Jane Austen

I started reading Jane Austen because I liked Patrick O'Brian, and several people on the newsgroup rec.arts.books said that O'Brian's writing reminded them of Jane Austen. I would rank Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion as my favorites, followed by Pride and Prejudice, with Emma and Mansfield Park bringing up the rear. All were good, though, and I expect to re-read all of them with great pleasure.

I don't know whether the link between Jane Austen's world and Patrick O'Brian's was premeditated, but Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin definitely seem to inhabit the same world as Austen's characters. Admirals and Post-Captains abound at the periphery of Austen's books, and to that extent, O'Brian's work seems quite complementary to Austen's.

Incidentally, all of Austen's books are available on the Web. See The On-Line Books Page, or the sites cataloged by Yahoo.

Books by Jane Austen

• Northanger Abbey

• Mansfield Park

Reviews: 1 February 1997

• Persuasion

Reviews: 1 January 1999

• Pride and Prejudice

Reviews: 1 January 1999, 1 June 2000, 1 June 2001, 1 August 2004

• Sense and Sensibility

Reviews: 1 January 2000

• Emma