Jane Austen Centre, Bath

Jane Austen Centre, Bath

Jane Austen Centre, Bath

Bath: The Assembly Rooms

Bath: The Circus and Royal Crescent

These pictures are great. I spent a wet afternoon in Bath back in August,1997. I was with my surly 15 year old daughter who continues to resist my efforts to get her to read Austen. When she was in high school I tried to pay her to read Pride and Prejudice - to no avail.

Well, Austen isn't for everybody, it seems, and you can at least take comfort in the fact that she wasn't for Mark Twain, either! (In fact, as Voltaire and Tolstoy can attest, not even Shakespeare is for everybody ...)

My photos are from 2009 ... time for a refresher visit, perhaps!

Very true. She discovered Mary McCarthey on her own but she doesn't seem to read anything from the Nineteenth Century.

I'd meant to tell you how much I loved your pictures! Sorry I took so long. Traveling to Austen sites is on my list of things to do...which gets longer all the time!

Reply to post #40 (show post):
Hehe. What a good thing Austen only wrote six novels (plus a bit of juvenalia and her letters, of course ... :) ) -- what a good thing, in fact, that MANY authors' universes focus on a limited number/circle of geographical locations! I try to include visits to places associated with famous British novels or authors on every trip to Great Britain ... have come to the somewhat scary realization, though, that even if I had another lifetime I wouldn't be able to visit them all. -- Thank you for your kind words.

The Jane Austen Centre in Bath is one of those places I'd particularly highly recommend, in any event; the amount of information about Austen's world, and the loving way in which that information is presented, is just extraordinary. (Plus, they have a very nice tea shop on the top floor ...)

@Grashopper: I'd say if she's reading at all and has discovered Mary McCarthey on her own, there is still hope ...

Reply to post #41 (show post):
My first action on arriving will be to visit Baker St....then we have to see. But the Jane Austen Centre in Bath is high on that list. I also dream of seeing the British Museum and Oxford (the Bodleian is calling me!).

@ Grasshopper: I agree with Themis-Athena. It may simply be a matter of waiting and letting her discover it on her own. My mom pressed Caddie Woodlawn on me and I refused. Then I read it on my own...and had to admit she was right. Also, while Austen is good at any age, I will say I enjoy her more the older I get.

Reply to post #42 (show post):
I definitely agree about Austen -- I've only come to appreciate her more and more over the course of the years. Sort of like Shakespeare ...

For a visit to Baker Street, plan for at least 30 minutes' worth of wait in front of the building (in the street). The rooms are tiny and fairly cramped (which kind of drives home just how well Holmes and Watson must have gotten along -- there wasn't a whole lot of space to avoid each other inside the apartment, at least by our standards!); so the museum folks only ever let in new people (some 5-15 at a time) once a sufficiently large number of others have concluded their visit and come back out.

Best view of the Radcliffe Camera (the most spectacular building belonging to the Bodleian, but whom am I telling this) is from the top of St. Mary's church tower! Absolutely stunning.

And as for a visit to the British Museum, plan a full day at least ... (seriously, it's one of those places. Like the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum in NY -- but you probably know that anyway as well!)

Reply to post #43 (show post):
Yeah, I could spend a day at basically any museum...so the British Museum will probably be when the doors open till when they close.

I've heard Baker St. was small. I hate crowds...but I'll brave them for that! I also hate heights but I do want to climb and look out over Oxford as a whole, not just the building. I want to go in and smell the books and do a bit of personal research, if they'd let me. All those books make me tear up. I also desperately want to ride on a punt! (Yes, I'm afraid I'm going to be horribly touristy. I feel a little shame...but not enough to not desperately want to do it!)

I was comparing Austen to wine with my mother but I believe the better illustration would be your tastes changing as you get older. I find her work gets better as I age.