I found
this video interview with
Fran Lebowitz discussing Jane Austen's fame on You Tube by chance and it made me think over and over about something I have always been convinced of. I have already mentioned that fact here on
My Jane Austen Book Club, especially when I began writing this blog a couple of years ago. Maybe you noticed that I often asked Austen - inspired writers in our
"Talking Jane Austen with..." sessions if they didn't think that movie and TV adaptations had misled our reading and interpretation of Jane Austen's novels. Most film versions - if not all of them - focus on the romantic aspect of the love stories told in the books and that gave start to the illusion that Jane Austen's work was mainly romance. Honestly, Jane Austen is one of the least romantic authors I've read in my life, of that I am definitely convinced. The most unromantic proposals or happy ending in books can be found in her works. She made slight exceptions for
Emma (
If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more) and
Persuasion (
You pierced my soul ) but, still, what Jane Austen cannot be considered is a romantic writer. I don't love her the less for that, and you also know how much I love watching the TV series or the films adapted from her works.
