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[TL]

I noticed that on rare occasion, your annotations carried over onto the next page--or else you referred to a future page to add additional information. How difficult was it to limit yourself to the confines of a page? Did you feel, in the end, you had explored Austen's world sufficiently for the title, or did you feel you could have completed another book?

[DavidShapard]

It definitely was hard to keep within page confines, at least for some pages (there were many pages where I didn't have so much to say). Overall, arrangement and layout was one of the biggest challenges of the book. It is much easier, regarding this aspect, to write a normal book that is one continuous stream, in which therefore you can add as much material as you like, and wherever you like it.

The novel, laid out on one side, provided a very strict structure to follow, and there were many pages where I had a lot more to say than could fit on the facing page. At the same time, I did not want to solve the problem, in the manner of some annotated books, by having an annotation begin on a later page, since that can make finding the note hard for the reader. In the end I just had to work through each page where this happened, solving the problem by some combination of letting the last annotation continue on the next page (when space was available there), transferring a note to another place in the book where it was also appropriate (and then using the cross references you mention), paring down the wording of the notes to make them more concise, and eliminating a note I felt was not so essential.

In the end I did feel I had provided enough information and analysis to justify the title, for there was a lot of material - though of course others could always disagree. It's inevitably a subjective judgment. I also feel I could have written another book about Austen's world, but it would have been a different project. What I did does not provide as much information as some books about her, but it does provide it in a particular format that can be useful. All of which shows that there is room for many different books on the subject.

[Laurel]

I've worked through the first four chapters and think you have done a masterly job. The cross-referencing you did was not easy, either, I know!

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DavidShapard wrote:
It definitely was hard to keep within page confines, at least for some pages (there were many pages where I didn't have so much to say). Overall, arrangement and layout was one of the biggest challenges of the book. It is much easier, regarding this aspect, to write a normal book that is one continuous stream, in which therefore you can add as much material as you like, and wherever you like it.

The novel, laid out on one side, provided a very strict structure to follow, and there were many pages where I had a lot more to say than could fit on the facing page. At the same time, I did not want to solve the problem, in the manner of some annotated books, by having an annotation begin on a later page, since that can make finding the note hard for the reader. In the end I just had to work through each page where this happened, solving the problem by some combination of letting the last annotation continue on the next page (when space was available there), transferring a note to another place in the book where it was also appropriate (and then using the cross references you mention), paring down the wording of the notes to make them more concise, and eliminating a note I felt was not so essential.

In the end I did feel I had provided enough information and analysis to justify the title, for there was a lot of material - though of course others could always disagree. It's inevitably a subjective judgment. I also feel I could have written another book about Austen's world, but it would have been a different project. What I did does not provide as much information as some books about her, but it does provide it in a particular format that can be useful. All of which shows that there is room for many different books on the subject.

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[sethsma05]

As a first time reader of P&P, and reading annotations new to me, I think this is a great format, and your annotations add so much to my understanding of the characters and I really feel like I'm getting it. I've been reading each page once, reading the annotations, and rereading the page and I am getting so much more understanding than I normally would. Having the annotations on the opposite page is so reader friendly, and I'm a big fan of the book already, and I'm still reading the early chapters. Can't wait to see what happens next!

[Jansten75]

The format of the book with the annotations on the opposite page is so convenient. It allows for very little interruption to the story. Having comments and insights into Jane's seemingly ordinary statements so close to hand gives immediate understanding and appreciation for the subtlety of her writing. I really love this format for the depth of understanding to be gained from her stories. It is a great book for introducing someone to her writing who may not appreciate or know the history behind her simple statements.