Do Men Read Jane Austen?

Like millions of other readers around the world, I enjoy reading Jane Austen. The only problem? I’m a guy. Now I cannot be the only male fan of Austen’s work, but it certainly feels that way.  I’m 19 year old, college sophomore, who enjoys playing sports, watching movies, and hanging out with friends. I’m not supposed to read Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion. As a student in college, I know that men don’t read chick lit, or if you’re like me, you do and don’t tell anyone. The stereotypical Pride and Prejudice enthusiast is a woman. And like most stereotypes, I think this is a little off-base. Sure, the majority of Austen addicts are female, but there has to be quite a few male readers as well. I feel that sometimes perceptions take the place of reality. But then I received a message from a facebook stalker (whom I had never met), who saw that some of my favorite books were Jane Austen novels. She could not believe her eyes, and she wanted to verify that Pride and Prejudice really was one of my favorites. This message really started to make me wonder. How many men do read Jane Austen? I’m I really such an anomaly? So now I ask, how many men (if any) do you know who enjoy reading Jane Austen?

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My Sister’s Keeper

***Contains Spoilers***

I had previously read Nineteen Minutes for my high school book club, and I wasn’t overly impressed with it. The ending really ruined the book for me. Not so much the fact that Josie killed her boyfriend, more the fact that she had to go to jail for ten years, and her mom remarried and got pregnant again. To me, this looked like her attempt to replace her incarcerated daughter, and recitfy the mistakes she made as a parent the first time around. I just hated the ending.

Now, a good friend of mine convinced me to give Picoult another shot, and read My Sister’s Keeper. It started out perfectly. The story was touching. The situation was original, and I really thought I was going to come away pleased with the experience. Unfortunately, Picoult ruined it again in the last ten pages. She sacrificed the integrity of the whole story to create a surprising ‘Hollywood’ ending. I was angry. As a literary character, Anna deserved better. Everything that she went through, everything that she put her family through, it didn’t matter. By creating her shocking plot twist, Picoult managed to make the entire buildup irrelevant. It was one of the worst endings to a book that I have ever read.

Maybe, I just don’t get it. So many people love her work, and love this book in particular, but it just didn’t do it for me. I’m my opinion, Kate wanted to die. That was the direction everything was going in. I feel that as a writer sometimes your characters decide how their story will end. The novel would have been great if Kate dies a peaceful death, and Anna and the rest of her family finally get to move on with their lives. Anna and her family had given Kate life. Kate would have relished the opportunity to repay her family, and give them all a chance for a full life. A death, a funeral, and a reflection from each family member. That would have been the perfect way to end this novel.

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Antique Books

I have always dreamed about having my own personal library someday. Not just any old library either. One of those vintage wood-paneled rooms you see in Victorian movies. Those rooms with thousands upon thousands of books. Books lining every wall, reaching up to the ceiling. That’s the kind of personal library I envision. I have a long way to go before I get there, but I’m starting my collection early.  I went to an antique bookstore this afternoon and picked out a few books. I found a First edition (second printing) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I also found an old Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. And and old book containing Dickens Christmas Stories. It was a great way to spend an afternoon, looking through hundreds of old books. I still have a ways to go before my library is complete, but at least its a start.

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