They Would have Slaughtered Jane Austen

As bizarre as it might be for some of you, I am not actually a great reader. It's not that I don't like to read, it's just that I find that when I read other authors their work corrupts my own voice and I have a harder time expressing myself. Yeah, I know, I'm impressionable. So, I only allow myself to go on reading rampages when I have no inclination to write anything myself. So, I learn, but I don't write a chapter like I'm Anne Rice and then another chapter like I'm L.M. Montgomery. Since I'm still unwell, I was reading Jane Austen's 'Persuasion'.

I was quite impressed with a few things and when I say 'impressed' I don't necessarily mean that as a good thing. But I don't mean to take old Jane out to the gallows myself - I just noticed some things that struck me as unusual considering what a classic author she's supposed to be - utterly timeless - and yet ... they would have slaughtered her.

To start out easy - as I was reading the book I kept having this feeling of familiarity. Now I know that I have not read 'Persuasion' before - I don't forget books once I've read them. I just felt repeatedly that the substance of the book was old hat, and I mean really old hat. It didn't take me long to realize that I had probably read a hundred books that were variants on the exact same themes with near the exact same plot arches. Reading the book was like seeing the mold for a cookie I've already eaten a hundred times - uninteresting. That being said, I could feel the quality of what I was reading. There was definitely a certain level of perception that wasn't included in the dime novels I read that copied this book. I also came to an understanding regarding why some of those dime novels were so particularly frustrating - they were copying this. The outline of a passionate relationship that ended for poor reasons and the couple's struggles for understanding between the two of them in order for them to get back together. The end is topped off by the gentleman's explanation of his incomprehensible behaviour and why he loved only our lady all along. I have to say that Fredrick made a lot more sense than some of the explanations I've heard in my day.

So, even though this is a story that hundreds (maybe thousands) of romances are based on - years ago I saw a movie adaptation and was thoroughly bored. Me being bored by a romance sound uncharacteristic, but seriously - it was completely, 100%, BORING. And when I read the book, it became extremely clear why I was bored and why it didn't make a good movie. This is also the reason why Jane Austen would have been slaughtered (of course I'm thinking of those darlings on fanstory.com who enjoy ripping up hopeful authors for their own gratification and to satisfy their own intellectual superiority). Of course, I'm referring to the way the entire novel is written. She's 'telling' the story instead of 'showing' the story. This is a grave sin on fanstory.
There are probably less than 30 direct quotes from Anne (our main girl) in the entire book. And she's not the only one who's dialogue is explained rather than quoted. Actually, that's the rule in the book rather than the exception - they would have skinned her alive. And it doesn't stop there - very few of the characters are described in detail (physically), the settings are barely noted, and as I said, there are few direct quotes from anybody. Lady Russell is considered a main character and yet she hardly speaks except she is paraphrased. Instead, the book focuses on the thoughts and situations of Anne and those around her. Needless to say, a girl sitting on a couch and thinking doesn't make a good movie.

I have personally been shocked a number of times as to what is expected of modern authors. A person really needs to draw their reader into a different world and I have to say that - though it's painful to admit - Jane Austen wouldn't be able to cut it if she sent in her manuscript nowadays. They'd tell her to go back to her computer, because every page would have to be reworked. But at the same time - that was HER style of storytelling. Isn't it rough that a person can't tell a story in their own words, but instead have to style it after a proven formula? Bah!