what matters in jane austen by john mullan

This has no marks awarded, no put-downs for those who’ve failed to understand the question. There was a taster in the Guardian (where John Mullan writes regular literary journalism,including the Ten of the Best series, and has therefore built up a following) in the form of a quiz: Ten Questions on Jane Austen. He is not the first to bring out a book devoted to asking questions about the content of Jane Austen’s fiction: John Sutherland and Deirdre Le Faye in 2005 brought out So You Think You Know Jane Austen? A Literary QuizBook, which is much more geeky, has different levels and says jauntily dismissive things like ‘Under 5? Throw this book across the room and go back to watching TV.’ John Mullan is altogether gentler with his readers, but no less (in fact maybe in his detail even more) rigorous. John Mullan’s essays are based on 20 questions. What is it marks these novels out from other works of fiction, that means I can read any of the major six once a year or so, never find them tedious, and always find something new to please me and something old to remind me how much I love them? There is an answer of sorts in this book, mainly because, in an elegant and enjoyable way, its 20 essays make me stop and wonder why and then neatly present me with a plausible explanation. I have never really stopped to wonder why that is.

I have loved the works of Jane Austen since I was very young, and find her novels endlessly re-readable. What Matters in Jane Austen? Twenty crucial puzzles solved, by John Mullan

What matters in jane austen by john mullan