Two writers debate the merits of Jane Austen’s novels. It’s nothing you haven’t heard or read before, so there’s the inevitable “yawn” factor, but one paragraph, from the “Loathing Jane” half, made me chuckle.

But those who hate Jane are in good company: as Toby Young admits, Charlotte Brontë thought her depictions of love cold, unconvincing, and lifeless. Brontë acknowledged the “heresy” of her position because she was, as I am, that rare thing: a woman who is irritated by Austen. Mark Twain was also unable to see the point of her: “Why, I go so far as to say that any library is a good library that does not contain a volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book.”

Ouch.