Yes I am female and I think my obsession with finishing the Austens has something to do with closure. I see Austen novels as a whole rather than individual and up until a few years ago, I could fairly well recite Pride and Prejudice being the only Jane Austen I had ever read. Maybe it's because i'm sappy (whilst i can never tolerate sappiness in films) but somehow, sappy books are tolerable.

POSTSCRIPT I also finished the fantastic VANITY FAIR Thackeray (not the magazine) even though i had started it two years ago.

Few others I had forgotten:

THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS Arundhati Roy (i know i've spelt her name wrong. It's such a BEAUTIFUL book)

WHITE TEETH Zadie Smith (mixed reaction)

MOLL FLANDERS Damn BORING!!!

LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE ditto

I'm planning on reading Strindberg's MISS JULIE and some ALBERT CAMUS and some Gabriel Marquez.

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