The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

I don't think I want to be a member of the Jane Austen Book Club ... They don't seem to have anything in common (except for their love of Jane Austen which is, I suppose, the point) and they don't seem to LIKE each other at all ...

As background, I've only read 2 Jane Austen books and I found them to be overly wordy with too much dialog, not enough visually stimulating description with snooty heroines and stuffy supporting characters. Shoot me if you will, but I just didn't like them.

I also hated the movie version of this book (come on now, three flights between Boston and Maui in one month and they can't show ONE decent movie? ANYTHING on a plane is watchable ... this movie (and Rush Hour 3) were not.

So I started out with a negative attitude. And I think the roles were miscast in the movie (except for Prudie and Grigg) because I had the wrong mental picture for most of the women. All that said, I actually really enjoyed the book. There are handy synopses of the Austen books in the back but really, the book discussions are not the main point of the book -- Fowler has created several very strong characters. I think it's a BIG stretch that they'd all be a part of this book club but hey, it's fiction.

Enough rambling. 4 bookmarks -- but it didn't make me want to pick up and Austen ...