book Club movie?" "Has anyone found any authors who write as ironically, compassionately and insightfully as Jane Austen? If so, whom?

" "best laptop for college student" "When is the best time to buy a laptop for a college student?" "I am looking for a book about a female Harvard student, a violinist, pursues a career, leaves her pianist boyfriend.

I am looking for the movie written by jane austen about a governess and her love affair with her master.

I am looking for a book about a female Harvard student, a violinist, pursues a career, leaves her pianist boyfriend.

But that said, I would start with Pride and Prejudice if you've never read it just because that is probably the main novel people associate Jane Austen with. I personally love Emma as well. Emma is more playful and light-hearted if you are looking for a little lighter reading.

They are both classics and well worth your time. As to why people are so entranced, I couldn't say. This is my second question I've answered about Austen today though.

I have always loved her. I read P and P my sophomore year of high school and have loved her novels ever since. I have also read some of the "sequels" to Pride and Prejudice that have been published over the years.

Those are fun but not as satisfying as the real thing. More.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.