[GAE]⇒ Read Free A Dance with Jane Austen How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball Susannah Fullerton Deirdre Le Faye 9780711232457 Books

A Dance with Jane Austen How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball Susannah Fullerton Deirdre Le Faye 9780711232457 Books

Download As PDF : A Dance with Jane Austen How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball Susannah Fullerton Deirdre Le Faye 9780711232457 Books

A Dance with Jane Austen How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball Susannah Fullerton Deirdre Le Faye 9780711232457 Books

Jane Austen and dancing. What's not to like? Unfortunately this slim volume has some issues.

First, as noted by some of the other reviewers, the illustrations have no captions. Sometimes it's very clear what the picture is and why it is used based on its placement in the text. But not always. Also I would have appreciated knowing when the paintings and drawings were actually done. Some of them are clearly late Victorian and even Edwardian.

Second, there were some editorial issues. The most glaring appears on page 54: "George and Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen's parents, married in Bath in 1864." When basic facts aren't double checked, or even if it was simply a typesetting error, one has to wonder about the accuracy of other information in the book.

Finally, I would have appreciated a bit more historical context to balance out the analysis of the characters' interactions on the dance floor, especially in the Conversation and Courtship chapter.

That being said, I did enjoy the descriptions of the types of dances that were done during the Regency period and the food that would have been served at the various types of balls. I also enjoyed reading the excerpts from Austen's letters about balls that she attended.


Tags : A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball [Susannah Fullerton, Deirdre Le Faye] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>“The period illustrations and dance diagrams are charming, but Fullerton's discussion of dance in Austen's novels is both incisive and entertaining. From the Netherfield ball in <I>Pride and Prejudice</I> to Anne Elliot playing the piano as her friends dance in <I>Persuasion</I>,Susannah Fullerton, Deirdre Le Faye,A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball,Frances Lincoln,0711232458,Literary,Balls (Parties);Great Britain;19th century.,Etiquette;Great Britain;19th century.,Great Britain;Social life and customs;19th century.,19th century,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Literary Figures,Balls (Parties),Biography & Autobiography,Biography & Autobiography Literary,BiographyAutobiography,Etiquette,GENERAL,General Adult,Great Britain,Great BritainBritish Isles,History,Non-Fiction

A Dance with Jane Austen How a Novelist and Her Characters Went to the Ball Susannah Fullerton Deirdre Le Faye 9780711232457 Books Reviews

Cute book and a must have for the Jane Austen fan who has everything. A very interesting and fun read.
I enjoyed this very much, there was a lot of useful information. I will repeat another reviewer's comment the illustrations should have been captioned, and if possible, credited within the text. It rather spoils the effect otherwise.
This book explained WHY dancing was so important in Regency England and to literary characters of that time period. This is a great companion volume to Pride and Prejudice.
This book is rich in information on the era, as well as a concise timeline leading up to and including the Battle of Waterloo. It also gave a wealth of information as to the customs, social life and characteristics of the people in that era.
Highly satisfying and enjoyable reading.
I loved this book about the British culture regarding balls and dances during Jane Austin's day. I am a ballroom dance teacher and it had special meaning for me. I am also writing about my ancestors who lived during that period, so it was very insightful and helpful. I now understand why Jane wrote the way she did in her books and how she was influenced by her times.
This was a wonderful read! I devoured it. My only complaint is that some of the chapters (like those on food and etiquette) are cut very short. And other points are not fully developed as I would like to see. It's a very short book (only about 150 pages), so the nature of that is lots of leftover questions, which is a bit frustrating. I really like to be left with no lingering questions, but I suppose that's why my non-fiction tends to be around the 400 page mark normally. So it's nice for a few details, but if you want anything in depth you have to keep shopping. Also, I found that the "analysis" of the Austen novels was a bit weak at times. Much of it is simply common sense that anyone who has read the novels would understand.
I had been hoping that a book called "A Dance With Jane Austen How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball" would be more about the experience of going to a ball. While it does have some content on the subject, it's not a whole lot more than what other books like What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew From Fox Hunting to Whist-the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England include (that is, books that aren't even specialized to the subject of balls.) Way too much of this book is devoted to literary analysis and the function of balls as a plot device in Austen's novels. It even has a chapter all about movie adaptions of Jane Austen books and how they staged balls for the films. This is not the kind of info that I was hoping for! The book would be less than half of its length if only the content about actual regency era balls were kept.
Jane Austen and dancing. What's not to like? Unfortunately this slim volume has some issues.

First, as noted by some of the other reviewers, the illustrations have no captions. Sometimes it's very clear what the picture is and why it is used based on its placement in the text. But not always. Also I would have appreciated knowing when the paintings and drawings were actually done. Some of them are clearly late Victorian and even Edwardian.

Second, there were some editorial issues. The most glaring appears on page 54 "George and Cassandra Austen, Jane Austen's parents, married in Bath in 1864." When basic facts aren't double checked, or even if it was simply a typesetting error, one has to wonder about the accuracy of other information in the book.

Finally, I would have appreciated a bit more historical context to balance out the analysis of the characters' interactions on the dance floor, especially in the Conversation and Courtship chapter.

That being said, I did enjoy the descriptions of the types of dances that were done during the Regency period and the food that would have been served at the various types of balls. I also enjoyed reading the excerpts from Austen's letters about balls that she attended.