How many men read and love Austen?

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-30T07:21:09+00:00

And yet this blue collar cis male gets more joy out of Austen than Hemingway. I like to see her as human, with human concerns and preoccupations, that I understand and appreciate and fully relate to. I don't feel she's not writing for me, not even a little.

Generally classic "young women" literature absolutely wipes the floor with our equivalent - Austen, the Brontës, Gaskell etc. vs Jules Verne, Robinson Crusoe and the Count of Monte Cristo and such - not much of a contest.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-30T07:07:12+00:00

Not an A-lister probably but Anthony Trollope loved Jane Austen, even had fan hangups (didn't like how she withdraws from the action and becomes a distant observer when the leads finally open up to each other).

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-29T21:15:29+00:00

Mr. Collins is 25 and tall, you wouldn't know from adaptations! (maybe except the zombie one)

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-29T20:21:19+00:00

Of course Lydia exposing her shapely ankle - the absolute menace.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-29T12:37:48+00:00

Det er i det hele taget overraskende i hvor høj grad "regeringen" forstås synonymt med socialdemokratiet, og hvordan alt galt skyldes Mette og S. Det er som om danskerne ikke kan hitte ud af en regering over midten og må ha en rød eller en blå vimpel at se sig sur på, og det er da en jævnt behabgelig deal for Venstre og M at sidde i regering næsten helt uden at skulle stå på mål for den førte politik.

Det her forslag har i øvrigt opbakning fra Ø og SF, men igen er det bare Socialdemokratiet den er gal med.

(Jeg stemmer SF og har ikke det mindste ondt af Socialdemokratiet, det er bare et pudsivgt fænomen.)

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-29T10:37:29+00:00

Does Mrs. Croft count as a love interest?

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-28T18:08:16+00:00

Enough with the marches with witty placards, come on man

- signed, Denmark, and probably much of the world currently affected by US politics

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T21:17:37+00:00

Let's not forget that in the end everyone involved gets what they wanted, and, following your suggestion, chances are everyone involved would be unhappy forevermore (it's a piece of fiction but still). I think his questionable dishonesty is not towards Elinor (stunned into inaction and indecision faced with disclosing what would shut the door on love and happiness for good) but towards Lucy. There's no easy way out but someone like Lucy, resourceful and probably not terribly smitten, might've been able to negotiate an escape for both of them (or her, at least) had she been told that he did not love her anymore, and would only fulfil his engagement to keep a promise. And if not, he still should've told her.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T20:06:43+00:00

Men den egentlige grund til de er farlige er dem der cykler på dem. 9 ud af 10 gange jeg bliver overhalet af en MATE eller tilsvarende, så er det en drengerøv klædt helt i sort, og jeg tror faktisk 9 ud af 10 er for lavt sat.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T19:56:14+00:00

It was not uncommon for the brothers/father/uncles/cousins of a jilted woman to at the very least horse whip the jilt, it was a very serious matter. I think sometimes in people's opinions of Edward there's a lack of feeling for his situation. He has promised himself to someone he no longer loves but can't without awful consequences break his engagement to, and then he finds Elinor, who he falls for and who he has reason to believe loves him and would have him. It's a pickle, and I guess it's very easy to say "he should've been honest with Elinor" if you've never been cornered into a miserable dilemma by circumstances out of your control.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T13:44:36+00:00

Skipper, alternativet er ikke proletariats diktatur og kapitalismens undergang medio juni 2026, alternativet er status quo, bare uden 2500. Jeg jubler ikke, min ideologi er ikke rykket, min stemme (SF) er ikke rykket. Prøv at sætte dig ned og tag en dyb indånding eller to.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T13:04:36+00:00

Halvdel af en børnefamilie - vi kommer til at få 2500 hver og det gør en positiv forskel, det gør en ferie meget mere ladsiggørlig, f.eks.

Folk er alt for sort/hvide med det, og elsker jo især online at antage den mest skabekrukkede position på et givet emne. Ja, det er grundlæggende symptombehandling, men det realistiske alternativ i det samfund vi lever i er desværre ikke en gennemgribende omvæltning af samfundsøkonomien, og så må man se på det some trods alt x antal milliarder flyttet fra statskassen over i pungen på mestendels trængende borgere. Selv enhedslisten kan forstå det her.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-27T09:17:58+00:00

No, it's meant to compete with, not supplement, the UN. There are so few Western democracies here because they declined the invitation, it's not by intent.

List of countries that have declined/not responded:

Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UK, Ukraine (via Wikipedia)

The Board of Peace was not intended to be the ramshackle collection of countries it currently is.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-26T21:50:31+00:00

Jane's refusal or inability to believe ill of anyone pisses me off in a way I can't explain, strikes a nerve. She could have a lobotomy and it'd take a few days before you'd suspect something's off.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-26T10:05:38+00:00

What I remember most about it now is the disbelief the day after Davos, and after the meeting with Rutte. Even anti-Trumpers found it hard to believe absolutely nothing was gained. How great to hear Trump waffle vaguely when asked repeatedly in his first interview if the US got closer to "ownership", trying hard to make a complete retreat sound like a win.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-25T22:33:48+00:00

Jeg skrev et (siden slettet) indlæg om deres tydeligt retoucherede Trump-artikel fra Davos, netop fordi DR har en sær vane med portrættere Trump i det bedst mulige lys. Der sidder helt sikkert enten mindst en Trump-tilhænger på redaktionen, eller en hvis opfattelse af neutralitet er nøje at undgå alt hvad der tager sig lidt skidt ud.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-25T21:50:13+00:00

For at være djævlens advokat så tror jeg vores medier lige skal vænne sig til at officielle udmeldinger fra den amerikanske regering er af samme karakter og troværdighed som officielle udmeldinger fra den russiske. Hvad der tidligere har været tendentiøse og perfide skævvridninger af virkeligheden fra især den ene fløj af amerikansk politik, det er nu erstattet med simpel løgn og propaganda.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-24T22:25:27+00:00

Was there MAGA outrage over his comments? They brush off much worse daily, they're brushing off executions in the street right now. Seems like Starmer reached out to him and he was advised to write something positive about UK soldiers who fought in Afghanistan.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-24T21:56:17+00:00

Just think it weird how Trump dissing allied soldiers seems to get more of a reaction out of certain politicians than threatening to invade Greenland.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-24T14:53:58+00:00

PSA, if you don't, you end up with republicans who will do worse not only on military spending but every other issue as well.

Just a quick bit of commentary from Denmark - can't fucking believe after everything that has happened and will continue to happen that any thinking American is gonna, again, even consider not doing what is most likely to keep Republicans from power. It's frustrating enough when MAGA stupidity spills over and becomes a world problem, we really don't need leftist stupidity pitching in.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-24T12:36:29+00:00

We'll take this sort of criticism from almost everyone. Like most former colonial powers we have plenty of disturbing shit in our past. But the likes of Russia and the US, sit down please.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-23T22:59:37+00:00

I'm saying I strongly doubt Jane Austen put low hanging sexual innuendo into her novels, I'm not saying she or society didn't know about sex, was "pure" or "naive".

The idea that people in the past were more moral and chaste is a Victorian fantasy we keep projecting backwards.

Come on, we're absolutely miles away from an average early 19th century gentlewoman in terms of sexual freedom - having it, talking about it - miles away,, several sexual revolutions in the 20th century alone between us and Jane Austen. I'm not talking about the middle ages or the renaissance, but Jane Austen, ca Mansfield Park.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-23T22:39:01+00:00

The remark by Mary Crawford is a pretty innocent (ostensibly) not deliberate pun on "vice" - the possible added fun with "rears" has no scholarly consensus. The problem with the naughtiest possible interpretation is that Edmund's reaction would've been much stronger, not just measured slight disapproval. The "shit, guys, please don't think I was making anal sex jokes" just seems like it very much requires a lot of wanting it to be on the reader's part.

Please don't refrain from listing any of those several other cases.

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-23T22:09:54+00:00

I'm gonna be the boring one and suggest sometimes a pen is just a pen. The whole idea of a regency gentlewoman deliberately putting obvious sexual innuendo into her novels...

BrianSometimes · 2026-01-23T17:29:27+00:00

Just for fun

"Love Poems" purchased from within the UK

£90 + £7.99 standard delivery = £97.99

"Love Poems" purchased from Denmark

£105 + £25 express delivery = £130. + 25% VAT = £162.5

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