A Welcome from David Shapard [ Edited ]

[DavidShapard]

Dear Readers,

I look forward to hearing what people have to say about Pride and Prejudice, and about my annotated version. Jane Austen is one of the world’s great novelists, one who can be appreciated for so many different things, for her humor, her romance, her insights into human nature, her moral lessons, her artistry in presenting the story. The list could go on.

One point that strikes me about Pride and Prejudice is that it presents a society very different from our own, but still shows human emotions and conflicts that are very recognizable today, and that speak powerfully to current readers.

In my own work I’ve tried, among other things, to help the reader understand better the alien features of that society. My hope is that this will make the novel speak even more powerfully to readers.

Please write in. I will be happy to answer any kind of question, and I feel confident that there will be plenty for people to discuss.

David M. Shapard

Message Edited by Bill_T on 06-06-2007 03:59 PM

[ccote]

I love reading Jane AUsten and delving into a world of proprieties, manners and suppressed human emotions. I enjoy the freedoms that today's society has for women, but I wonder what we have also lost in throwing off the social mores and roles of the past. Additionally, I wanted to ask, who in Austen's time would have read her books. Men, women, only the upper crust?
Thanks

[leorockas3]

Dear David,

You have not answered my suggestion about "prepossession" p. 384. My email is leorockas@msn.com