Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Reading Austen

I just started reading Classic Jane Austen : Complete And Unabridged. Jane Austen is not a writer to be taken lightly. That is apparent from the fact that the book weighs 1.24 kgs. It's like lifting one of those weights I pretend to exercise with while staring at myself in the mirrors of the gym. 


So its not a book to can curl up with on the sofa and hold above your head. I'll dare you to last more than 5 mins. It must be treated with respect. It's a book you need to keep on a table with a cup of coffee by your side as you read and re-read that complex beautiful prose.


I'd ideally like to be seen reading this, like Meg Ryan in "You've got mail". Sitting by the window of a coffee shop, bent over the tome, oblivious to the world walking by [unless of course tom hanks passes by].


Instead, I read it in bed. Weight on my elbows, book on the pillow. And I read out sentences that strike me, out loud to the hubby. [Yes, I know you are going to leave me soon if I continue reading Austen out loud to you.]


But then I realize that really, Austen's lines is made to be read out loud. When one sentence lasts 3 or 4 lines long. Where words must never be less than 3 syllables long. It's a reading exercise that sounds so beautiful when read out loud. With the right enunciation and the right pauses, it is a beauty to listen to. 


Some of Jane Austens characters will always remain etched in the memory. Elizabeth Bennett, the brooding Mr. Darcy [pause to swoon here], Edward Ferrars...and I hope to make this list longer once I finish reading Austen.


Until then folks. 'Tis a long road ahead.

1 comment:

ssoggo said...

Aah, Austen... Brings back fond memories of breathless reading with a torch under the blanket in the middle of the night half-way through final chemistry exams...

You must start on Jo Beverley after her. Those plots are so dramatic, they can give even Mr. Darcy (me too, pause to swoon) a run for his reading..!