Anger Management

So, I'm sure I caught your attention with my title, but I'm sorry to disappoint you all. I'm not going to any anger management program, or do I need to. However, I do find myself get angry very easily by articles I read on line nowadays. I might need some kind of help after all. And that is precisely why I have a blog. Expressing myself (that's another word for 'venting'; it just sounds fancier and more modern) about issues that I'm thinking, and that you might find very annoying or uninteresting, is a way I get rid of my anger. I encounter anger when I read what various politicians, journalists, celebrities, and writers say about topics that interest me. However, I have to admit that I really get truly angry when I read articles that are not written well, with lots of assumptions and badly expressed.

A few days ago, Elijah sent me an article from the LDS Living magazine dealing with the question of why do LDS women read Jane Austen more than the women in the rest of the country. Please read the article here. The article starts by noticing an interesting fact that a newly published biography of Jane Austen has been sold more in Salt Lake City than in any other city in the country by a ratio of 8 to 1. That was interesting to me since I thought Jane Austen was well liked and read throughout the world.

I'm thinking why that is while I'm reading the article, and then as I continue to read the article I can't think anymore because I'm baffled by what I'm reading. Elijah kept laughing at how animated and angry I got by this simple article. Well, let me explain why I was going off my deep end. One of the people who had been interviewed to throw some light in this 8 to 1 dilemma was Aspen Anderson, the Utah Regional Coordinator of the Jane Austen Society of North America. I know nothing about this woman, but her comments made me angry. I realize that she was trying to send a good message about the LDS women and our standards, but it was over the top. Basically, she said that the reason why LDS women read Jane Austen is that we can relate to the nobility of their standards. Oh, this is what really got me :

"For instance, the famous (and comical) opening line of Pride and Prejudice essentially explains the LDS belief in marriage: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that, a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife.” From an LDS perspective, any worthy man who is valiant in his testimony of the gospel is indeed “in possession of good fortune,” and should prepare to be married and to establish a family."

Everything she says in her comments about LDS women is true. We do uphold high standards of behaviour and live by high principles. Nevertheless, this has nothing to do why we read Jane Austin.

Why do I read Jane Austin? I read Jane Austin because she is funny, witty, and her characters are unforgettable in their principles and flaws. I read Jane Austin because she is easy and exciting to read, and makes me happy. I like to read Jane Austin because to me her books are more of a comedy of manners of the British society at that time rather than a philosophical essay on how to live and love. And as for upholding their standards, I would rather not compare myself to any of the characters. Even the most beloved of all of Jane Austen's characters, Elisabeth Bennet, finds herself falling in love with the haughty Darcy after she enters his house and grounds. Why do you read Jane Austen?

Let's get back to the article's question? Why do you think LDS women read Jane Austen more than the rest of the country? Some of the ideas I was thinking were that we have been taught to read good and wholesome books and there is so much trash out there that Jane Austen is what we always fall back. Also, because of our religious beliefs that teach us to marry for time and eternity, that maybe we are more prone to romance, and what better romance than Pride and Prejudice to read on those lonely nights of dreaming for our Mr. Right. Another idea I thought was the fact that most of us do stay home and being unscathed by the harsh realities of today's mean world, still cherish the ideals of love and home. So, simply put, I don't think we read Jane Austen because we identify with her characters or find our principles paralleled in her books, but because we like good, wholesome, simple to read, romantic books, and Jane Austen has provided us with a few good novels which fulfill that desire in us.

What do you think?