BOOK OF THE DAY: A Truth Universally AcknowledgedEdited by Susannah Carson Particular Books; 277pp; £20
IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that one of the first challenges for anyone undertaking an essay – or indeed review – concerning Jane Austen is to avoid using the phrase “it is a truth universally acknowledged”, as Martin Amis points out in this unsurprisingly named book.
Its 33 reasons why we can’t stop reading Austen come from as many authors and academics, among them Amis, Virginia Woolf, David Lodge and Harold Bloom, the latter also providing a foreword.
For JB Priestley, it is Austen's "detachment, together with her power of selection and emphasis and her constant unforced social and moral criticism" that makes her such a great novelist; for Anna Quindlen, the biggest virtue of a book like Pride and Prejudiceis that it is "a pure joy to read"; Alain de Botton praises Austen's capacity to "describe our world even as she concentrates only on being faithful to her own"; and James Collins applauds her ability to provide moral instruction through humour, canny plotting and vivid characterisation.
Each has his or her own favourite Austen book or heroine, and staunchly defends the reasons for their choice: David Lodge sees Emmaas the work which most "perfectly represents her genius", while Amis's stated crush on Elizabeth Bennett endears Pride and Prejudicerather more to him. Jay McInerney even admits to have developed "a bit of a sneaker" for the much-maligned Fanny Price of Mansfield Park.
Be warned, however, that their various approaches to Austen’s novels are inevitably littered with spoilers: if you haven’t read the novels yet, it may be advisable to set aside Carson’s collection of essays until you’ve made at least one pass through each of the works under discussion.
The sum of these 33 parts is a robust and largely uncontested appreciation of Austen.
Yet though a dialogue emerges between these critics from different times and perspectives, and they do have their moments of mild disagreement (over whether the character Emma is abhorrent or endearing, or which act of persuasion gave the book of the same name its title), they are all singing from the same hymn sheet on Austen’s virtues.
Though mention is often made of her detractors – notably those who have taken issue with her failure to tackle the political happenings of her day – these are quickly parried, the voices of dissent given no place in a book that, as a result, becomes largely one-sided. And though most agree that Austen has managed to retain a particular relevance despite the passage of time,
the same cannot necessarily be true for all of the essayists here.
Still, there is much to enhance the reading of Jane Austen, new perspectives on her appeal and plenty of fodder for book club discussions or private intellectual endeavour. And there is no doubt a continuing appetite for all things Austen-related; she is a writer guaranteed to shift units simply by having her name stamped somewhere on the cover.
If you have already read her books backwards and are looking for further conversation on Austen's charms, then this may be the book for you. It may even send you back to the novels with renewed vigour. But if you still have a Northanger Abbeyor a Persuasionoutstanding on your to-read list, or find yourself due a re-read of Emmaor Pride and Prejudice, then your time would still be better employed on the originals.
Fiona McCann writes for
The Irish Times, and blogs at irishtimes.com/blogs/ pursuedbyabear
