Why I love Jane Austen.

Sometimes I feel like I do a lot of complaining on my blog. And I don't mean to, really-- I'm generally pretty happy in life. I think that blogging just feels like such an easy outlet for complaining because you aren't doing it to anyone's face so you kind of forget that anyone reads it!

Anyway, back to the point: I wanted to share something that I've enjoyed doing over the past few months. After reading the twilight series for the 4th time, I realized that I desperately needed to reconnect with the classics. So, I'm starting by re-reading Jane Austen's complete works. So far I've read Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and I'm about 1/4 of the way through Emma. It's taken me a longer time to get through them than I'm used to a book taking me (I read the entire Work and the Glory series over a Christmas vacation in high school, so seriously, I used to fly through reading) just because I tend to fall asleep now if I'm still for more than 30 minutes at a time. But, though progress is slow, I'm enjoying the reading as I get to it.

There's something magical about Jane Austen's writing. I've heard some people call her predictable, not very creative, or overly simple. But when you've written a good, quality piece of literature, do you really need surprises? I know it only takes a few lines of Austen to completely engross me, and with writing like that I don't feel that lots of horrific twists and turns and a tragic ending are necessary to make a good read.

I want the good guy to get the girl. I want the bad guy to get in trouble. It makes me happy, it makes me feel good. When I get to the end of Pride and Prejudice, the world makes so much sense to me. Mr. Darcy should marry Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham should get stuck and with stupid Lydia. There's nothing in a Jane Austen novel that seems wrong to me. And I love that feeling! I love putting down the book, no matter which part I'm reading, and knowing that, in her world, everything is going to turn out okay for the good people. The real world isn't like that, so I'm glad that there's a place I can go where life doesn't have to be so... realistic.

Anyway, just wanted to share the Austen love.

But, FYI, the Austen love does not extend to those of you who like the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice. That would be against my personal moral code.