Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook16 hours
Jane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen
Written by Wendy Jones
Narrated by Cassandra Campbell
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Why is Jane Austen so phenomenally popular? Why do we read Pride and Prejudice again and again? Why do we delight in Emma's mischievous schemes? Why do we care that Anne Elliot of Persuasion suffers?
We care because it is our biological destiny to be interested in people and their stories-the human brain is a social brain. And Austen's characters are so believable, that for many of us, they are not just imaginary beings, but friends whom we know and love. And thanks to Austen's ability to capture the breadth and depth of human psychology so thoroughly, we feel that she empathizes with us, her readers.
Humans have a profound need for empathy, to know that we are not alone with our joys and sorrows. And then there is attachment, denial, narcissism, and of course, love, to name a few. We see ourselves and others reflected in Austen's work.
We care because it is our biological destiny to be interested in people and their stories-the human brain is a social brain. And Austen's characters are so believable, that for many of us, they are not just imaginary beings, but friends whom we know and love. And thanks to Austen's ability to capture the breadth and depth of human psychology so thoroughly, we feel that she empathizes with us, her readers.
Humans have a profound need for empathy, to know that we are not alone with our joys and sorrows. And then there is attachment, denial, narcissism, and of course, love, to name a few. We see ourselves and others reflected in Austen's work.
Author
Wendy Jones
Wendy Jones is a graduate of the University of East Anglia and has a PhD from Goldsmiths in creative writing. She has published two novels and is the author of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl, a biography of Grayson Perry.
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