Me, too! Let's hear it. (nfm)
Posted by Woodhouse on April 29, 1998 at 20:26:30:
In response to HMS Pinafore chorus, again, please!, written by Caroline on April 29, 1998 at 10:33:20
] Actually, although I agree with Patricia that there is a lot that is accurate generally for the nineteenth century, there is also so much, that is wrong, from our Austencentric point of view, that I cannot recommend it.
] Here's some examples:
] 1. He doesn't know Austen very well. He gets the story of Emma wrong, amongst other things. He describes what an Austen young lady should or should not do by taking Emma and comparing her behaviour with ...Emma.He hardly mentions any other Austen characters.
] 2. He doesn't know England very well.He gets town descriptions, distances etc. wrong.These facts could be verified by looking at any one of a dozen Gazetteers, so why they are wrong in the book, I don't know.
] 3. I could go on long and boringly about farming practices and country lore whereby he is completely out to lunch, but I won't, here, because no-one will be interested apart from me!
] 4. I'm not absolutely sure, but I don't think he does say what Jane Austen ate, or what Dickens knew.
] He obviously enjoys Trollope and Dickens, and if you are into that period you are probably okay to go by what he says.But I feel Jane Austen gets very short shrift from him. He is amusing, however, and easy to read.Just don't take his facts as the gospel truth without verifying them from another source, that's all.
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