Austen's shimmering style shows nothing of the damage she endured as a woman writing in the thunderingly dull environment of her father's rural rectory drawing-room. I wish it did reflect some of that damage. Instead, Austen channeled all of her discontent into psychological dissections of foolish men and women with trivial lives. I enjoy Emma because of the heroine's awakening maturity, but the characters in Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey seem merely fatuous to me. Condescending as it might sound, I guess my life feels too complicated to enjoy reading much Austen.

Brilliant. An incisive mind wielding a scathing pen. Funny, observant and her language sings.

amazing

Although all the witty men of my life find Pride & Prejudice to be painfully long and detailed in things that "don't matter"...Her work is a doorway into past culture- without such information we may have forgotten the romantic capability of such formal characters. I understand why so many of my male companions found the book to be crappy- it touches more on the feminine role of marriage and one's place in society. Overall- I love it.

Still a favorite author of mine.

Jane Austen's books remain popular today because they are very witty and filled with charming and amusing characters. One of the funniest bits in Pride and Prejudice is when Reverend Collins hurries over to propose to Miss Lucas, after being turned down by Elizabeth. Miss Austen wryly notes that Miss Lucas was ignorant of the love that awaited her there. Miss Austen wrote about the cloying boredom of early 19th century rural life, and some of that same boredom and pettiness can be found today. But I think Miss Austen seemed to have some hope for the human race. She seemed to feel laughter was the best medicine. Her books are written in a stilted early 19th century style, but once you get used to her style, her books are well worth the time and effort. But Jane Austen's novels might indeed be a challenge for middlebrows who read crap like John Grisham, or don't read at all.

The thing about Jane Austen novels is that they were weighty tomes written for ladies of leisure who had too much time to kill. They are too slow and ponderous for this day and age. Well written they may be but I dont understand why they're still popular today.

Romance fiction. Okay but nothing speacial to me.

I've read every Jane Austen novel, except S&S. She is a wonderful stylist--very readible, which is why she remains popular two hundred years later. Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf would say she wasn't 'great', certainly she didn't have the Brontes' passion or Woolf's vision but who _is_ more read or loved than Jane Austen? That is greatness.

Why is Jane Austen under literature? She wrote light romances. She said nothing original. I was forced to read her at school and i hated it. Bottom line - terrible.

Hs their every been anyone who capture the spirit of those who she wrote about as did Jane Austin.A true Joy.

My rating says it all, - terrible

Incisive and witty observations of her society.

Extremely hilarious. a good boisterous cast in both Emma and Pride and Prejudice, with likeable protagonists and an always interesting supporting cast.

Jane Austen is by far my favorite "classical" writer. Her writing is witty and satirical. Her characters endearing and flawed. Pride and Prejudice is a delight to read and re-read.

Wonderful writing, extraordinary insight into human nature, a sense of humor--what's not to love? She is easily my favorite writer.

Austen uses words with lyrical precision. Her biting satire and strong characterizations are as fresh now as they were in the 1830s. My favorite is Pride and Prejudice.

Austen's literary skill might qualify her for the top rating -- her style is more accessible to the modern ear than almost any of her contemporaries, and remains so even relative to several that followed. Her characters are vivid, and her best character of all is always her narrator, providing one hilarious turn of phrase after another. The problem is that it never seems to add up to much of anything, and it's never entirely clear why we should care about who winds up marrying who, beyond the empty pleasure of following a soap opera, albeit a very well written soap opera that also includes clever comedy of manners. I personally couldn't care less about any of her characters or who they end up marrying, and it's only Austen's own witty commentary that provides any pleasure to the proceedings at all.