The Jane Austen Club: Books, characters, book clubs and friends

The second chapter itself of the book starts with the qualified lagging's in the Jane Austen books.

A partial list of things not found in the books of Jane Austen:

-      Locked room murders

-      Punishing kisses

-      Girls dressed as boys (and rarely the reverse)

-      Spies

-      Serial killers

-      Cloaks of invisibility

-      Jungian archetypes, most regrettably doppelgangers

-      Cats

Now that's something you never expect from a book names after Jane Austen and meant for its fans. Second, you never thought that there was ever any lack of drama in her books. So how can anyone say it should have had elements of spies, serial killers, cross dressers, murders or even cats to add to all the hullabaloo.

You don’t have to be a fan of Jane Austen to read or like this book. Though it would appeal to your senses more if you have read and understood her books and characters. It is little about Jane Austen, her books, her characters, a lot about the book club, its characters and their lives.

A nice, quick read with some good writing. Most of the chick books are hilarious with their own set of ups and downs, secrets and revelations, women bonding and fighting, crushes and proposals, breakups and patch ups, marriage and separations. This book is no different. So enjoy it and feel good if you are a woman. As for men, read it to share a laugh on all the crazy women you know. They can be very deep and very vain at the same time.

Leaving you with some interesting lines from the book, each is a gem:

He didn't suffer fools and neither did she, but it wasn't something that she was proud of. It didn't spring, as Austen suggested, from  the desire to appear superior, unless lack of patience was a superior quality.

She was often attracted to theme in books; they seemed, as a rule, more passionate than the women in books, though actual women seemed more passionate than actual men. As a rule.

It seems to me,” Laurie had said, “that you can marry someone you’re lucky to get or you can marry someone who’s lucky to get you. I used to think the first was best. Now I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be better to spend your life with someone who thinks he’s lucky to be there?”

The kids who did drama were an interesting group. Mostly into pot, which distinguished them from the ones who did student government (alcohol) or played sports (steroids) or did yearbook (glue).

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 her own way. Showing up just in time to deliver the next bit of dialogue with an innocent face. If Sylvia were a character in a book, that’s the kind of character she’d want to be

Why should unhappiness be so much more powerful than happiness? “One difficult member spoils a whole group,” Jocelyn agreed. “One disappointment ruins a whole day. “One infidelity wipes out years of faithfulness. “It takes ten weeks to get into shape and ten days to get out of it.

Sylvia was not a happy-ending sort of person herself. In books, yes, they were lovely. But in life everyone has the same ending, and the only question is who will get to it first.