19yr old boy read Austen but he won’t talk about it! Also parenting is weird, y’all
So, my son, who is nineteen, read Pride and Prejudice for the first time this Christmas (2025) while we were visiting family. Now, a couple weeks later, I see that he listened to Mansfield Park on Libby, and is now listening to Northanger Abbey.
Obviously I am THRILLED that he likes Jane Austen enough to seek out more —but:
A) He won’t talk to me about it! I’m like, hello, scion of my body, this is MY LIFE. I’ve been writing and selling JAFF for years. Please talk to me! 😂 And it has gone almost word for word like this: What did you think of the story? “It’s good.”
Are there any particular characters you think are interesting or annoying? “I’m not really good with character names.”
Do you like the dialogue or the romance or what part of it are you enjoying? “It’s all interesting.”
Umm.. anything else you want to say? “No, I just like it.”
I might expire, y’all. I mean if he just read one on a whim when he ran out of books, that’s cool. But he has just finished Mansfield Park and now Northanger… he has to have thoughts about it? Right? RIGHT? 😂
Which brings me to point B) WHY THOSE 2? Persuasion is probably my favorite, and second is a close tie between Sense &Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice. Maybe Emma. WHY Mansfield and Northanger? Is he just messing with me??? 😮😠😩
Anyway, this is a weird time when you start parenting partial adults (he’s my oldest), but they NEVER described this part. I WASN'T READY!!
