Where Shall I Begin? Living with Jane Austen
“Where shall I begin? Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first?” This is Jane Austen writing to her sister Cassandra on June 17, 1808. Later in that same letter she says, “You know how interesting the purchase of a sponge-cake is to me.”
In 2018 I wrote a piece titled, “The Sponge-Cake Model of Friendship,” which was published on All Lit Up. And somehow food ends up being another jumping off point in an essay I wrote for Sarah Emsley’s guest series, “A Summer Party for Sense and Sensibility.” My contribution is titled “Of Sandwiches and Obligations.”
It’s the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birthday this year and to contribute I compiled a list for my library’s “picks” lists.
A great many more lists could and should be compiled in honour of Jane Austen. It’s amazing how many books have been inspired by hers. And then there are the movie adaptations! The plays!
A true delight for me is that I’ve been included in JASNA’s series “Unexpectedly Austen” for the month of July. It’s well-worth reading the other entries to see in what ways Austen has affected such people as Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton’s Lady Danbury) who says, “I have yet to see a stage or film version of one of Austen’s novels that successfully communicates the wit, humour and acerbic voice of the narrator who is Austen. Without that voice, all the stories are reduced to something much less interesting.” And as much as I have enjoyed the film adaptations, each time I watch one, I’m always drawn back to the texts. That is where the genius resides, at the level of the sentence, the paragraph. If you’ve only watched the movies, you only know a small sliver of Jane Austen’s staggering accomplishments. Every re-reading will reward you with a new and deeper understanding of humanity, of her genius. If you truly wish to understand the meaning of “wit,” it is there in Austen’s works.
I can’t think of anything more lovely than sitting outside and reading Jane Austen novels all summer. Perhaps you’ve read and re-read them all, though. You’ve watched the adaptations. Still, there is never enough Austen. Might I suggest reading the letters?
I’ve been in love with Jane Austen since I first read Pride and Prejudice in an English class in my undergraduate degree. I admit to not understanding half of it then, but I wrote a paper on the balls and dancing in P&P and was given my highest grade to date. (This was a big deal for me — university had seemed out of my reach and I didn’t start until I was 23 years old). That summer I found Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park in hardcover at Audreys Books and have never stopped reading Austen since. Consequently, many lines from her novels and the film adaptations will pop up in my head through the course of a day. (Badly done, Emma!) (The text from the novel reads: “Her situation should secure your compassion. It was badly done, indeed”!)
In my writing life I have often thought of her famous remark in a letter to her nephew:
“What should I do with your strong, manly, spirited Sketches, full of variety and Glow? – How could I possibly join them on to the little bit (two inches wide) of Ivory on which I work with so fine a Brush, as produces little effect after much Labour?”
There are so many nuances in these lines that one could discuss them at length but I do often dwell on the Labour, that aspect.
Quite good instruction even if it wasn’t intended for me all these many years later.
Work, and do not waste time.
