Austen, Again!

I was recently browsing for a novel to listen to in my car, and upon seeing a CD version of Karen Joy Fowler’s “The Jane Austen Book Club” (Putnam’s, 2004; recording by Listen & Live Audio, 2007), I decided to re-experience the novel in audio. I first read it when it came out six years ago, and enjoyed it; I enjoyed it again these past couple of weeks listening while driving. Readers know that I am interested in anything by, about, or connected to Austen. There are some good “offshoot” novels, and of course much good scholarship and other information, along with many unfortunate adaptations, sequels, prequels, mysteries, etc. that basically exploit Austen fans’ insatiable desire for “more Austen,” even ersatz Austen. I have read many of these, both the good and sometimes the bad ones. In the case of “The Jane Austen Book Club,” Fowler uses Austen’s work imaginatively, both offering tribute to Austen and showing how Austen’s work still connects with and illuminates people’s lives. The premise of the book is that a group of six characters, living in the Davis/Sacramento area of California, agrees to form a book club to read and discuss Austen’s six completed novels. The six meetings over six months provide the structure of the book, but there is also much interspersed information about each character’s background, history, and current happenings and concerns, as well as about how the characters interact with each other. The book does not purport to be scholarly, and the club members are not scholars; in fact, for some of them, this is the first time they have read Austen, or at least read all of Austen. At the club meetings and elsewhere, some perceptive comments are made and insights shared; there are some rather humorous and sometimes off-track comments as well. What the book portrays best is the jumble of human life and how readers’ enjoyment of and appreciation of literature mixes in naturally and sometimes unpredictably with their lives. This novel is especially delightful for Austen fans, but a prior knowledge of Austen’s work is not necessary in order to enjoy “The Jane Austen Book Club.”