Austen and Defoe and Dickens and DeVos

1. It's the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's death. The Atlantic has a little series of articles about her work going and I got caught up in reading favorite Austen quotes, at which point I was reminded that I had shared some great Austen (P&P) quotes here long ago. They're still great, so here they are again:

"She had dressed with more than usual care, and prepared in the highest spirits for the conquest of all that remained unsubdued of his heart, trusting that it was not more than might be won in the course of an evening."

"Is not general incivility the very essence of love?"

2. Man, it does not feel like it has been 3-ish weeks since I read Moll Flanders, but apparently it has been. This summer is going fast and I don't particularly appreciate it. Anywho, it was better than I expected! I can see why it was popular back in the day - it's quite scandalous. I also decided that if I ever take up roller derby, I'm claiming Maul Flanders as my derby name.

3. I've hit the Dickens. Given that this summer is moving so quickly, I may not make it out of Dickens by the end of August, but for the time being, I'm keeping my focus on Nicholas Nickleby. Nicholas has just seen the reality of Dotheboys, which brings me to...

4. I know that I keep talking about the way our current political reality keeps creeping into my reading material (which should be an escape), but I remain amazed by how frequently it happens (I read Corelli's Mandolin somewhere between Moll and Nicholas and the Mussolini stuff hit home). Reading about Dotheboys is so much harder in light of Betsy DeVos' desire to subsidize sketchy charter and private schools and limit oversight of said schools because people like Wackford Squeers exist (Dickens talks in his preface about them as a class of people) and they will see nothing but opportunity in DeVos' vision of the future of education. The DOE and government regulations exist to protect children against the Squeerses of the world, not empower the Squeerses.