Dancing with Mr. Darcy: Stories Inspired by Jane Austen and Chawton House Library

Sarah Waters

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Traumatized by her parents’ decision to give up the rectory in Hampshire where she grew up, Austen had been unable to write for ten years. During that time she moved from one rented property to…
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Издательство: HarperCollins Publishers

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Lotiel

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Эксперт Лайвлиба

1 марта 2016 г. 01:06

164

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Нельзя вот так просто пройти мимо книжки с такой обложкой. Хотя бы заглянуть, что там внутри, нужно обязательно.

Оказалось, там внутри - лучшие рассказы из поданных на конкурс имени и во славу Джейн Остин и её дома-музея (Chawton House). Дом этот - место паломничества дай-хард фанатов мистера Дарси Великой Джейн. Там можно лицезреть (и, возможно, даже украдкой пощупать) книги, которые она читала, стол, за которым она писала, окно, сквозь которое она смотрела на мир вечно ироничным взглядом, и так далее. И я когда-нибудь туда доберусь, быть может, хотя посмотреть на мир через окно Джейн Остин можно и другими способами.

Что и пытались сделать участницы этого конкурса рассказов. Среди членов жюри была сама Сара Уотерс, которая в предисловии написала, что оценивала поданные работы по трем…

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In celebration of the bicentenary of Jane Austen’s arrival at Chawton in Hampshire, the Jane Austen Short Story Award 2009 Competition was sponsored by the Jane Austen House Museum and Chawton House Library. Dancing with Mr. Darcy is a collection of winning entries from the competition. Comprising twenty stories inspired by Jane Austen and or Chawton Cottage, they include the grand prize winner Jane Austen over the Styx, by Victoria Owens, two runners up Jayne, by Kristy Mitchell and Second Thoughts, by Elsa A. Solender, and seventeen short listed stories chosen by a panel of judges and edited by author and Chair of Judges Sarah Waters.

Since the publication of her first novel Sense and Sensibility in 1811, Jane Austen’s works have been cherished by many for a variety of reasons. Some value her astute characterizations and biting wit, others her craft of language and social reproof. If my life-long admiration is any measure of my own flux in “favorite” characters, themes or stories over the years, then I am not surprised that my choice of grand prize and runners up from this collection are different from the august panel of judges. Firstly, there were many fine stories in the collection. Secondly, which ones would Jane Austen choose?

Here is my breakdown of stories by star rating: 3 with 5 stars, 9 with 4 stars, 5 with 3 stars, 3 with 2 stars and 0 with 1 star. This was based on my first impression; I did not reread them. On analyzing my selection of 5 star stories, I found that they all had strong connections to Austen or her characters, were told in a simple and straightforward narrative, and either made me laugh or pulled at my heart. In short, they used some of the same techniques that make Austen’s writing so special. Here are my three 5 star story choices:

Grand Prize: Second Thoughts, by Elsa A. Solender

Poignantly told from Jane Austen’s perspective, we experience her acceptance and eventual rejection in 1802 of wealthy suitor Harris Bigg-Wither of Manydown Park. Torn between her need for financial independence and their unsuitability, Jane ultimately decides “that a marriage without affection can hardly be an agreeable enterprise.”

Runner Up: Eight Years Later, by Elaine Grotefeld

Mirroring Persuasion’s theme of finding the love that you thought you had lost, this story of a young school boy’s hidden regard for his teacher who because of their age difference and positions must remain unrequited. She loves Jane Austen, so over the years he reads her novels over and over to feel connected to her. He is “half agony, half hope” until their fateful reunion.

Runner Up: The Jane Austen Hen Weekend, by Clair Humphries

Four dear friends, two days and one country house should equal a joyous celebration by way of a carefully planned Jane Austen themed hen weekend, but disaster arrives with a sick child, an overflowing toilet and all around apathy at Regency distractions such as whist and the pianoforte, until a plumber arrives to save the day with more skills than expected.

Overall, this collection offered a few real gems, a few disappointing surprises, and solid array of creative inspirations that had nothing to do with dancing with Mr. Darcy. I don’t mind. Dancing might be a charming amusement considered one of the first refinements of polished societies, but, “Every savage can dance.”

The winner of the competition is the first story in the anthology: Jane Austen Over the Styx by Victoria Owens, where we find Austen in Hades, before the “court of the dead” expecting to address her “faults” in life [think her wicked tongue, her accepting-rejecting Bigg-Wither, etc], and instead facing the likes of Mrs. Bennet, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mrs. Ferrars, Mrs. Churchill, Lady Russell and Mrs. Norris! – her creations all – the crime? “her willful portrayal of female characters of advanced years, as a snob, a scold, or a harpy who selfishly or manipulatively interferes with the happiness of an innocent third party” [p. 11] – and invoking the words of the great Austen critic DW Harding himself with his theories of “regulated hatred”, Jane is brought to task – an inspired story and great fun! [and you must read it to find if Jane is deemed guilty or not, and how she indeed defends herself! – and of course, it is such a delight to see and hear Mrs. Norris again!]]

JASNA’s own Elsa Solender shared runner- up status with her Second Thoughts – which in Austen’s own voice, following her accepting the marriage proposal of Harris Bigg-Wither, tells of the agonizing decision to tell him the next morning “we should not suit” – it is beautifully conveyed and one feels that Ms. Solender captures exactly what happened that night.

Jayne, by Kirsty Mitchell, also a runner-up, tells of a young woman of a literary bent, struggling to survive at all costs, working as a soft-porn nude model, all the while quoting Shakespeare and knowing full well she must “if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, [should] conceal it as well as she can” [p. 39, quoting Northanger Abbey] – conveying the 21st-century version of the economic struggles of single females of a certain class…

The twenty stories offer the gamut – some use Austen’s characters in new situations, as Elinor Dashwood Ferrars as a detective [she does after all in Sense & Sensibility hear everyone else’s secrets!] [The Delaford Ladies’ Detective Agency by Elizabeth Hopkinson]; or in Somewhere by Kelly Brendel, where Mrs. Grant of Mansfield Park is given a voice of her own. There are re-tellings of a particular story in a contemporary setting, as in Second Fruits by Stephanie Tillotson, where, as in Persuasion, her characters “experience separation, maturation and second chance.” [p. 201] And likewise in Eight Years Later by Elaine Grotefeld, where a young man visiting Chawton House with his mother plans to reunite with his teenage crush from eight years before – he is, like Captain Wentworth, “half agony, half hope.” [p. 75]

There are several stories with teenage protagonists where Austen either inspires, as in The Watershed by Stephanie Shields, where a found used copy of Pride & Prejudice alleviates family and school stresses, and the young bookworm in Hilary Spiers’s Cleverclogs, who finds that her grandmother’s favorite book Sense & Sensibility is also hers. Or the story that mirrors Austen as in The Oxfam Dress, by Penelope Randall, where a 21st-century Lydia Bennet goes on a shopping spree. Bina, by Andrea Watsmore, tells of a teenage girl who finds that her true love was right there all along [an Emma of sorts]; and in The School Trip [Jacqui Hazell], a young woman finds on visiting Chawton that all ones needs to write is “a little space, a tiny desk and a creaky door.” [p. 212]

And there are a few stories that resonate but don’t fit a category: An older, lonely spinster in We Need to Talk About Mr. Collins by Mary Howell finds that perhaps she didn’t let romance into her life…; an amateur play group putting on a Pride & Prejudice theatrical during a bombing raid in Miss Austen Victorious [Esther Bellamy]; a bridesmaids’ weekend gone completely awry in The Jane Austen Hen Weekend by Claire Humphries; and one of my favorites, One Character in Search of her Love Story Role by Felicity Cowie, where a fictional character in the making pays a call on Jane Bennet and Jane Eyre for some insightful conversation about love and choices!

We seem of late to be surrounded in Austen sequels and prequels and spin-offs and re-tellings with zombies and vampires and sea monsters and all manner of creatures, and while I have often sounded off on these largely because I just want to read Austen “as she was wrote” I do also admit to liking some of them! – but these stories in Dancing with Mr. Darcy are so much more – they take the Jane Austen that we all love and admire and cannot get enough of, and create something new and lovely in her wake – be it a character, an idea, a storyline, or just a feeling – here is Austen as she inspires 21st century writers and it is a gift to all of us. I very much hope that Chawton House Library will offer such a competition every year – this is the true legacy of Jane Austen and such writing should be heartily encouraged.

ISBN: 0061999067, 9780061999062

Год издания: 2010

Язык: Английский

Paperback, 256 pages

Номинант: 2004 г.Премия Энтони (Лучшая критическая или научно-популярная работа)

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Lotiel

Эксперт

Эксперт Лайвлиба

1 марта 2016 г. 01:06

164

4

Нельзя вот так просто пройти мимо книжки с такой обложкой. Хотя бы заглянуть, что там внутри, нужно обязательно.

Оказалось, там внутри - лучшие рассказы из поданных на конкурс имени и во славу Джейн Остин и её дома-музея (Chawton House). Дом этот - место паломничества дай-хард фанатов мистера Дарси Великой Джейн. Там можно лицезреть (и, возможно, даже украдкой пощупать) книги, которые она читала, стол, за которым она писала, окно, сквозь которое она смотрела на мир вечно ироничным взглядом, и так далее. И я когда-нибудь туда доберусь, быть может, хотя посмотреть на мир через окно Джейн Остин можно и другими способами.

Что и пытались сделать участницы этого конкурса рассказов. Среди членов жюри была сама Сара Уотерс, которая в предисловии написала, что оценивала поданные работы по трем…

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12 февраля 2012 г. 22:29

84

5

Actually, I found this book by chance. By a lucky chance. I was surfing the Net for the books by Sarah Waters, as she's one of my favourite female writers. But, as it turned out later, Waters was not the author of this very book. In 2009 there was a competition of short stories held by the Chawton library. Twenty stories were selected among 3000. Sarah Waters was one of the judges of this competition.

To tell the truth, I'm not much of Austen's fan. Frankly speaking, I read only "Sense and sensibility" long ago, and before reading "Dancing with Mr. Darcy" I knew absolutely nothing about Jane Austen's live and very few about her works. Nevertheless, I did enjoy this book. In the opinion of the judges, the best story from the 20 selected is "Jane Austen over the Styx". It's rather good, to…

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