I can’t decide how successful this novel actually was, in storytelling. On the one hand, I genuinely liked all the characters. On the other hand, a good two-thirds of the book is spent in telling backstory. As a way to describe character and motivation, it’s an interesting technique, and kept my attention despite all the narration. On the other hand, there’s very little real-time interaction between the characters. Although what interaction there is, plays out beautifully and believably, it’s also spread between the six main characters, like a series of interconnected vignettes or short stories, rather than a novel. I ended up feeling slightly dissatisfied with the all-too brief glimpses into six fascinating stories.

And, let’s face it. I couldn’t help wishing for more Jane Austen. As is, the book club is nothing more than a framing device, and although the novel concludes by asking “who but Jane could have changed us this way?” I didn’t quite believe in the Power of Jane myself. I mean I do, in real life, but there wasn’t much evidence of it here. A passing musing from the characters here and there, did not do enough to convince me that their lives were truly Changed by Jane, or even that any of them were real Janeites, since the things they talked about were pretty basic (“Oh my gosh, Emma is totally classist!”). The idea that each person’s impressions of Austen influence and intertwine with his or her own life, is a great theme, but could have been explored much more deeply.

I did, however, greatly enjoy the plot parallels with the JA novels, and the Janeite in-jokes and allusions sprinkled gently over the text, as if with a conspiratorial smile.

On the whole, I do recommend the book. It was a fun read, just not as satisfying as I had hoped for. But then, my expectations for anything with “Jane Austen” in the title are probably unreasonably high, so take this with a grain of salt if you wish.

Very light read … better if it was turned into a movie

وجهة نظري الشخصية؛ أي عاشق لأدب جين أوست هيحب العمل ده جدا وهيحس نفسه قاعد مع قرّاء في بيت أحدهم وبيتناقشوا عن أعمالها.
الموضوع لطيف جدًا، وهو مش مقتصر على مناقشة اعمالها بس، ده كل شخصية بتعيد سرد حياتها من خلال فلاش باك جميل، وبيبدأ كل شخص يربط الآراء مع وجهات نظر أو ما كتبته جين أوستن.
هي رواية لطيفة جدا، تخليك تقدّر الأعمال الكلاسيكية، وهو رواية الأوقات الهادئة، لما تكون عايز تقرأ حاجة سلسلة تاخدك، بعيدًا عن أي صراعات أو فلسفة أفكار توجع دماغك.

I've a notion someone told me this was a good book. They must have very different "good book" criteria from mine. I wasn't a bit impressed with it. It read to me like a chick-lit novel that was trying to be all Literary and Intellectual (and failing miserably).

I might have quite liked to have read an unashamed chick-lit novel about some or all of the characters. But this book kept interrupting the interesting bits-about-the-characters (which were, in any case, flashbacks) with random not-very-interesting (or even well-thought-out) chunks of semi-lit-crit-ness. I don't generally read literary criticism, but even I could tell that this wasn't really it. The whole thing was just a mess. I kept hoping that maybe the lit-crit-y bits would make sense at the end and that the whole thing would pull together into a proper story. But they didn't and it didn't.

The writing (on a technical level) was fine; some of the characterisation wasn't half bad...but the plot? What plot? And the structure was a disaster! I'm glad I was lent the book and didn't actually waste money on it.

There are few books I would call elegant - this is one of them.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by the constructed simplicity of The Jane Austen Book Club. I had seen the movie - which was perfectly enjoyable - and had taken a look at the chick-lit cover, and thought I would be in for a very light-hearted read.

While the book is not a tale of doom and destruction, it is far from simplistic. Joy Fowley manages to fit so much character and emotion into the small novel. We see the characters only at the book club meetings, where they discuss a particular Austen novel while the narrator discusses one of the characters from the book club. Joy Fowley revealed characters of such complexity, I was continually astounded. Although I did not love them all, they all became completely real to me.

The narrative style, however, kept the reader as a slightly detached observer. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this style. It allowed me to feel all the emotion without getting bogged down by a single character... kinda genius, actually.

Although tied together by Jane Austen's books, I was happy to find that you did not need to be an Austen conneisseur - I've only read Pride and Prejudice - to enjoy the club's discussions. So even if you are an Austen sceptic, you can enjoy this book!

Bottom line? This is a wonderful read that deserves a broad readership. Give it to everyone - including your dad. He might not admit it - but he'll enjoy every second of it!

http://deadbookdarling.blogspot.com/2...

I picked this up because I enjoyed the movie version. I like the story: a modern-day book club that reads all of Jane Austen's novels, and the participants' lives become entangled and resemble some of Miss Austen's famous plots.

However, I thought Fowler's book was scattered and poorly written, and I couldn't finish it. I thought it was mediocre fan fiction.

I have never taken so long to read a book- a stand-alone novel. I got tired, dropped it, read other books, came back, dropped it again, read other books, and then finally pushed myself to finish it.

This book deserves to have its own bookshelf for 'book I thought would be interesting but I got dragged.'

The second star is because of the happy ending for my favourite character and I happily cheered as they ended the last meeting.

All'inizio ero molto entusiasta, mi sembrava una bella storia ma dopo le prime 50 pagine ho dovuto cambiare idea... La storia non è coinvolgente, a tratti è vaga e confusa e poi annoia. Veramente una delusione. Belle le parti in cui si analizzano i libri e personaggi di Jane Austen ma sono veramente poche e striminzite. Mi duole dirlo ma il film è di gran lunga migliore: lasciate perdere questo libro e recuperate la pellicola!!!

Adorable! This book is like when you’ve moved into an apartment and you get to watch snippets of your neighbour’s life through their window until they eventually, and sadly, move out and move on with their life.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler is about 6 people – Jocelyn, Sylvia, her daughter Allegra, Bernadette, Prudie and Grigg – who decide to start a book club where they, well, read the 6 novels written by Jane Austen. Logically, this book is split into 6 little parts, plus the epilogue and prologue. Each part is the opening of a window into one of the book club member’s lives, interspersed with their discussions of one book by Austen.

In a very simple way, Joy Fowler discusses many things through her characters: what is the meaning of love? Of forgiveness? Of passion? Can we believe our own memories? What role does our past play in our present? And mostly, what is writing and what really makes a story?

“Are you saying Austen meant her [Charlotte Lucas from Pride and Prejudice] to be gay?” Sylvia asked. “Or that she’s gay and Austen doesn’t know?”
Sylvia preferred the latter. There was something appealing in thinking of a character with a secret life that her author knew nothing about. Slipping off while the author’s back was turned, to find love in their own way. Showing up just in time to deliver the next bit of dialogue with an innocent face.

This is the second novel by Joy Fowler that I have read, the first one being We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Right off the bat, I liked The Jane Austen Book Club far more than the other.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves took up a theme that I had never seen before, and in my opinion, bit off more than it could chew. The Jane Austen Book Club is far less complicated. It is a beautiful depiction of how simple people, undramatic plot points, and ordinary, everyday conversations can also make for a powerful story.

The book has some really good characterisation. Each person is unique and stands out as both ordinary and interesting at the same time. The characters are so well written that the discussions about Jane Austen gradually fade into the background and the quirkiness of our 6 little friends begins to stand out. This, I believe, was good given that not everyone is well-versed with Austen, and it might have been harder to follow if Joy Fowler had taken too much from Austen’s novels.

I guess it is important to point out that this is not a “plot-book”. I can hear people cribbing, “but nothing happens here!” Yes, nothing really happens in the book, and what little happens, happens so softly that we don’t even realise they are plot points. The book is more of a “mood-board” for these characters, which lasts till the final Austen book has been read.

I did not have an issue with this until the epilogue. The ending felt abrupt; I was left craving to know more about the characters. Then again, I suppose, there wasn’t going to be a “winding-down” at the end of this book, when there was no “winding-up” with plot and dramatic events.

Joy Fowler has the tendency to add a lot of non-fictional research, almost verbatim, into her fiction. In the other book it was information about animals; in this one it was information about Jane Austen. Many people might not like this writing style because it may disrupt their “immersive experience” of the story. I didn’t mind it too much though.

Another thing that I mentioned in the other review too was Joy Fowler’s choice of words. She uses words I never would have used in that place myself. In this book, the narrator uses the collective “we” when talking about the members – “The six of us…made up the…all-Jane-Austen-all-the-time book club” or “We sat around Jocelyn’s porch at dusk…”. Who this “us” and “we” is, we never find out, i.e., we never know who is telling the story. It may be, I am guessing, a kind of collective consciousness, a kind of collective diary kept by all 6 members about their time together. It is no doubt a different style of writing – I found it quite new and refreshing. (On that note, please don’t miss the back matter of the book. It is a lot of fun)

As good as the story is, there are some serious content warnings I need to place: Sexual abuse and molestation, rape culture, and gaslighting.

Overall, this book is very much The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society meets The Wilds (the show on Amazon Prime). If you liked either of those, you may like this one.

I like Jocelyn best, but, if I'm being honest, I'm more like Prudie than I care to admit sometimes.

Читать книгу про чтение романов Джейн Остен, не читав ни одного романа Джейн Остен; thats why i love postmodern.

Наверное, это мой любимый род книг -переплетения, постепенно открывающие судьбы, расссказывающие, такие ворота Расемон, герой глазами других, герой глазами самого себя, герой сбоку, фас, профиль, такие разные жизни, такие многогранные и большие. Я люблю смотреть на жизнь. Я люблю ее жить, это недавно.

В цитатах все и есть.

"Тандем ей был не нужен; она хотела соло, но соло не получалось".

"Объяснить это можно только химически, ведь Пруди не из таких. Здесь, в школе, каждый глоток воздуха - будто суп из подростковых феромонов. Три года интенсивного ежедневного воздействия - как они могут пройти бесследно?"

"Все родители хотят своим детям невозможной жизни - счастливое начало, счастливая середина, счастливый конец. Никакого сюжета. Какими скучными получаются люди в родительских мечтах. Но Аллегра никогда не была скучной. Пора ей стать счастливой".

"Я никогда не умещалась в замужество целиком, кем бы ни был мой муж. Какая-то часть меня нравилась Джону, какие-то - другим, но всю меня никто не выдерживал. Тогда я отрубала часть себя, но скоро начинала тосковать по ней, хотела вернуть. Я и не любила по-настоящему, пока не родила первого ребенка".

"С одной стороны, за эти месяцы без него она постарела за несколько лет. С другой - опять стала дочерью своих родителей. Когда Дэниел ушел, стали вспоминаться какие-то вещи из детства, раньше не приходившие в голову. Как будто он почти всю жизнь ее отвлекал. Сильвия вдруг снова стала видеть сны на испанском. Она все больше и больше думала о розах матери, отцовой политике, бабушкиных мыльных операх".

"Мне кажется, все мы заслуживаем большего, нежели достойны, отозвалась Сильвия. Если понимаете, о чем я. Пусть мир будет великодушным. Мне жаль Дика Мазгроува, которого никто не любил больше, чем он заслуживал".

A well written novel that ends up flat. Fowler does a great job of taking the things she loves about Austen and putting them in her book. I have to say though if you haven't read Austen some of the subtleties may go unnotoiced. Her biggest problem was having characters that were linear in their development. If done well it isn't a problem, but her characters felt like they were playing a part in each chapter rather than growing throughout the book. I have to say I felt connected to Grigg because like him I love Scifi and think Northanger is Austen's best novel...AND i was one of two males in a Jane Austen class. My girlfriend's sister told me to read it just because of him lol. Guess she knows me well. Fowler nails a lot of things in her novel, but what made it feel most Un-Austen was how little of the complexity of human nature came through her characters; Good vs. Evil and everything between. I felt the novel was kept alive only in blips. Still I'd recommend for all Austen fans. It was worth the read.