Robert,

I stumbled upon your blog randomly while perusing the web for P&P-related sites, and found your wonderful entries on the movies and book.

I must say thank you! It's nice to know that there are men who appreciate and even love Jane Austen. This must mean there's hope! You see, I'm working on converting my male friends but alas...

you said the "left completely ignore them [Tibetan monks]" but since most people (myself included) haven't heard much about this...well, where do you get your news from?

Pride and Prejudice seems to hold a lot of meaning to you, so I pose the inevitable question: Have you seen "Becoming Jane"?

Cate:

Thanks so much for writing. Yes, there is hope. I've found that with patience and some prompting, quite a few men will read and appreciate jane Austen. Not all, but quite a few.

I have not seen the film yet. Been busy working on an original screenplay, and I never go to the movies when I'm deeply in the middle of a script.

The mainstream media don't write about the Chinese annihilation of Tibet and her people. It's true. They prefer to write endlessly about the Middle East, and ignore a genocide that has been going on for over 40 years. Much easier to beat up on Israel — and of course much more fashionable.

I get my news from the internet. Set yourself up for a Google Alert about "Tibet," "Tibetan Independance," and you'll get some good information. In fact, I get all my news from the the internet. The mainstream media are dinosaurs. I only use them to point out how little they know or how corrupt they are.

Back to Jane Austen: P&P holds a great deal of meaning for me on many different levels. I appreciate it as a near perfect novel. The structure is bombproof and her dialog is sublime. I love it for it's insight into human nature. I admire Jane's ability to play off family dynamics with wit and elegance, all the while understanding that there is a great deal at stake in the marriages that are made.

I also greatly admire Austen's non-sentimental attitude. She was a fiercely intelligent woman, not some silly girl. She understood her world; she analyzed and wrote about it without bitterness or rancor.

The history of western literature is very much the history of unmarried women seeking husbands. Jane Austen's work is at the apex of this long literay journey. Because of Jane Austen we are better able to understand the mysterious dance of the male and the female in civilized society. And that is something we should all be grateful for.

Tibet used to be the cause de jour - Richard Gere made it his personal crusade and may still be at it. It's not fashionable anymore and Darfur is. But the repression is still happeneing.

Yehudit:

Hollywood is less interested in Darfur than in so-called global warming. Believe me, that's the hot ticket in town. And Tibet, they couldn't find it on a map.