Austen fans.....a question for you.....

[astrid]

A friend who is completely new to the joys of reading Austen asked me for a recommendation. "Which book should I start with?" she asked.

I'm a huge Austen lover, so one would think it would be an easy question to answer. But instead, I found myself blinking at her, unable to choose just one novel.

So which one would YOU recommend?

[Kate CA]

A friend who is completely new to the joys of reading Austen asked me for a recommendation. "Which book should I start with?" she asked.

I'm a huge Austen lover, so one would think it would be an easy question to answer. But instead, I found myself blinking at her, unable to choose just one novel.

So which one would YOU recommend?

Pride & Prejudice. It is so thorough and well-written and enjoyable. AND you have two movie versions to choose from at the end. :)

I did also enjoy Mansfield Park a great deal (and all her books really) but I would not start with MP at all. That is a more serious story and is something that I think is better read later on.

HTH!

Warmly,
Kate

[Laura Corin]

My favourite is Persuasion, but P&P is a good place to start.

Laura

[Natalieclare]

a bunch of English estate law.

Years ago my dh worked with a wonderfully witty Filipino man whose first language was not English. His language skills were so good and we loved him so much, we just had to share the joys of Jane with him. Unfortunately, the estate law just bogged him down. He gave it his best shot, he said, but he returned the book. We were so sad-we love sharing treasures!

Recently my girls told me they thought Emma was hard to get into--I think they liked Pride and Prejudice best. It's been so long since I've read them all in a bunch that I'm afraid I don't have much other advice for you.

[Mrs Mungo]

A friend who is completely new to the joys of reading Austen asked me for a recommendation. "Which book should I start with?" she asked.

I'm a huge Austen lover, so one would think it would be an easy question to answer. But instead, I found myself blinking at her, unable to choose just one novel.

So which one would YOU recommend?

I would recommend Persuasion. I think it's easier to see the romance in it. I *adore* Pride and Prejudice but I think it can be a bit subtle for non-readers.

[Lorna]

'Northanger Abbey' because it is the one I started with I guess. It has lots of straight forward cringing and I think it makes a great introduction to the Austen sense of humour. I think if you launch straight into 'Pride and Prejudice' you might miss a great deal of fun.

[Alice]

Persuasion is my favorite, like some of the other posters.

But I agree that Pride and Prejudice is the best to start with or for someone who is only going to read one book.

[SFP]

Persuasion is the novel that made me love Austen. Too many people had insisted that I'd love P&P and that kept cranky me from appreciating it the first, um, three times I attempted it. Persuasion carried no baggage and I loved it immediately, completely.

Emma is another good first Austen. I thought my son would bail after the first few pages, but instead he loved the book and the character.

[Mrs. Readsalot]

I would select Pride and Prejudice. Then I would read the rest in this order

Sense and Sensibility great to read after P & P

Mansfield Park not sure why but it seems to fit 3rd.

Northanger Abbey be sure to tell her that Auten was explressing her interest in gothic novels of the day

Emma I think if is the most difficult to read a follow so you have to build up to it,

Persuasion because it is the most mature romance and about patience

[gandpsmommy]

Sense and Sensibility was the first one I read, but that was because my high school English teacher recommended my seeing the movie when it came out my senior year (the one with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, etc.), and I loved it. I proceeded to buy a copy of The Complete Works of Jane Austen. It seemed like the logical place to start.

[astrid]

I wavered between recommending Persuasion and P&P so I just wanted to get the input of others. I think I"m going to recommend Persuasion, and loan her my copy of Pride and Prejudice in case she can't get into Persuasion right off the bat. I'm sure she'll love them, she's just got to dive in, which is what I've been telling her for years!

Thanks!

[PariSarah]

Pride and Prejudice is the one most adapted to modern tastes, with Sense & Sensibility a close second. They are the two I would steer a newbie toward first.

Mansfield Park is her best. (Hands down. And all y'all who say diff'rnt are just wrong. :p) But it's also the most subtle, the most foreign to modern tastes. So that one would be the only one I would say NOT to steer a newbie toward, unless the newbie in question is 1) a medievalist or 2) a theologian/ethicist. Those kinds of people tend to love MP.