Book Discussion: Sanditon by Jane Austen

Jane Austen was ill with what some believe was Addison's disease and she succumbed before completing Sanditon. I normally would not want to read a novel that does not have an ending, but since it is Jane Austen, and since there are plenty of continuations that I could pick up to keep it going, I decided it would be a fun excursion from my review pile.

Laurel Ann at Austenprose is discussing Chapters 1 through 4 today. You can find a synopsis and musings and the discussion via that link. Instead of monopolizing their comment form, I wanted to add my thoughts to my own blog to complement my mini comments that I may leave there, and hope to encourage others to join in the discussion.

I was lucky enough to have a copy of Sanditon which is within a combined novels edition. I was dismayed, however, to find that Sanditon is not formatted at all like a normal book. There is not a single line break or a break for paragraph; no structure after one speaks. There are a lot of   ' and - within the text. It gives one the air of being rushed through the narration and the dialogue one after the other. I had no idea how attached I was to an edited book. Instead of writing out the surname, there were abbreviations.

There are also a lot of Capitalized Letters. Although I can understand some of the usage in the following:
- Beauty, Sweetness, Poverty and Dependance, do not want the imagination of a man to operate upon. With due exceptions - Woman feels for Woman very promptly and compassionately.

If I can concentrate and focus on the story without being distracted by the "unedited" things, I was quite amused at the story so far through the first 4 Chapters. Sanditon being a seaside resort and the amiable Mr Parker being quite vested in it was eager to share it with one and all along with the benefits of the sea air. He brings along Miss Charlotte to Sanditon whose family he met along the road. Ends Chapter 4.

The very thing of Austen are the subtle witty humorous ways where she pokes fun at others with the characters she writes of, and the overall effect leaves you with a smile. I found it adorable the way Mr Parker met the Heywoods after his carriage broke down, and those Heywoods with fourteen children.. my goodness.. never left their home but sure were eager to let their children leave.. reminds me of my own temperament. Of course there are a few more characters but the Parkers and Heywoods were the main attraction so far.

Join along the rest of the discussion at Austenprose, it is a quick read.