Is it alright for men to read Jane Austen?

Anytime we approach a novel we tend to have pre-conceived ideas about it. It could be the picture on the front, could be the blurb on the back, might be the author or perhaps the style of the writing (if we take enough time to look inside). So even before we read a passage from the book, we have a pretty good idea in our minds whether or not we will like it. Back in the time of many of the writers we are talking about , it was the very fact that the author was a woman, which is why many chose pseudonyms.

It can also be perceived peer pressure, with advertising and even the style of presentation that appeals to certain demographics telling us what we should and (in the case of poor reviews) shouldn't buy. It can also be determined by how a bookshop sets out it's wares; would I venture into the young adult section? Probably not. Sometimes a book can 'spring out' of one section and into the mainstream, which is probably how Harry Potter and JK Rowling found fame and fortune

What can also be a factor is what does a piece of reading literature say about us, which is probably how this thread started. I suppose nowadays with many people reading from tablets or e-readers, we haven't a clue whether it's Fifty Shades or Paradise Lost. But how often do you see an adult on the daily commute (remember those?) reading The Beano? But I bet many of those same adults would quite readily pick one up and have a flick through it if it were lying on the coffee table at home to see what Dennis and Minnie were getting up to these days.


Going back to the original point , what does reading Jane Austen show? That you have an appreciation for good writing, simple as that.
 
Extollager said:
That's the received wisdom about the situation of women then, but from my reading of contemporary sources I think it's dubious, though not as false as the "fact" that everyone "knows" about how Scholastic theologians debated the number of angels that could dance on the head of a pin, or the "nine million" witches burnt at the stake, etc etc. I'm sure there were men who didn't think it was really women's business to write books (the worst example I know is Robert Southey's letter to Charlotte Bronte -- and yet Southey was not a horrible man; I've actually read a thick selection of his letters...). But the generalization here seems to me likely to be serving the purposes of 20th- and 21st-century folks rather than objectively stating the facts. After all, women were published, they could become literary celebrities, and so on. I hope I haven't violated Chrons policy by mentioning a matter of controversy, and that's as far as I will take this.

Reception history of Jane Austen - Wikipedia
Click to expand...

They could be celebrated in their day, but faded from literary history as time went on. Austen was an exception, as were the Brontes and George Eliot, and rather later someone like Edith Wharton. Still until well into the 20th century, critics and academics writing the literary history of any period mainly focused on male writers and it was mainly male writers taught in schools and colleges.
 
Ian Fortytwo said:
In under 24 hours I have learnt quite a lot about woman authors especially Jane Austen, and quite a few more. Once again thank you.

Jane Austen.
Bronte sisters.
George Eliot.
Georgette Heyer.

Another author I discovered is,

Katherine Mansfield.
Click to expand...
p d james
j k rowling
mary shelley
 
Randy M. said:
They could be celebrated in their day, but faded from literary history as time went on. Austen was an exception, as were the Brontes and George Eliot, and rather later someone like Edith Wharton. Still until well into the 20th century, critics and academics writing the literary history of any period mainly focused on male writers and it was mainly male writers taught in schools and colleges.
Click to expand...

What many people might not be aware of, especially if they didn't major in English in college in America in the 1970s (or, I suppose, later), is that -- whatever neglect there was or was not of women, there was the potential for flagrant neglect of authors admitted by everyone to be major -- thanks to the emphasis on electives.

I was a student at Southern Oregon University (as it is now called) in the 1970s. For my degree, one had, as I recall, to take a minimum number of courses in English, and one would sometimes have to choose between A or B. But there was no comprehensive exam that made sure you read various standard works.

The result was that, though I took way more than the minimum number of courses, when I graduated I had, aside from the odd quotation or whatever, as yet never read authors such as these:

Spenser
Marlowe
Milton
Wordsworth
Coleridge
Shelley
Byron
Scott
Hemingway

I highlight three poets who, with Chaucer and Shakespeare, have often been considered to be the greatest British poets.

So, yes, I hadn't read Aphra Behn, Charlotte Lennox, and some other woman authors, but keep that in context of the amazing gaps as regards the most canonical of authors.

I doubt very much that SOU was unusual, and I suppose the situation has only got worse. My wife mentioned a work colleague who's now working, after a bachelor's degree and master's degree in English, on a Ph.D. in English and who was excited because she was now, for the first time, going to read... Dickens.

I'd said I wasn't going to write more on this topic, but I hope this contextual footnote is OK. Whew!
 
If it isn't all right for males to read Austen, no-one told the Joint Matriculation Board when I was doing my 'O'-levels, as P&P was one of the set books.
If you want something a bit meatier, try Clarissa, or the story of a Young Lady, by Samuel Richardson, published about 30 years earlier. Be warned, though - it's nearly a million words long, which is about twice the length of The Lord of the Rings...
 
Rodders said:
I don't understand why you'd be judged for reading anything, especially such a well known and well loved classic.
Click to expand...
Let's be honest, there are some people out there that would judge you for reading anything, people who haven't picked up a book since school and are proud of it. These people can trot out the smallest detail of the lives of characters in soap operas and the lives of reality tv stars and other minor dreck celebrities but think anyone who takes the slightest interest in sci-fi or fantasy are weird nerds who need to get a life. Except of course when something like GOT comes along that is suddenly required viewing for the masses. We are facing a breed of ignoranti who are proud of their lack of culture....... and breathe.....
 
I’m late to the party here but read anything you want. Hell! I’ve read Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto - not because I believe or support either but because I was curious about the minds that wrote them. It’s probably not okay with a lot of folk that I took the time to read those two books but, frankly, I don’t give a stuff because, before you talk about something, you need to know what you’re talking about, otherwise, you just reveal yourself for the fool that you are.
 
Foxbat said:
I’m late to the party here but read anything you want. Hell! I’ve read Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto - not because I believe or support either but because I was curious about the minds that wrote them. It’s probably not okay with a lot of folk that I took the time to read those two books but, frankly, I don’t give a stuff because, before you talk about something, you need to know what you’re talking about, otherwise, you just reveal yourself for the fool that you are.
Click to expand...
i've read mein kampf... not read the communist manifesto yet but did read the socialist base... no, it's not the same thing :)
as for people who don't read... i once heard a phrase:
- read? i don't like to read. i read a book once and i didn't liked it.
and two years ago the book isaw women reading everywhere as 50 shades of gray...
well at least they were reading...
even if it was that
 
Extollager said:
What many people might not be aware of, especially if they didn't major in English in college in America in the 1970s (or, I suppose, later), is that -- whatever neglect there was or was not of women, there was the potential for flagrant neglect of authors admitted by everyone to be major -- thanks to the emphasis on electives.

I was a student at Southern Oregon University (as it is now called) in the 1970s. For my degree, one had, as I recall, to take a minimum number of courses in English, and one would sometimes have to choose between A or B. But there was no comprehensive exam that made sure you read various standard works.

The result was that, though I took way more than the minimum number of courses, when I graduated I had, aside from the odd quotation or whatever, as yet never read authors such as these:

Spenser
Marlowe
Milton
Wordsworth
Coleridge
Shelley
Byron
Scott
Hemingway

I highlight three poets who, with Chaucer and Shakespeare, have often been considered to be the greatest British poets.

So, yes, I hadn't read Aphra Behn, Charlotte Lennox, and some other woman authors, but keep that in context of the amazing gaps as regards the most canonical of authors.

I doubt very much that SOU was unusual, and I suppose the situation has only got worse. My wife mentioned a work colleague who's now working, after a bachelor's degree and master's degree in English, on a Ph.D. in English and who was excited because she was now, for the first time, going to read... Dickens.
Click to expand...

Started going for my Masters in the early to mid-'80s. It hadn't gotten better. "Textual studies" was the thing and while I found some of it fascinating -- not least feminist readings of major works -- it wasn't why I wanted a Masters in English.

I'd said I wasn't going to write more on this topic, but I hope this contextual footnote is OK. Whew!
Click to expand...

'Sokay by me. :)
 
AE35Unit said:
I finally caved and had a watch of GOT. Didn't get very far before I bailed.
Click to expand...
really??! how
i must say for me is quite the opposite.
i can't stand the books or even the audiobooks. only the show i was able to stand
 
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