A True Fan

From the moment I read Pride and Prejudice in high school, I have been a fan of Jane Austen.  In fact, she is my favorite author; however, until this year, I only had read two (perhaps three) of her six novels.  During the spring, Masterpiece ran adaptations of Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey.  I absolutely loved the adaptation of Emma and found it to be far superior to Hollywood's adaptation in 1996 (starring Gwyneth Paltrow).  I decided that to really call myself a true fan of Jane Austen, I should read all of her novels, so that's what I did during the past two months.

Having read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility before, I began with Mansfield Park.  Although I have no recollection of reading this book in the past, everything about it was so familiar to me as I read it that I have concluded that I must have read it at some point.  I must say that of all of Jane Austen's novels, I am most disappointed in the movie adaptations of Mansfield Park.  Fanny Price is a much more interesting character than she is portrayed in the two fairly recent adaptations.  In addition, the directors made too many unnecessary changes to the storyline.  I believe that you cannot improve upon Jane Austen's works, so directors should not try to do so.

After finishing Mansfield Park, I read Persuasion and really liked it.  In fact, I think it has replaced Sense and Sensibility as my second favorite Austen novel.  It's a really sweet story. Next, I read Emma and was delighted to see that the Masterpiece adaptation was very much like the book. 

Although many people save the best of anything for last, I'm usually quite the opposite.  After seeing the adaptation of Northanger Abbey on Masterpiece, I had a feeling that I would not like the book very much.  Thus, I saved it for last.  While I found reading it enjoyable, it certainly is much different from all of Austen's other novels and is my least favorite.

Now that I have finished reading all of Austen's novels and seeing at least one movie adaptation of each, I consider myself a true fan.  I do not, however, feel inclined to join JASNA (The Jane Austen Society of North America).