The Jane Austen Book Club

By: Karen Joy Fowler

Narrated by: Kimberly Schraf

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

A sublime comedy of contemporary manners, this is the novel Jane Austen might well have written had she lived in 21st century California.

Six Californians join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her finely sighted eye for the frailties of human behavior and her finely tuned ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.

Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.

©2004 Karen Joy Fowler (P)2004 Listen and Live Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This exquisite novel is bigger and more ambitious than it appears. It's that rare book that reminds us what reading is all about." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Sly wit, quirky characters, and digressive storytelling....Like Austen, Fowler is a subversive wit and a wise observer of human interaction of all stripes." (Publishers Weekly)

It passed the time

I have lower expectations for audiobooks. I expect them to help me pass the time driving, cleaning, sorting laundry, running on the treadmill, etc. This book did a good job of that. I didn't have to think too hard and the story was benign. I don't think I'd ever recommend it to anyone as a book they must read as there wasn't much story, the characters were underdeveloped, and there wasn't near enough Jane Austen. However, it was pleasant, I kept listening, and it didn't last too long. If you put it in the 'light read/listen' category instead of with the likes of Jane Austen it is missable but decent. There were times that the narrator was irritating but not enough to avoid anything else read by her.

well written; not well read

The Jane Austin Book Club is beautifully crafted. Interwoven stories of the club members construct a community that is compelling for me as a reader to enter into. Their stories are framed by Jane Austin's to make a socially and historically textured world. The characters are eccentric and the author's descriptive sensibilities are surprising at times and hip. However, the narrator's sing song inflection and high pitch is annoyingly inappropriate for the text. I had to fight against it to enjoy the book.

So-so

I love Jane Austen, and I've been in a book group, and so I looked forward to this book. I did not enjoy it. I found that I cared little for the characters - I just wasn't interested in their lives - I guess I didn't want to know them. Having said that, the author has a wonderful, wry humor - I just wish her characters were different.

Tried to like it, but couldn't

I'm a big Jane Austen fan and I thought this book would bring her works into a more contemporary setting. The book started out slow, but I figured it would get better as it progressed. Unfortunately it didn't. There were snippets of each Jane Austen book and the themes were reflected in each chapter, but the whole concept didn't mesh very well. Too choppy at times as each character's story was being told. I had a hard time keeping everything straight. The narrator's voice didn't help either. She sounded condescending at certain points and just plain annoying the rest of the time. I'd like to give it another try, so I'll probably read it rather than listen to it.

Book good, narration not so much

I like the story, but I think the narrator's tone is much too arch for the material. Her reading distracts from the story, alas.

Don't--unless you REALLY love Jane Austin's books

Typical Jane Austin stuff. Not funny, hard to follow and contrived.

Eh-- so so

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, it was a good story...a bit too much backstory that went into every new chapter

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Her voice was monotone

Could you see The Jane Austen Book Club being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I did see the movie and LOVED it ten time better the book

Jane Austen Book Club

I am a Jane Austen fan both books and films. When I first started reading The Jane Austen Book Club I couldn’t get into it. After seeing the film I thought I should give the book another try. I liked it better for having seen the film.

Disappointing

I was pulled in by the Jane Austen name; I thought the writing would be at least "Austenish." I found myself in a hurry to be finished with it instead of enjoying the process.

Austen and Romance in the 21st Century

Kimberly Schraf tells this story as she was gossiping about some absent acquaintances and their doings. She sounds a bit like a gossipy old cat. I am a bit puzzled at myself: I like her. Maybe that is what the book is, a scandal sheet. Yes, I enjoyed it. After all, for years I have had my own little Jane Austen fan club with a membership of one. Ok, I am not going to tell anybody that I actually enjoy books based on Jane Austen and her works to say nothing of her books. I am a big, tough, guy from somewhere along the bayous of Louisiana who has actually read "Lover's Vows", the play that wasn't performed in "Mansfield Park". Just between us, I am a sucker for anything Austen. Like Griggs and Catherine Morland, I have finished "The Mysteries of Udolpho" as well as "The Italian" and even a synopsis of the books in the Northanger Canon. Along with Marianne Dashwood and Anne Eliot, I am qualified to give an opinion on whether "The Lady of the Lake" or "Marmion" is superior. One wouldn't want that kind information getting out, if one has to live here you know.

Now, I wouldn't be caught dead in public with this book but on my Zune...who will ever know? One doesn't have to be a complete Austen nutcase to enjoy this book but it doesn't hurt. It took a while to write a review because the author was hard to pin down. As the synopsis states, the author is very witty but her book is not about Austen. It is cute stories about divorce, marriage, jobs, romance, kids, dogs and whatever comes out of the hat. At the same time, one is surprised how relevant Austen can be after 200 years. I even enjoyed the adventures of the lesbian member of this club. Tender homosexual love scenes are book closers for me but that is not what Karen Joy Fowler did here. She went for lesbian sky diving, rock climbing, broken bones incidents. PS, the movie isn't bad either but the book is better.