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If you're wondering why you should buy Austen, well, Austen created the "modern" novel. In the western canon, there's a huge difference in what came before, Austen, and the writers who followed. While still in some ways conduits for morality tales, Austen's women are psychologically complex, decades before Freud: they think, they reason, they stand up for themselves and they have flaws, heaven forbid. First-time readers will be pleased with the three selected novels and they will likely be inspired to find Emma, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey on their own. The quality of construction and typeface are significantly better than the price would suggest. This collection, however, is a hidden gem: inexpensive paperbacks that can be reread and carried with ease (beach, train, incredibly boring meetings, etc). Not for nothing does Austen defend women in Persuasion by saying that, while all "histories are against them," those works were written by men. Austen likes her female characters and they are admirable.
Austen liked her male characters as well, but recognized that when affairs of the(straight) heart were transferred to paper, the aggrieved parties with pens and the means to write and be published had all been men. No more of the either/or choice of virgin-or-whore. While perfect for college and bookshelf vanity, it requires wrists of steel to read. Like many readers, I own the ubiquitous "hardcover with six novels plus" volume of Austen's works. While props go to Hemingway for stripping down language a century later, Austen shed the literary scene of the "impossibly-perfect heroine," replacing that figment with real women (though not quite so real as the servants that made their lives possible).
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I'd much rather have each individually. The three books included are some of her most beloved stories, which is a great starting point for a new fan. You can't even buy used versions for that low of a price. The books are complete and unabridged, so there is nothing missing. My only complaint is that the actual box is rather flimsy and I'll probably end up throwing it away. Firstly, in regards to the comments by "able baker" - the book they're referencing is Jane Austen's complete works BUT it is one book. It's a great set for the value, each book is only $2.66.
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