Why I love Jane Austen
Criticise her all you will, it's nothing to me; Jane Austen is my dearest friend.


Eva O'Flynn, 17, is an aspiring English student. She writes for the blog, Reviews and Rants, where this article originally appeared. It is used here with permission.
Posted in: #janeausten, eva o'flynn, Jane Austen, janeites, Kiera Knightley, Love, pride and prejudice, reviews and rants
2 comments
I very much enjoyed this essay with its wonderful appreciation of Jane Austen. Perhaps to Slightly clear up a little confusion, the name of the character in The Watsons is Musgrave, whereas the name in Persuasion is Musgrove. It still gets confusing, doesn’t it?
I very much enjoyed your essay, Ms. O’Flynn, which is wonderfully well written. I agree with your reasons for liking Jane Austen so much, though I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t actually read her works—I’ve only seen filmed versions of them. Up till now, I’ve been hesitant to attempt them but no longer feel quite so intimidated by the prospect. As much as I’ve enjoyed the films I’ve seen that are based on her novels, they always leave me wanting more—more time with the stories, more time with the language, more time with the characters, the settings, etc. I now realize that it’s probably almost impossible to capture all of the rich subtlety of Ms. Austen’s prose onto film. Although such productions may provide glimpses into the Regency Era and the people featured in her stories, none truly can do full justice to her original tales. In short, they definitely deserve to be read! I recently bought a copy of “Northanger Abbey” after recently enjoying a TV version from a few years ago on dvd. I’d really like to read all the details in Ms. Austen’s original novel. So I plan on attempting it, as well as going back to “Pride & Prejudice”, which I actually did start to read once, after seeing the Keira Knightley film, but then abandoned. I think I’m ready for the originals now, and your enthusiastic comments about how much Ms. Austen means to you, has helped me realize that. For that I thank you, and thank you again for a truly great article, one so excellently expressed!