Readers, there is a magical corner of this here World Wide Web—a place where the true potential of the hive mind is unleashed upon the general public, and the free flow of information runs a course suspiciously close to that of the letter u as a pronoun. That indescribable corner is Yahoo! Answers, a place for homework avoiders and people who have no access to either a reference librarian or a sensitive, non-professional conversation partner. Add Jane’s name to the mix, and watch the magic happen: along with legitimate questions about the Austen canon and the appropriate age at which to approach it, the spectrum of awesome, revealing, and/or nonsensical questions can only be hinted at in a single blog post. We’ve picked out a few of our favorites for your reading pleasure, and added responses of our own—and we apologize in advance if any of these are yours. We just like you so much, is all.

In the interest of—ahem—journalistic integrity, all question titles are reproduced as typed.

What in the world is special about Jane Austen?

Well, for one, she’ll give you pretentious cooties with her meager writing style.

(You keep using that word! I do not think it means what you think it means.)

Whats a good way to understand Shakespearean/jane austen English?

If you aren’t one of the X-Men, like the original responder, you’ll have to seek out some of that mid-evil literature for practice. Have standards: low-evil’s for weenies; high-evil’s too much. Trust us.

Is it okay as a man, to like Jane Austen stories and films?

No. Question your sexuality immediately.

Do you believe that Emily Bronte and Jane Austen ever fell in love?

Probably not with each other, though college was a crazy time for many of us.

Does Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen have a happy ending?

…Have you not heard about the alien hordes?

What section/heading of Barnes and Noble Booksellers would Jane Austen’s novels be in?

Try Occult or Home and Garden.

Are the Jane Austen books fiction or non-fiction?

Well, what is fiction, really? What is truth? What is reality? Who am I? Who are you?

No, really. Who are you?

How come my best friend Alicia won’t read Jane Austen?

Probably because you called her materialistic and then wrote about her—by name—on the internet?

Just guessing.

Tagged: Jane Austen, Jane Austen humor, Yahoo! Answers on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 · 1 Comment »