Austen – Chick Lit for snobs
May 15, 2010 9:27 am Book AdviceChick Lit is widely criticised by people in the writing world. English, Editing and Proofreading graduates are generally sure of one thing: the lack of substance in a Chick Lit novel.
There will be a central character who is probably doing pretty well for herself. Then something happens with her guy-friend, her sister is heartbroken and she doesn’t know who she can trust about what. She will probably end up getting together with a guy she never even considered, in fact, she probably started out hating him.
Sound familiar? Yep, hundreds of books a year are based on this and thousands and thousands of people read it. There are so many literary snobs who would rather burn it than read it as they can predict what is going to happen from the first couple of pages.
Many people like that believe in real women authors: Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen.
But – hang on – haven’t I just described Pride and Prejudice? The plots of Jane Austen are about as Chick-Lit as you can get, but it is the writing which makes it stand a huge way above the tripe. Austen’s characters are three-dimensional, the dialogue is believable and her witty descriptions and original ideas are a wonder to read.
But just remember next time you get on your high horse about someone reading Wendy Holden; if you have Austen in your hand, you should really think about what kind of criticism you’re going to give.