رواية عن حب الكتب
وخاصة روايات جين اوستن
وبما اني من حبين جين اوستن المخلصين بالطبع سوف احب اي كتاب يتحدث عن رواياتها ومحبيها المخلصين
تقترح جوسلين القيام بنادي خاص لقراءة روايات جين اوستن لاخراج صديقتها العزيزة سيلفيا من عزلتها بعد طلاقها من زواج دام اكثر من ثلاثين عام
ومن هنا يجتمع سته شخصيات يجمعهم حبهم لجين اوستن
برودي،اليغرا،جوسلين،برناديت،سيلفيا
وبالطبع غريغ الرجل الوحيد بين خمسة نساء مهوسات باوستن
من خلال قراءتهم للروايات نتبين شخصيات ابطال الروايه
لكل منهم روايته المفضله
البداية كانت مع رواية ايما والختام مع رواية الاقناع
تركت جين اوستن ست روايات سببت الحيره لكل من قراءها من ادباء وفلاسفة
بكل جيل جديد من القراءة يتجدد ادب اوستن
للاسف لم تترجم جميع رواياتها
احب رواياتها الى قلبي كبرياء وهوى
من يستطيع ان ينسى مستر دارسي
انصح بها بالطبع

This was awful. I felt no connection to the characters.

Finishing this book was such a chore and took way longer than it should have. There were so many characters and the only one I was even slightly interested in was Allegra, I didn't enjoy the writing style, I really didn't care about the plot. There were also so many flashbacks; it was so focused in the past that it was distracting. Tbh even after finishing it (finally) I still don't understand the point of it.

Although being a rather devoted fan of Karen Joy Fowler, I avoided reading this novel for years because I thought it would be a bit too light and fluffy for me. A good friend of mine with very discriminating taste recommended it to me, and I thought I would give it a go. I was very pleasantly surprised on many levels. This novel had a lot more meat than I expected (kind of ironic to say that being a long-term vegetarian).

I am a huge fan of Jane Austen, finding her to be beyond brilliant as a writer and as a chronicler of the human species and how we interact with each other. I found the Austen connections rather charming, though the development of the various characters of the group were what made this novel for me. It reminded much of the works of Anne Tyler in her development and depiction of character and in the use of her settings to move the plot along. These are real, dynamic and interesting characters that are dealing with life and love in their own ways. All is well in the end (this is the Jane Austen book club for god's sake), and love is essentially the answer to everything.

One thing I found interesting about this novel is how the author handles the narration of the text. It is neither 1st, 2nd or 3rd person, but rather a collective "we" that is the narrator of the book. I at times would wonder which of the characters was the narrator, only to realize the the word "I" is never used in terms of the narrator. It is as if the group is telling the story as a unit. Very unique and interesting way to tell the story, methinks.

I read this book because I enjoyed the movie so much. I think I may have read one of Austen's books in school but that did not affect my enjoyment of this story. This is more about human relationships and the unexpected paths they can take - not so much about Austen. In many ways I liked the movie better but it was fun getting more details on the characters lives from the book.

DNF

My sister and I were at the library and picked up some movies to watch. One of them being the Jane Austen Book Club. Since we both liked the movies, this sounded cute.

I thought it was okay, not bad or anything but has its moments. Then I pondered whether to read the book or not. Finally, finally when it was on the shelf, I wasn't going to get it, then was like, you know right? Its not that long, so why not see how it compares to the film?

And with that, I thought the movie was a little better. Little.

There's moments I liked about this and moments I didn't or was like wait, what, oh okay then I guess? Especially the ending, concerning one of the characters.

Out of the book club members, the most I liked was Allegra and especially Jocelyn and Grigg. But that might have more to do after seeing the movie? It seemed like more was happening what with the story arcs in that than in the book? Well some of it I think? Pacing wise?

An okay but has its moments kind of read.

This book reminded me of a few terrible book clubs that I've been too. The characters made some of the most trivial and obvious comments on Austen that I've ever read. Yes, Fanny Price is a bit of a prig, isn't she? It is sad that Marianne got palmed off on Colonel Brandon despite her obvious lack of interest in him, isn't it? And, oh God - those awkward pauses - if everyone is too polite to have an opinion then what's the point of a book club?

Note to my GR friends and groups: I am not talking about you!

Really, the collection of quotes at the end of the book from literary reviewers and famous authors was far more interesting than anything these characters had to say - I wish I'd settled down with a good tome from the English department instead. The best part of any of the Austen criticism was two characters going to see a film adaption of Mansfield Park and tearing it to shreds (although not specified in the book, it's obviously the awful 1999 version).

But maybe I'm being too harsh? Maybe a profound review of Austen wasn't the point and the Austenesque parts were just there as a framework. It sort of worked, but overall it was patchy. It was more like a collection of short stories, held together by the club meets: a day in the life of a high school French teacher, various tough childhood vignettes. Many of the back stories were quite brilliant, but they didn't quite come together so the present-day plot line felt rather anaemic.

Likewise, some characters were beautifully drawn, others sketched, and some non-existent. The story of Allegra's current relationship trouble fell flat because we learnt almost nothing about her girl-friend Corinne, who remained a thinly drawn background figure. It's hard to care if a relationship survives when you only know one side of it. Sylvia was a blank to me, and Grigg was confusing.

In fact, Grigg was troubling. It seemed like the Grigg and Jocelyn romance echoed a number of Austen moments. The dance at the charity ball when Grigg and Jocelyn, quite out of charity with each other, stalk off to dance angrily together, seemed like Lizzy Bennet's resentful dance with Darcy - but it was very much out of character for Grigg, who was otherwise an almost preternaturally mild-mannered man. I wasn't sure that I really believed that Grigg and Jocelyn loved each other, indeed, I felt quite as sorry for Grigg as I did for Marianne Dashwood. Sorrier perhaps, because in uniting himself with an older woman Grigg won't even get the chance to be a father, despite being 'a natural heroine' and really quite suited for the role, poor boy.

And yet there were some moments of sparkling humour, in a very Austeneque way. I was highly amused by Bernadette interrupting and talking over Jocelyn in order to insist that no men should be invited because they always interrupt and talk over people! And there's a fantastic scene at a hotel which is simultaneously hosting a science fiction convention and a dog breeding convention where Jocelyn manages to have an entire conversation with a man, in which he believes they are discussing Brin's Uplift novels and she thinks they're discussing a pet psychic. The random man who continually interrupts this conversation to bore on about his Lexus is a perfect modern-day John Thorpe.

So it was very funny in parts, very moving in parts, very interesting in parts, and yet never quite coming together to be any of those things as a whole. It was an enjoyable afternoon read, but it's no Jane Austen.

As you may have guessed by now I'm an Austen junkie. This book had nothing to do with Austen, except for her name in the title. I think she should sue.

The characters here are supposed to reflect some of Austen's characters. I couldn't see it. They were stretched way too thin and embraced morals and characteristics that Jane never wrote about. My sister and I spent a lot of time calling each other trying to figure it out. Weak, weak, weak.

The book itself wasn't engaging and didn't move along fluidly. But the thing that most disturbed me was how radically this departed from Austen's morals. She wrote about good, decent people. Yes, there were secondary characters who did bad things, but we all knew they were bad. It was looked down on, not accepted. In this book, bad was okay, even celebrated. No, no, no.

I heartily recommend you stay away from this book.

Read as part of my challenge to read my way around the world.

http://highlanddrive.blogspot.com/201...

I'd seen the movie a while back so I thought this book would more of the same. Was I surprised! The movie seemed to only have a passing familiarity with this book. There was so much more in this book. I especially liked the flashbacks of all the lives in the book.

The mystery author and the description of the riot at the girls reform school that has to be put down by the National Guard were especially delightful.

This is only the second Karen Joy Fowler I've read. It makes me want to dig up her entire works and read them all!

so the spot for "worst read of the year" is secured then... great.

باشگاه کتابخوانی جین آستین از آن دسته کتاب هاییست که من برایشان یک قفسه درست کرده ام و اسمشان را گذاشتم کتابهایی درباره کتاب، در ستایش کتاب. ویژگی اصلی این قفسه این است که اگر عاشق کتاب نباشید احتمالا از آنها لذت نمی برید.
همانطور که از اسم کتاب مشخص است، ماجرای کتاب حول یک گروه کتابخوانی می گذرد که علاقه زیادی به جین آستین دارند. هر جلسه در خانه یکی از اعضا جمع می شوند و درباره یکی از کتاب ها صحبت می کنند.
به جز جولیسن و سیلویا که از نوجوانی با هم دوست بوده اند، بقیه اعضای گروه به مر��ر و به واسطه علاقه به جین آستین به گروه اضافه می شوند. هر فصل از کتاب روایت صحبت های گروه در مورد یکی از کتاب ها به اضافه داستان زندگی یکی از اعضای گروه است.
قطعا اگر کتاب های جین آستین را خوانده باشید، کتاب برایتان لذت بخش تر خواهد شد اما داستان های هر یک از اعضا هم آنقدر جذاب است که شما را با خود همراه می کند. شخصیت های باشگاه کتاب هر کدام ویژگی های خاصی دارند و به گونه ای انتخاب شده اند که احتمالا بسیاری از افراد بتوانند حداقل با یکی از شخصیت ها ارتباط نزدیک پیدا کنند.
در مجموع برای من کتاب خوب، روان و دل پذیری بود. حال و هوای کتاب انقدر خوب بود که خواندنش حالم را خوب کرد.
نکته مهم این کتاب برای من ترجمه بسیار خوب، روان و همراه با پانویس ها و توضیحات تکمیل کننده بود که با توجه به نوع کتاب و ارجاعات آن بسیار ضروری بود.

بخشی از کتاب

کتاب هدیه دادن وقتی جمله مداخله آمیز "خب از کتاب ها خوشت اومد یا نه؟" به دنبالش می آمد تبدیل به تحمیل میشد.

سیلویا اندیشید که چطور همه پدر و مادر ها زندگی های ناممکنی برای فرزندانشان آرزو میکنند. شروع خوش، وسط خوش، پایان خوش. بدون هیچ افت و خیزی. اگر پدر و مادر ها موفق می شدند آرزو هایشان را پیش ببرند، بچه ها چه سرنوشت های یکنواخت و بی مزه ای پیدا می کردند.

پی نوشت
در طول کتاب بیشتر از همه چیز حسودیم شد به حال اعضای باشگاه کتابخوانی. به نظرم هیچی بهتر از این نیست که دوستای کتابخوان داشته باشی و ماهی یکبار به دور از همه دغدغه ها، دوستانه کتاب بخوانی و لذت ببری.