Customer Reviews

Jane Austen (MN) (Bloom's Major Novelists)

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I enjoyed the book. I read it at the same time as Emily Auerbach, "Searching for Jane Austen". Both are good in their own way. Auerbach's is much easier to read, not from lack of content but due to a better and more consistent writing style and point of view. Bloom's, like others in his Critical views series, is a collection of assorted authors' views of Austen. If you are an Austen fan you will like/agree with some and not others. This book can be dense and academic, not surprising, as it is written by them, for them. Once I realized this I chose to read it in small doses, a chapter or less at a time. Not a fast read (does it need to be?) but still very much worthwhile, full of valuable insights. I originally obtained it from the library and still opted to buy it afterward (and Auerbach's book), because each fills a different niche and is a useful reference. For the record, I am an Austen fan and not an academic, and willing to work harder for the sake of a fuller understanding.

This book combines a (very) concise biography with several critical essays. The biography was a decent rough sketch of Austen's life and writing compressed into about 30 minutes worth of reading.

The included summaries of Austen's works were hasty and thus vastly oversimplified, to the point of uselessness. They contain several minor errors as well, stupid things that the editor should have caught. Anyone new to Austen could get a better overview reading middle school book reports.

The critiques are at least thought provoking although not exactly to my taste; the one by Brian Wilkie in particular was a magnificent piece of specious sophistry.

If someone needs a quick source for a paper due the next day, the material in this book might be sufficient to make a C, but reading the real thing would be much more satisfying.