Call number
BIO AUSTEN
Collection
Genres
Publication
Viking Adult (2001), 185 pages
Description
"In her fictional biography, The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields created an astonishing portrait of Daisy Goodwill Flett, a modern woman struggling to understand her place in her own life. With the same sensitivity and artfulness that are the trade-marks of her award-winning novels, Shields here explores the life of a writer whose own novels have engaged and delighted readers for the past two hundred years." "In Jane Austen, Shields follows this superb and beloved novelist from her early family life in Steventon to her later years in Bath, her broken engagement, and her intense relationship with her sister Cassandra. She reveals both the very private woman and the acclaimed author behind the enduring classics Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma. With its fascinating insights into the writing process from an award-winning novelist, Carol Shields's magnificent biography of Jane Austen is also a compelling meditation on how great fiction is created."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member AnnieMod
If you ignore the author's own words about what she is trying to achieve, the biography is actually a pretty good one. But if you decide to believe the author in the first chapter, it becomes a bit more complicated.
Before starting to talk about the life of Jane Austen, Carol Shields explains her
Trying to decipher Jane Austen without looking at the fiction is impossible and probably will cripple the attempt. My issue here is not with the approach - it is more with the inconsistency of the author on what she is trying to do. But if we disregard that first comments (as hard as it is considering that they opened the book) and basically any comment about the purpose and idea of that book, the biography is a short and readable account of Jane Austen - mainly the author although the woman also shows up occasionally. We hear quite a lot about the novels, we hear a lot of comparisons between the books and the real life - the mix works well. We see the frustrations that Jane Austen lives through before she manages to publish her book, we hear all about the small curiosities of her life and the people that surround her. But gradually while the book progresses the focus shifts ever so lightly and even if the life is still there, long passages are about the books and what they are about... Is it unexpected in a writer's biography? No, not at all. But the proportions are a bit wrong - especially with all the bold statement from the beginning of the book.
Besides main main issue with that book, I still find it a satisfying one. I just wish the author had made her mind what she is trying to do exactly -- and had not started with one idea and ended up with another. Because that last cited sentence is much closer to what the book is than anything before that. And even it does not cover it fully because the human being Jane Austen is there not only as an author but as a woman.
Before starting to talk about the life of Jane Austen, Carol Shields explains her
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goal with this book. As part of that explanation she mentions that other authors that had presumed that Austen's novels are a reflection of her own life and thoughts and that they can be used for confirming what the actual Jane Austen had been like and that she "have attempted in this short life of Jane Austen to read into my own resistance, instead of seeking a confirmation or denial embedded in the fiction". That's the part where the author fails pretty badly - she tries at the beginning but as the book progresses, she turns to the novel more and more in order to explain what Austen had been like to the point where she says "Individual actions have social consequences in Jane Austen's fiction, and the same can be assumed for her life.". This is a far cry from how all this started... and is a much more clear indication on how the book is written than the sentence in the opening chapter. And there is another phrase thrown in almost at the end "... the point of literary biography is to throw light on a writer's works, rather than combing the works to re-create the author". When exactly this book's focus changed from the very first sentence cited above (and its almost promise not to use the novels for confirmation) and that last sentence where it is more about the books and not about the author?Trying to decipher Jane Austen without looking at the fiction is impossible and probably will cripple the attempt. My issue here is not with the approach - it is more with the inconsistency of the author on what she is trying to do. But if we disregard that first comments (as hard as it is considering that they opened the book) and basically any comment about the purpose and idea of that book, the biography is a short and readable account of Jane Austen - mainly the author although the woman also shows up occasionally. We hear quite a lot about the novels, we hear a lot of comparisons between the books and the real life - the mix works well. We see the frustrations that Jane Austen lives through before she manages to publish her book, we hear all about the small curiosities of her life and the people that surround her. But gradually while the book progresses the focus shifts ever so lightly and even if the life is still there, long passages are about the books and what they are about... Is it unexpected in a writer's biography? No, not at all. But the proportions are a bit wrong - especially with all the bold statement from the beginning of the book.
Besides main main issue with that book, I still find it a satisfying one. I just wish the author had made her mind what she is trying to do exactly -- and had not started with one idea and ended up with another. Because that last cited sentence is much closer to what the book is than anything before that. And even it does not cover it fully because the human being Jane Austen is there not only as an author but as a woman.
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LibraryThing member msbaba
I decided to read Carol Shields’ biography Jane Austen for two reasons: first, because I knew about and admired the biographer; and second, because I hoped that reading a biography about Jane Austen would help me better comprehend and appreciate her novels. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy reading
In the beginning Shields asks many questions. “How does art emerge? How does art come from common clay, in this case a vicar’s self-educated daughter, all but buried in rural Hampshire? Who was she really? And who exactly is her art designed to please? One person? Two or three? Or an immense, wide, and unknown audience that buzzes with an altered frequency through changing generations, its impact subtly augmented in the light of newly evolved tastes and values?” (p. 5-6) Throughout the biography, Shields does an amazingly delightful and scholarly job of exploring these themes. In the end, she states: “What is known of Jane Austen’s life will never be enough to account for the greatness of her novels, but the point of literary biography is to throw light on a writer’s works, rather than combing the works to re-create the author.” (p.175) Obviously, this was Shields’ intent, and in this reviewer’s estimation, she succeeds completely.
This biography was an absolute joy to read. It is short—under 200 pages. I read it in one sitting, never once feeling that the details overwhelmed. My interest never faded. Now, I find myself thinking about the many vivid characters in Austen’s novels and wanting to read them again in a new light.
It has been over twenty years since I last read any of Austen’s books, so detailed familiarity with her novels is not a prerequisite to understanding this biography or finding pleasure in its remarkable insights.
Shields is an extraordinary author in her own right. Her prose is clear, articulate, creative, often fun, and always on the mark. It is clear that she has a keen appreciation for Jane Austen’s literary style and a deep desire to understand the woman who created these magical works or art. I am enthusiastic after reading this biography and recommend it highly to anyone who wants a better appreciation of Austen, her person, her period, and her novels.
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Jane Austen. I am just not as crazy about her as many bright, highly educated women I know. When I heard that Carol Shields, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Stone Diaries had written a highly acclaimed biography of Austen, I jumped at the chance to reeducate myself. In the beginning Shields asks many questions. “How does art emerge? How does art come from common clay, in this case a vicar’s self-educated daughter, all but buried in rural Hampshire? Who was she really? And who exactly is her art designed to please? One person? Two or three? Or an immense, wide, and unknown audience that buzzes with an altered frequency through changing generations, its impact subtly augmented in the light of newly evolved tastes and values?” (p. 5-6) Throughout the biography, Shields does an amazingly delightful and scholarly job of exploring these themes. In the end, she states: “What is known of Jane Austen’s life will never be enough to account for the greatness of her novels, but the point of literary biography is to throw light on a writer’s works, rather than combing the works to re-create the author.” (p.175) Obviously, this was Shields’ intent, and in this reviewer’s estimation, she succeeds completely.
This biography was an absolute joy to read. It is short—under 200 pages. I read it in one sitting, never once feeling that the details overwhelmed. My interest never faded. Now, I find myself thinking about the many vivid characters in Austen’s novels and wanting to read them again in a new light.
It has been over twenty years since I last read any of Austen’s books, so detailed familiarity with her novels is not a prerequisite to understanding this biography or finding pleasure in its remarkable insights.
Shields is an extraordinary author in her own right. Her prose is clear, articulate, creative, often fun, and always on the mark. It is clear that she has a keen appreciation for Jane Austen’s literary style and a deep desire to understand the woman who created these magical works or art. I am enthusiastic after reading this biography and recommend it highly to anyone who wants a better appreciation of Austen, her person, her period, and her novels.
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LibraryThing member PuddinTame
I've read about seven biographies of Jane Austen, and this would be the one that I recommend that anyone read first. It pretty much sums up all that is really known about Austen's life and avoids the usual hazards of wild speculation and dubious reinterpretation. It does not desperately attempt to
There is one serious problem with this biography but I believe that it is the decision of the publisher, not the author. There is almost nothing in the way of documentation: bibliographies, sources, notes. I do like the books that I have read in this series as a good introduction to the various people covered, and as far as I can tell, they are reliable, but one has to trust Penquin's reputation. They are not scholarly.
I would recommend that the reader next consider David Cecil's Portrait of Jane Austen or Josephine Ross' Jane Austen: A Companion, or Debra Teachman's Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series), as a look at the author in context of her time. Ross' book has a nice selected bibliography of different types of Jane Austen studies and Teachman has extensive bibliographies of specialized topics. The recent movie, Becoming Jane, was inspired by Jon Spence's Becoming Jane Austen; I enjoyed both book and movie,
The interested reader should also realize that there are a variety of "specialty" books that focus on narrow topics. Nigel Nicolson and Stephen Colover's The World of Jane Austen: Her Houses in Fact and Fiction focuses on houses and places she lived in or visited; Audrey Hawkridge's Jane and Her Gentlemen: Jane Austen and the Men in Her Life and Novels considers the men in JA's life versus the men in her novels.
As for the other biographies that I have read by Tomalin, Nokes, Park, etc., one can get a lot of additional detail about the life of a typical woman of Austen's class, as well as trivia such as the weather around the time of her birth (Make no mistake, I LOVE such details) but the books are often weighted down with pretentiousness, unfounded speculation, doubtful agendas and side interests of the authors. By all means, I recommend them to people with an intense interest in Jane Austen, but not for the person who just wants context for her writings.
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break new ground but considers the presentation of a solid, readable account of the subject's life as sufficient grounds for its existence. This is not to say that I accept everything that Shields says, but she does a commendable job.There is one serious problem with this biography but I believe that it is the decision of the publisher, not the author. There is almost nothing in the way of documentation: bibliographies, sources, notes. I do like the books that I have read in this series as a good introduction to the various people covered, and as far as I can tell, they are reliable, but one has to trust Penquin's reputation. They are not scholarly.
I would recommend that the reader next consider David Cecil's Portrait of Jane Austen or Josephine Ross' Jane Austen: A Companion, or Debra Teachman's Understanding Pride and Prejudice: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series), as a look at the author in context of her time. Ross' book has a nice selected bibliography of different types of Jane Austen studies and Teachman has extensive bibliographies of specialized topics. The recent movie, Becoming Jane, was inspired by Jon Spence's Becoming Jane Austen; I enjoyed both book and movie,
The interested reader should also realize that there are a variety of "specialty" books that focus on narrow topics. Nigel Nicolson and Stephen Colover's The World of Jane Austen: Her Houses in Fact and Fiction focuses on houses and places she lived in or visited; Audrey Hawkridge's Jane and Her Gentlemen: Jane Austen and the Men in Her Life and Novels considers the men in JA's life versus the men in her novels.
As for the other biographies that I have read by Tomalin, Nokes, Park, etc., one can get a lot of additional detail about the life of a typical woman of Austen's class, as well as trivia such as the weather around the time of her birth (Make no mistake, I LOVE such details) but the books are often weighted down with pretentiousness, unfounded speculation, doubtful agendas and side interests of the authors. By all means, I recommend them to people with an intense interest in Jane Austen, but not for the person who just wants context for her writings.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
As a fellow novelist, author Carol Shields brings a unique perspective to her biography of Jane Austen. In the first chapter, Shields writes: Traditionally Jane Austen's biographers have nailed together the established facts of her life--her birth, her travels, her enthusiasms, her death--and
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clothed this rickety skeleton with speculation gleaned from the novels, an exercise akin to ransacking an author's bureau drawers and drawing conclusions from piles of neatly folded handkerchiefs or worn gloves. In so doing, the assumption is made that fiction flows directly from a novelist's experience rather than from her imagination. While Shields then goes on to glean speculation from Austen's novels, she does so through the lens of a writer who knows how inspiration functions and who may therefore be able to discern the line between experience and imagination in Austen's works. Readers don't need to be Jane Austen experts, but do need a basic familiarity with her novels. While this isn't a work for scholars (there are no footnotes/endnotes), it isn't an introduction, either. Warmly recommended to Austen readers. Show Less
LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe
One imagines a sensitive novelist of particularity, such as Carol Shields, measuring herself in the process of writing this short literary biography of Jane Austen. For what better measure might there be? Now two hundred years since their initial publication, Austen’s novels continue to delight
Shields’ prose is crisp and insightful, with just enough facts drawn from Austen’s correspondence and other sources to gently move the along the progress of her life, whilst keeping the focus where it ought to always be, on Austen’s texts. A literary biography succeeds when the reader finishes it and wants immediately to immerse himself or herself in the subject’s texts. Reader, the desire to plunge headlong into a rereading of each of Austen’s novels is nearly irresistible. Delightfully recommended.
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and surprise. Writing in obscurity away from the bustle of the writerly world of “workshops”, “MFAs”, “public readings”, “writer circles”, and “literary festivals”, without the input of her literary contemporaries, without the lucrative compensation of a hefty advance or a well-publicised book tour, with only the modest praise and encouragement of family and a few close friends, Jane Austen made the novel form her own. Shields strikes precisely the right tone here – respectful. Shields’ prose is crisp and insightful, with just enough facts drawn from Austen’s correspondence and other sources to gently move the along the progress of her life, whilst keeping the focus where it ought to always be, on Austen’s texts. A literary biography succeeds when the reader finishes it and wants immediately to immerse himself or herself in the subject’s texts. Reader, the desire to plunge headlong into a rereading of each of Austen’s novels is nearly irresistible. Delightfully recommended.
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LibraryThing member daisiflower
Loved it. Was a good biography of Jane Austens life. Fast read as well.
LibraryThing member Lindsayg
Carol Shields can really write. Also, it's a concise telling of Austen's life, so you could probably read it in a day if you were so inclined.
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
This slim biography of Jane Austen provides some insights into the famed author's life, but I was left wishing it provided more detail.
LibraryThing member Carissa.Green
At least two glaring proofreading errors -- I expect better from you, Penguin. Also, Shields declares Emma to be her favorite of the Austen heroines, and, even more egregiously, is most unkind to my wonderful Fanny Price. -cg
LibraryThing member phillies
Are you, like me, are a crazed Jane Austen fanatic but do not want to read long and speculative accounts of our hero's life then this is the book for you. It is well written, short and to the point. There is really not much known about Miss Austen but Shields gives a good summary of what there is.
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I used to wish that more was known but have come to believe that it is better that we know so little. Let Miss Austen's beautiful writing speak for itself. However we do want to know the facts about her and Miss Shields lays them out in an appealing way. So I recommend that you fanatics out there read this book and learn more about the woman who has left a enduring legacy of great writing. If you are not an Austen fanatic (why you would not be I do not understand) but just interested in biographies of great authors than this book is also for you. Show Less
LibraryThing member pussreboots
Carol Shields has deftly woven together literary analysis with biography in her reconstruction of the life and times of Jane Austen. Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with her books to fully appreciate this book. A true fan of Austen's works will enjoy this book a great deal I'm sure.
LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
This is a solid little biography about Jane's life, going more into detail about how the events of her life shaped and affected her writing, than the actual life events. I know the basic outline of Jane's life and her publishing struggles, so it was interesting to get this author's insight into how
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Jane's life shaped her personality. I would recommend this for casual Austen fans as it helps give the authoress some life but isn't too heavy on details, keeping it from potentially being dull. Show Less
LibraryThing member classyhomemaker
I've read a lot of great biographies on Jane Austen, but this one was truly excellent. First off, I would not recommend this for someone who knows very little about Jane Austen or her books, as a lot of basics are assumed in order to get on to things that better interest the knowledgeable
I love Shields' metaphor of "glances" on page 3-4. She discusses how Austen never really goes into detail about some of the things that were so newsworthy in her day: the Napoleonic wars, changes in societal structure and the Church, advances in science and medicine. She describes Austen's dealings with them as "glances"---an implied commentary.
Another thing the biographer brought to my attention, in respect to the writer in me---and in Austen---was that Jane Austen never had that quiet place that I seem not to be able to write without. "The encouragement of her imagination did not arise from conditions offered her by others." I am always looking for that place of solitude---the "Perfect Place to Write." Yet, Jane Austen just wrote wherever she was and however she could---no matter what was going on around her. I can't expect others to pave the way for me. If I really want to finish that story that I'm working on, I need to make it happen.
After reading this short bio, I'm more encouraged to track down some of her published correspondence. Maybe I'll have the chance to find some on my trip to England next month.
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"Janeite". I think that's why I enjoyed it so much---it was a refreshing take on the details behind that "Jane Austen Fact Sheet" that a lot of biographies seem to be drawing from. I love Shields' metaphor of "glances" on page 3-4. She discusses how Austen never really goes into detail about some of the things that were so newsworthy in her day: the Napoleonic wars, changes in societal structure and the Church, advances in science and medicine. She describes Austen's dealings with them as "glances"---an implied commentary.
Another thing the biographer brought to my attention, in respect to the writer in me---and in Austen---was that Jane Austen never had that quiet place that I seem not to be able to write without. "The encouragement of her imagination did not arise from conditions offered her by others." I am always looking for that place of solitude---the "Perfect Place to Write." Yet, Jane Austen just wrote wherever she was and however she could---no matter what was going on around her. I can't expect others to pave the way for me. If I really want to finish that story that I'm working on, I need to make it happen.
After reading this short bio, I'm more encouraged to track down some of her published correspondence. Maybe I'll have the chance to find some on my trip to England next month.
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Awards
RBC Taylor Prize (Winner — 2002)
Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction (Shortlist — 2001)
Pages
185
ISBN
0670894885 / 9780670894888