Analysis, Jane Austen

Analysis

When you read a book, you often get a sense of what the author's intention was with writing it. Well, not all of them of course, but often the book has the story of its own behind it. When I read a book by an author whose work I have never read before I have to feel that what this person is trying to say to me feels true. I am not going to spend my time reading a book where the author contradicts him/herself. His/her skill of writing has to capture my interest immediately if I am going to read any further.

My impression of Jane Austen after reading one of her novels, Pride and Prejudice was good. She writes about things in her surroundings which makes it believable. She belonged to the upper middle-class and had many siblings just like the girls described in this particular book. Austen has a way of combining own experiences with a made up story which I think is a mix of irony of her own perspective on the way people acted at that time but also a desire of how she wanted to have lived her life. Cause, unlike the characters in this book Jane never got married.

I like her way of writing and telling stories, even though I am reading it feels like I am watching a movie. Jane Austen has a way to make a story come to life using humour, although it is a novel written in the eighteenth century it still has a way of appeal to us nowadays.

I think that every work of creativity is a form of art. It could be writing, making music, painting or designing clothes. Earlier this spring I went to an "Open mic night club." Every Monday the owner of the pub invited people to come and play and sing without have to go to audition first. It is those kinds of things that make it possible for unknown musicians to share their work with others. It is a meeting spot where people can inspire each other to keep on making music.

But as I said earlier, it has to feel real. If I do not feel it, I won't believe it. But those who had the guts to perform that night, they had real talent. It is a shame that everyone can not take part of that kind of music. Instead media showers us with mass produced "music" performed by a young, good-looking girl or boy chosen by a big record company they want representing them. They get told to sing a song written by a well known songwriter and I am not saying that these songwriters are not good at writing music and lyrics, because they are. Actually, they are geniuses because they write those songs that get stuck in everybody's heads. But the thing is, I have trouble with listening to a song I know some middle-aged man wrote talking about how hard life is, not being able to find the right girl or something like that. How could I possibly listen to the performer that sings those words when I know it didn't come out of own experience or own creativity? It's a way to brainwash people so that the big bosses get access to the big money.

So, to sum things up, Jane Austen was a great writer along with many others, e.g. John Steinbeck and Sylvia Plath whose works I have come in contact with this school year. Their writing is far from being about the same things, but they have one thing in common, they all stayed true to themselves and their writing. Of course media has a...