Partially this topic came to mind because of the recent Masterpiece Classic airing of Emma, the newly produced version not written by the master of period pieces Andrew Davies.  That's right, the newest version of Emma was not written by him.  And did well.

There was a time when that thought never would have passed my lips (I'm a total Davies fangirl).

Regardless my favorite Jane Austen book has always been Northanger Abbey with Mansfield Park coming in a close second.  Indeed they are the only two Austen books I own as individual volumes separate from the large tome of all her works.  I haven't always been an Austen fan, I'm really a recent convert only going on my 3rd year of interest.

Unlike most schools Austen was not a required reading, at any level, in English class.  Somehow or other the teachers always found an excuse not to make us read it, and not being big on 'old stuff' I didn't look them up on my own.  Then I was introduced to the lovely, gorgeous and otherwise devastatingly handsome man named J.J. Feild and I had to see all his works.  Oddly you can thank Agatha Christie and David Suchet for that little bit--I saw Death on the Nile starring J.J. and fell head over heels.

So when Masterpiece began putting out the 'new' versions of practically all of her works (except Pride and Prejudice and Emma) I eagerly watched them.  Northanger Abbey was my favorite while Billie Piper's Mansfield Park horrified me to a lowering degree.  I like Frances O'Connor's version (with Johnny Lee Miller).  I liked that version of Fanny (since its a universally acknowledged truth that a screenwriter in want of making a profit off of Mansfield Park has to liven up Fanny Price's character).  I did not like Billie Piper's.  Actually I didn't like any of the cast.  Plus the O'Connor version had James Purefoy in it--you can't go wrong with him in period garb. 

The new versions were of Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey.  There were no plans for Pride and Prejudice since let's face it you can't do better then either the Colin Firth or Keira Knightley versions and for some reason Emma was not made either.  Having not enjoyed the Paltrow version of Emma I wasn't inclined to being upset by this omission honestly.

Then of course we have all the sequels, prequels, re-imaginings, paranormal shadowed books.  From the atrocious Pemberly by Emma Tennant to the new Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford there are dozens upon dozens of 'new material' for the diehard fans.  The Republic of Pemberly has a lovely collection, with reviews and links, as does Pemberly.com(this has a lot of out-of-print, really old ones with discussion groups of high activity as well).

This isn't even getting into the discussion books, scholarly works, essays, tributes and songs...

So there's definitely something about this lady that has her as adapted in form as Shakespeare by society.

My questions to you:

1. Which of her works have you read?  Which did you enjoy the most/least?
2. Are you a sequels fan? Or a fan of these new paranormal Austen re-writes?
3. Tell the truth--Colin Firth in a wet shirt=hot right?  Were you one of the fans who thought it was unnecessary and out of character for the mini-series?
4. Who would you choose as your Austen hero?  Austen heroine?  Austen enemy?
5. Do you enjoy any of the movie/mini-series/drama versions?

Please be aware--there may be spoilers in the comments!