Taste Life Twice

Last night, before bed, I read the first two chapters of Persuasion, and I quickly noted that, unlike many authors, at least the majority of authors I have read, either as a child or as an adult, and especially not like other British female authors similar to her, though my expertise in this area is limited at best, Austen likes to use commas, in many places and ways, extending the length of her sentences, sometimes even into paragraphs, which may expound on the original topic or may be a delightful aside, such as a fashion or culinary note, which make reading her work challenging, but enjoyable at the same time.

I found myself visualizing a descent down a set of stairs, dark and somehow damp, fulfilling my stereotypes of a dank English manor, getting deeper and deeper into the thought or idea being presented, until Austen begins to bring the reader back up, as if on stairs opposite the descending set, until emersion into the sunlight of understanding occurs, once the reader has successfully navigated the way through the many levels of topics included in any one, however long and convoluted it may be, sentence.

I've begun to notice that at a subconscious level I am counting the commas!

Oh, and I am enjoying the book, too!