Imagining Minds: The Neuro-Aesthetics of Austen, Eliot, and Hardy (Theory and Interpretation of Narrative)

Kay Young's IMAGINING MINDS: The NEURO-AESTHETICS OF AUSTEN, ELIOT, AND HARDY is written with nuanced grace. That's why it took me a while to realize that she was doing groundbreaking. Consider the task Young took on -- one wants to address some aspects of what goes on in the mind-brain of major authors. And one wishes to address not only the creativity, but also the nuts and bolts of neural structure -- the neuropsychology of writing. Then one inspects the mind-brain alliance, and emotion as it relates to relationships, as it relates to an author's mind-brain, and then, by golly, as it relates to your, the reader's, mind-brain alliance and your emotional reactions to an author's work. Whew.Neuroscience is in its infancy. We know so little about the brain, but we're gaining on it. We need more consideration of that manipulator sitting not-so-silently atop our spinal columns.Young does not forget that she is addressing major novels and three specific authors -- Austen, Eliot, and Hardy. So she does that all the way through, too.One is tempted to throw one's hat in the air. That's why I gave it five stars. She went out on thin ice where angels would fear to tread, and I think she made it across.

If you've ever wrestled with the work of George Eliot, trying to unlock the spookily intimate pathways she creates into the minds of her characters, then you must read this book. Kay Young, a professor of literature, civilizes the daunting complications of cutting-edge neuroscience while taking us along on a fascinating journey to find the key to Eliot's, Austen's and Hardy's prescient mind-imagining art. What's more, Young's book is a wonderfully-written, mind-expanding experience. For me, reading these 19th century greats will never be the same again.

Kate Young is able to explain the mechanics of the brain and the intricacies of the mind (yes, those are two different things) all while relating it to popular works from the Victorian canon. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a new angle on Austen.

Kay Young's book Imagining Minds: The Neuro-Aesthetics of Austen, Eliot, and Hardy is essential reading for anyone interested in the intricacies of relationship. Dr. Young combines an exquisite sensitivity to narrative with a remarkable knowledge of science, philosophy, and psychology. Her readings are profound, original, and deeply moving. They not only illuminate the major novels of Austen, Eliot, and Hardy. They also shine a light on the nuances of emotion and expand one's awareness of what it means to be human. Dr. Young's book is a major achievement. I enthusiastically recommend it to all students of the heart and mind.