Report of Proceedings Connected With the Great Union Meeting, Held at the Academy of Music, ... Book

I have not yet finished this book, but so far, it is fascinating. As a fourteen-year musician and a lifelong lover of books and words, I find this book wonderful. I have loved Jane Austen for many years, and picked this book up as a supplement to a class on Jane Austen, and, to my delight, it has addressed many of my questions about comparing two artists of different mediums who lived countries apart.
Part of the reason for my interest is that I came to notice that Jane Austen and the Classical composers are a perfect fit. In fact, stylistically, they are extremely similar. I had to ask; how can this be? In a nutshell, art reflects culture, but Robert K. Wallace, the author of this book, takes extreme care to detail all of the different aspects in which they are similar. In addition, he compares Jane Austen and Mozart (or the Classical artists) to artists of the Romantic period, such as the Bronte sisters (of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre), Beethoven, Liszt, and Tchaikovsky. I am finding his analyses of the various art forms to be incredibly perceptive. I have learned so much, and I am only reading Chapter II!
I will try to update when I have finished the book, but right now, I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in literature and music of the late 18th century. In addition, I think that all Jane Austen fans and musicians should read this if they can get their hands on it. Although it has a lot of technical language, Wallace does try to make sure that his readers know what he is talking about, and even if he does not always succeed in this, the book has so much wonderful information that readers will learn a lot anyway.