≫ Download Gratis Jane Austen A Life Penguin Lives Carol Shields Books

Jane Austen A Life Penguin Lives Carol Shields Books

Download As PDF : Jane Austen A Life Penguin Lives Carol Shields Books

Jane Austen A Life Penguin Lives Carol Shields Books

Carol Shields' 2005 "Jane Austen: A Life" is a short read at under two hundred pages, but her economical writing style packs an intriguing biography of Jane Austen into those few pages. Shields examines the limited biographical material on Austen from the perspective of a successful fellow writer. Her narrative tracks in parallel the known events of Austen's life and the composition of her novels. Inevitably, Shields must fill in the limited record with informed speculation; the result is an enjoyable and thought-provoking book.

Shields finds that Jane Austen, like many writers, depended on continuity and security in her personal routine to enable her creative skills. Shields thus explains the decline in literary output beginning with the move of Jane's parents to the city of Bath from her childhood home and ending only when Jane and her sister and mother finally settled into Chawton House nine years later.

Shields delves into Jane's family relationships, suggesting that her relationship with her mother was an awkward one. Shields also puts more shades of nuance into Jane's intense relationship with her sister Cassandra than is found in most biographies. We tend to see Cassandra now as an appendage to Jane's story, but Shields suggests the reverse may have been true for much of Jane's life.

Contrary to the family biographies, Shields finds that Jane Austen knew much disappointment in her life. She was unlucky in love. She failed to marry, and never had her own home and family. Her failure to marry also doomed her to a life of genteel poverty as an adult, and an unhappy status as a poor relation within her extended family. Validation of her writing skills in the form of publication came late. The result, Shields surmises, was a woman who was sometimes bitter, feelings not entirely masked by the ferocious weeding of her correspondence at her death.

Shields provides brief but insightful commentary on the men who had a romantic interest in Jane Austen, including Tom LeFroy, Samuel Blackall, and Harris Bigg-Wither. She is frankly skeptical of the story told by Jane's sister Cassandra about a seaside romance with an unnamed young man in either 1801 or 1802.

Shields' narrative notes Jane's evolving writing skills throughout her life. Her status as an innovator in the genre of the novel, still new in Jane's day, is documented, as is her ability to artfully capture some truths about the world in which she lived and so acutely observed.

"Jane Austen: A Life" is very highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen as a short but fascinating read from the point of view of another author.


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Jane Austen A Life Penguin Lives Carol Shields Books Reviews

I'm sorry to rate it so poorly, but I honestly could not finish it. I got halfway through and realized every time I read it, it gave me a headache. I thought it was me, so I tried the other book I'd checked out from the library "Jane Austen A Life" by Claire Tomalin and it was like night and day. Tomalin's book was easy to read and painted a fantastic picture of Jane Austen's life from even before she was born. That's when I realized it wasn't me, it was the book.

I don't think this should be classified as a biography. There is no bibliography (only "A Few Words About Sources" section at the end). There is no index or a single annotation in the entire book. There are also no illustrations, diagrams or pictures. This was another stark contrast between this and the Tomalin book which began right off with a wonderful map of Jane Austen's neighborhood in Hampshire- extremely useful and unique. And then it ended with a thorough list of notes referenced, bibliography and index, not to mention the family tree diagram and appendices.

I'm not sure how to describe this book. It felt like the author's stream-of-consciousness musings and contradicting speculations loosely surrounding Austen and how she wrote her novels. Along the way were scattered dates, quotes and snippets from Austen's novels in no apparent order. My brain kept trying to create a sensible, cohesive picture from it all, but there was no way. I think that was the cause of the constant headaches.

If you're thinking of purchasing this, definitely check it out first or try a sample to make sure it's what you want.
Any lover of Jane Austen will love this book.
I will order more of Jane Austen's Books. Great book!
Very Interesting to read about the personal life of my favorite author. This book was very detailed, and easy to read.
Carol Shields has written a wonderful biography of Jane Austen.She treats her with love and a great deal of scholarship. I love Jane Austen's novels as much as I love those of Ms. Shields.
This book isn't fiction = It's the author's point of view - perhaps a critique, mostly Shield's perspective of the author, Jane Austen, and her writing.
Carol Shields' excellent introduction to Jane Austen provides wonderful insight into Jane Austen's life and novels -- and the relationship between them. Notable topics include marriage, family relationships, treatament of "current events", character analysis for the Austen heroines, and several insightful sections regarding Austen's men. One very interesting idea posed was to what extent Austen's life (or any author's) informs and shapes the novels, or how much she kept the two separate, or in fact created an "ideal" life, one she never quite realized. The book covers all of this and more, eloquently, and in less than 200 pages. Shields' love of Austen is evident on every page. Discussions of this nature necessarily contain "spoilers" -- if you haven't read Austen's novels, and want to be surprised, read the novels first, then come back to the biographies. You will finish this particular biography satisfied AND hungry for more, starting with another reading of Austen's novels. The list of sources provides an excellent resource for additional reading on Austen's life. Bravo.
Carol Shields' 2005 "Jane Austen A Life" is a short read at under two hundred pages, but her economical writing style packs an intriguing biography of Jane Austen into those few pages. Shields examines the limited biographical material on Austen from the perspective of a successful fellow writer. Her narrative tracks in parallel the known events of Austen's life and the composition of her novels. Inevitably, Shields must fill in the limited record with informed speculation; the result is an enjoyable and thought-provoking book.

Shields finds that Jane Austen, like many writers, depended on continuity and security in her personal routine to enable her creative skills. Shields thus explains the decline in literary output beginning with the move of Jane's parents to the city of Bath from her childhood home and ending only when Jane and her sister and mother finally settled into Chawton House nine years later.

Shields delves into Jane's family relationships, suggesting that her relationship with her mother was an awkward one. Shields also puts more shades of nuance into Jane's intense relationship with her sister Cassandra than is found in most biographies. We tend to see Cassandra now as an appendage to Jane's story, but Shields suggests the reverse may have been true for much of Jane's life.

Contrary to the family biographies, Shields finds that Jane Austen knew much disappointment in her life. She was unlucky in love. She failed to marry, and never had her own home and family. Her failure to marry also doomed her to a life of genteel poverty as an adult, and an unhappy status as a poor relation within her extended family. Validation of her writing skills in the form of publication came late. The result, Shields surmises, was a woman who was sometimes bitter, feelings not entirely masked by the ferocious weeding of her correspondence at her death.

Shields provides brief but insightful commentary on the men who had a romantic interest in Jane Austen, including Tom LeFroy, Samuel Blackall, and Harris Bigg-Wither. She is frankly skeptical of the story told by Jane's sister Cassandra about a seaside romance with an unnamed young man in either 1801 or 1802.

Shields' narrative notes Jane's evolving writing skills throughout her life. Her status as an innovator in the genre of the novel, still new in Jane's day, is documented, as is her ability to artfully capture some truths about the world in which she lived and so acutely observed.

"Jane Austen A Life" is very highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen as a short but fascinating read from the point of view of another author.