We do not have to ask that question when considering Poul Anderson. We have been appreciating:
his scientifically grounded but also creatively imaginative speculations about the immediate and remote futures of technology and humanity;
his descriptive passages appealing to at least three of the senses;
his frequent Pathetic Fallacies, so subtle and understated that they are almost as unnoticed as his impeccable grammar;
the extremely rich vocabulary that obliges his readers to consult a dictionary;
his references to poetry and other literature.
On this last point, Laurinda Ashcroft commends Jane Austen who lived quietly, did not travel far and died young yet:
"'...explored people in ways that nobody else ever did.'"
-Genesis, Part Two, V, 2, p. 150.
11 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm sure the fault is in me, not Jane Austen, but I gave up on her writing after struggling halfway thru EMMA. The intrigues, squabbles, and small doings of obscure English country towns simply did not appeal to me.
Sean
Sean,
I read all of Austen's novels while at University. I do not remember much about the others but PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is delightful and there was a BBC dramatization that was almost an improvement.
Paul.
Paul and Sean:
I read *Pride and Prejudice* while in the Army. I'd been intrigued by a comment — I THINK by Alistair Cooke — that Jane Austen would've giggled at the sentimentalism of Charles Dickens. I enjoyed her sardonic remarks such as the first two sentences:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
"However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."
After reading *Pride and Prejudice*, I made a point of seeing the 1995 movies of *Sense and Sensibility" and "Persuasion." I enjoyed them as well, despite wanting to HARM Anne Eliot's insufferably vain and arrogant father and sister. (Her dad's last line in the movie is to react to being told a certain wealthy man wants to marry Anne: "Whatever for?")
Blast it, I misspelled Anne Elliot's family name. TWO "l's," David you *dummkopf*!
Kaor, Paul and DAVID!
Paul: then the problem may have been trying to read the Jane Austen book. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE might have been better for me than EMMA.
David: I do like the sardonic lines you quoted from JA'w works. It is a well known fact that a man of wealth is at high risk of being chased by scheming gold digging types!
Sean
Both,
The TV adaptation incorporated "...a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife..." not in a voice over but into the dialogue. Coming out of church, Mrs Bennet urges her husband to visit Mr Bingley and tells him to think of his daughters. Elizabeth ironically recites the phrase as if she were quoting from the novel (which she in fact is). Mrs Bennet agrees forcefully and without any trace of irony.
Paul.
Paul and Sean:
Ah, yes; Mrs. Bennet. From the first paragraph of the final chapter:
"I wish I could say, for the sake of her family, that the accomplishment of her earnest desire in the establishment of so many of her children, produced so happy an effect as to make her a sensible, amiable, well-informed woman for the rest of her life; though perhaps it was lucky for her husband, who might not have relished domestic felicity in so unusual a form, that she still was occasionally nervous and invariably silly."
David,
Thank you and notice the first person narrator expressing an opinion.
Paul.
Gentlemen,
I have to bow to your superior knowledge of the works of Jane Austen. Maybe her books are not as boring as EMMA left me thinking!
Sean
Kaor, Sean!
I read SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and liked it well enough, although not enough to become a hard-core Janeite. (My sister is a strong Janeite.). I later tried to read EMMA, but got bored and gave up on it, just as you did. Many years after that, NORTHANGER ABBEY was the selection of the Patent Office Book Club, and so I read that, and liked it pretty well.
Best Regards,
Nicholas D. Rosen
Kaor, Nicholas!
Thanks! Your reaction to Jane Austen seemed to have been halfway between of Paul/David and myself.
Regards! Sean
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