I’ve always professed a love for Jane Austen’s novels, but I admit that, at first, my love was feigned. Before college, I loved to be seen reading Jane. I did genuinely enjoy Emma and Pride and Prejudice, but often the effort outweighed the joy.
In the last few years, though, I’ve found myself devouring Jane Austen’s books. I can hardly believe I once struggled through them! Now, I find myself laughing aloud and struggling to put them down.
What changed?
A few things. First of all, the more difficult books you read early on, the more easily you will read difficult books later in life. As a child, I forced myself to read books I didn’t fully understand. Somehow, I knew it would be good for me. From age thirteen onward, I forced my way into the fellowship of George Eliot, William Thackeray, Oscar Wilde, Gaston Leroux, the Brontës, and Jane Austen. Often, I had to reread pages to understand what was happening. Even then, I only grasped the most basic narrative details, completely overlooking the nuance I delight in now.
But this habit undoubtedly built up my stamina over time. The books that once were a self-appointed chore have become old favorites, and the authors I could barely understand have become lifelong companions.
What about now, though? We can hardly go back in time and read classic literature as children. How, then, can we go about diving into the classics as adults? Here are a few tips that have helped me rediscover the joys of Jane Austen in particular. I hope you’ll apply them as you find useful and come to revel in her cleverness, romance, humor, and wisdom.
1. Read it aloud.
In college, my peers adapted Pride and Prejudice as a play. It worked tremendously well, likely because Austen’s dialogue so naturally lends itself to dramatic reading. If you find the words on the page swimming before your eyes and dizzying your mind, slow down. Read the dialogue aloud. It will help you focus and bring even older styles of speech to life.
2. Try an audiobook.
Spotify has free audiobook versions of Austen’s novels and I’ve enjoyed several this year already. The readers capture the inflection of the different characters, which is helpful in keeping track of them and understanding their various personalities and motivations. Plus, it’s lovely to have an eighteen hour audiobook to keep one company rather than continually searching for podcasts, etc.
3. Laugh.
If something seems funny in Jane Austen’s books, it probably is. Her sense of humor is truly timeless. If reading Austen’s work becomes more drudgery than delight, you may be taking it too seriously. Yes, her books packed with wisdom and insight. However, they also capture the ironies and follies of realistic human beings. Put simply, they are hilarious.
4. Watch the movie first.
Call me crazy, but watching film adaptations of Austen’s books helped me understand their plots enough ahead of time to navigate her writing even as a teenager. While you should try to find the best versions available to you (I’ll leave debating over versions to more serious Janeites than I), watching a decent adaptation can be helpful. My personal favorite is actually the 2020 Emma movie because I love Johnny Flynn’s (Mr. Knightley) music and can’t pass on anything featuring Miranda Hart (Ms. Bates). Plus, the soundtrack is just *chef’s kiss* perfection.
5. Read with a buddy.
Reading Jane Austen in college was especially impactful and enjoyable because I did so in a cohort of other literature students. We shared each other’s rage at Miss Bingley, disgust toward Wickham, and sympathy for Mr. Darcy. Reading is, by nature, a solitary endeavor, but it can be more fun (and more fruitful) in community.
Ryanne Molinari 