Beethoven, 24 Variations, WoO 65. Played by Mikhail Pletnev.
This is the fifth novel by Jane Austen that I've read. The others I've read are Pride and prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. Of the five, I'd probably rank SS last, but it's still a pretty good read. It's just that in comparison to the others, it seems less funny, with less appealing characters. Things aren't helped by the fact that it starts so slowly, and with Marianne Dashwood behaving in such a spoilt and unappealing way. You really wish that her older sister Elinor would tell her to get a grip.
When the focus shifts from Marianne's to Elinor's story, and the two sisters are in happenin' London, things definitely pick up. It's still not hilarious, but it's much more of a page-turner, and the plot continues to twist and turn.
Yes, it's a morality tale, but even the lowest of the low, Willoughby gets a (very atmospheric) redemption scene. If anything, John and Fanny Dashwood are worse because they never come right. Instead, they are always awful: shown up at every turn as mean, ungenerous and selfish. This sounds bad, but Austen's light touch means that you laugh at them because they behave so ridiculously.
This was Austen's first published novel, and perhaps my relative dislike of it is a reflection on her subsequent improvement as her skill developed. I think I should also admit that Austen's pitch was rather queered by the Ang Lee film. Elinor might have come across as a much more interesting person if I hadn't been seeing her as Emma Thompson the whole time. She's middle-aged enough in demeanour and style without having Thompson in my head too.
This is a big fat issue of the literary magazine, with lots of good stuff in it. Particular highlights for me were:
An excerpt from Janice Galloway's novel, Clara, about the life of Clara Schumann (née Wieck). I'd usually be pretty suspicious of this sort of thing, and demand a proper biography instead, but the two extracts I've read of this book (the other was in a recent issue of the BBC Music Magazine), have been appealing and well-written.
An account by Alan Rusbridger (editor of the Guardian) of his attempts to learn and play the piano. He writes well about wanting to be able to play things that aren't too difficult, and just occasionally have things sound good. (The extract on the web-site is a good sample.)
W. Stanley Moss, Ill met by moonlight.
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