I wish I could say I’ve been an Austen fan forever, that I started at 12 and never looked back, but I’m sort of embarrassed to admit I’m part of the 1995 BBC adaptation wave. I can image how those who were Janeites before felt: that mix of pride and resented ownership that happens when all of a sudden that obscure band you’ve been a fan of for years is suddenly TOP 1 and everyone’s favorite.
I didn’t read Austen in school and only picked up Sense and Sensibility when I was about 17. It was such an awful translation that I completely forgot about it 2 minutes after turning the last page. It had no impact what so ever.
I don’t know if P&P 1995 ran in Portugal before, but I only saw it in 2002 (o the wasted time!) and like half of the world, immediately got hooked. After watching it several times I got the book in English (by that time I had done the ERASMUS programme in Glasgow so was comfortable reading it in the original) and surprise, surprise: it was even better than the series! Then I got the rest of her novels, juvenilia and letters. Then I entered into biographies and afterwards found the fun world of sequels, prequels and inspirations.
So that’s why I have a dedicate Austen shelf, which for the moment shares its space with our assortment of travel-books.
I felt quite isolated in my obsession until I decided to see what the internet could offer. You can never feel alone online, can you? There I discovered the wonderful world of The Republic of Pemberley, which became my online home for many years, and the world-wide Janeite community.
As people around me got used to my wacky obsession with a long-dead lady author, they started to indulge me by giving me JA-related gifts – nice or very old editions of her books, mugs, postcards, etc. Those who travelled started getting me editions of Pride and Prejudice in different languages and I got into it myself. These lovely friends usually bring back great stories of them trying to hunt down Jane Austen in e.g. Seoul or Bucharest.
At the moment, I have Pride & Prejudice in 25 languages: Danish, Greek, Czech, Italian, Turkish, Romanian, Korean, German, Norwegian, Japanese, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), English, Chinese, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Russian, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Farsi, Spanish and Swedish.
Am I crazy or am I crazy? 🙂
I never buy these books online, I either get them on location, through friends or (as it happened with the Farsi edition) through fellow Bookcrossers. I might try Bookmooch soon and see what I can find there.
If you can get me an edition in a language I still don’t have, I’d be more than happy to trade it for a book in your wishlist!
Do you also have dedicated shelves for anything (authors, themes)?
(click the photos to enhance – sorry, some are not as high-quality as I hoped for, I’ll replace them with better ones later)
Multilingual P&P
Other cubes
(the little bottle you see below is a sample of the Waters of Bath)
The Sleepless Reader 
15 comments
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October 1, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Claire (The Captive Reader)
Wow, I’m impressed (and perhaps a tad jealous?). I love the idea of having a home library that has such depth (at least in certain sections – and what better dedicated section to begin with than Jane Austen?).
October 1, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Alex
We also have a little section dedicated to Belgium/Brussels, but not as extensive by far. I think on the long run I’ll have small sections on certain themes we’re interested in, but JA’s will always be the biggest and my favorite 🙂
October 1, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Steph
I love these shelves SO much! And I love that little “waters of Bath” bottle too… I know I bought one myself, but if I remember correctly, I think it somehow leaked in my luggage on my way home, which was a real shame! I guess I’ll just have to travel to Bath again some day and buy another bottle!
I don’t have an entire bookcase devoted to Austen, but I do have a whole shelf that is all Austen-related. I may just have to take a picture of it and feature it in a post, now that you’ve inspired me! Great idea!
October 1, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Alex
Please do! I’m curious about it now 🙂
Good point about bookcase vs. bookshelf. I’m going to change the title of the post, make it clearer.
October 2, 2010 at 1:13 am
stilettostorytime
You are so not crazy…I wish I had room for a dedicated shelf! And I am jealous of your multiple language collection! Thanks for sharing…maybe someday I can get that organized and make a space just for Jane!!!
Courtney
October 7, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Jodie
I can see some of those lovely new classics editions (the hardbacks with the pretty decorated covers next to the water of Bath) which ones did you get?
October 8, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Alex
I have the three JA of the collection: P&P, S&S and Emma. I hope they decide to also publish the others. I have my eye on some of the others in the collection, especially Little Women and the Verne one.
Have you seen the lovely edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, in the same style? I think it will be my Xmas present to myself: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780434020485/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird
October 21, 2010 at 11:13 pm
whisperinggums
Oh thanks for telling me about this post Alex…I love that you are getting P&P in different languages. My daughter bought me a French version when she was in Paris last Christmas and I was thrilled.
Must say, I *could* (not saying I am, mind you!) be one of those people who had a sense of pride and resentment over people discovering JA in 1995 BUT I think you do have an excuse given you are not a ‘native’ English speaker.
I’ve seen those lovely hardback versions here and have thought about buying them. They are lovely, and not particularly expensive.
PS Love your name. Alexandra is one of my middle names and I often wished it was my first name!
October 23, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Alex
Always great to “meet” a fellow Janeite 🙂
October 23, 2010 at 1:25 am
Arti
This is such an interesting post. Thank you for sharing. I came from Whispering Gums, after reading your comment. I too am a late fan of JA and P & P. Like you, only after seeing the 1995 BBC production, but not until 2005! But I did a lot of catch up in a few short years. It’s so meaningful to collect P & P in different languages, I never thought of that. And your bottle of Bath water is so original too! I was in Bath a couple of months ago, have written about it and posted some photos on my blog, but it never occurred to me to bring some water home (Canada). Thanks for a marvellous post… will definitely return for more visits! I have many posts on JA, if you’re interested, but many more just on books and movies. You’re welcome to stop by! 🙂
October 23, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Alex
Hi Arti! Just came from your blog myself, very interesting what you do on book vs. movie. Will become a regular visitor for sure. I loved Bath (great review on the cuty, by the way) and now am planning a visit to Lyme Regis. I can just image to photos I’ll take pretending to fall from the granite steps 😀
October 30, 2010 at 12:05 am
Iris
Pride and Prejudice in 25 different languages. I want your collection! You have so many Jane Austen related books, I only have one shelf with her books and a few biographies and such!
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