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Mises Economics Blog

Markets In Not Quite Everything: Jane Austen Edition

July 18, 2007 7:33 PM by Justin Ptak | Other posts by Justin Ptak | Comments (4)

...when a budding author sent typed chapters of Jane Austen's novels to 18 [publishers], changing just the titles and characters' names, only one recognised her words.

Another managed to recognise they were 'a really original read'. But the rest simply rejected them or never responded, according to the man who posted the manuscripts, David Lassman.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "If the major publishers can't recognise great literature, who knows what might be slipping through the net?

"Here is one of the greatest writers that has lived, with her oeuvre securely fixed in the English canon and yet only one recipient recognised them as Austen's work."

Reminds me of the Joshua Bell incident.

Comments (4)

  • Person

  • My opinion on this is the same as that in the Joshua Bell incident:

    If it's really good, you shouldn't have to be *told* it's good, to enjoy it. Placebo principle and all. Perhaps this is simply a sign that adoration of these works is more of a clique-thing than a greatness-thing.

  • Published: July 19, 2007 9:01 AM

  • Coyote

  • John Scalzi has a great response to this article:

    Honestly, you'd think newspapers would be bored of reporting this genre
    of stunt by now.
    You know, as an aside to this foolishness: If I were an editor today,
    and Jane Austen had not previously existed, and someone submitted Pride and Prejudice as a mainstream novel, I'd probably reject it. Because it's the 21st goddamn century,
    that's why, and the style is all wrong to sell a whole bunch of them
    (even if it were pitched as a mainstream historical novel). In point of
    fact, I'd probably reject anything written in a 19th century manner,
    with the possible exception of Mark Twain's work; for my money he's
    probably the only 19th century author whose writing style doesn't make
    me feel like I'm slogging through a morass of commas and odd language
    structure....So, yes. Out on your
    ass, Jane Austen, until you can write in a contemporary way.

  • Published: July 19, 2007 12:49 PM

  • Dennis

  • I do not believe that the quality of a literary work should be evaluated by the modernity of the language and writing style utilized. The real classics, the works of lasting importance, transcend these criteria.

    Yes, the use of non-modern language and style will likely make the work harder to sell, but this is another issue, which reflects the tastes and, arguably, the reading skill of a significant portion of today’s public.

  • Published: July 19, 2007 1:42 PM

  • DeputyHeadmistress

  • You know, it's not so much that they didn't want to publish it that raises my eyebrows, but that several people working in literature didn't even recognize it. That's inexcusable.
    I'm not talking about the ones who didn't bother responding. I can see where they might not bother wasting their time with a plagiarist. But those who responded with a rejection slip are frauds.

    Incidentally, if it were true that the time, setting, and style automatically would make JA unpublishable in this century, I wonder why there are so many people trying to imitate her style (the Jane Austen mysteries...)and so many movies modeled on her books.

  • Published: July 19, 2007 2:13 PM

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