Yes, but....
Posted by Caroline on July 06, 1998 at 12:02:31:
In response to Listening to Austen, written by kathleen (elder) on July 04, 1998 at 17:37:27
] I wonder of this "read aloud" quality of her writing is part of the reason so much of the book seems to be in dialogue -- even when it isn't. Many descriptions of what was said in the novels linger in my memory as conversations, when in fact there was no actual quoted speech.
I agree completely...my memory is the same. This is what makes me wonder whether Jane Austen had this clearly in her mind when she wrote them.I'm sure she didn't anticipate the coming of the cassette tape, however. I think what I'm really getting at is that by concentrating on the "received" Austen these days, by reading silently, listening passively to tapes(when doing something else) and even by watching a video, we might be missing out on something that JA wrote into her work, namely the the exercise of "performing" it. The time and effort required to read a book out loud, to explain it to someone face to face, is entirely different to reading it privately , or even discussing it over the net. I just wondered if anybody had experience of doing this, and what it adds, if anything, to the "Total Austen Experience. ;-)"
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