Pride and Prejudice is 200

It should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I adore Pride and Prejudice, a book that is turning 200 this year.

I wrote a post about it for the 2012 A-Z Challenge, explaining how I came to be introduced to it.

It's hard to know why this book has such timeless appeal to so many. I love the comedy, the relationship between the Bennett parents, the manners, the idea of the wealthy man falling in love with a relatively middle class lady (who didn't daydream about that when they were stuck in double Maths at school? - okay, men probably didn't.)

This picture was on my study wall for years. It only came
down when I had to move out to make way for a child!

Mr Darcy is a fantastic literary hero - the origin of tall, dark and handsome. His hostility and pride and sheer haughtiness intrigue me, and the way he changes because of his love of Lizzie make me swoon each and every time I read it. Lizzie herself, being so strong and witty and opinionated, was always the woman I wanted to be.

Mr Bennett, to my mind, has the best lines. I loved Benjamin Whitrow in the BBC's 1995 version was fantastic. "No lace, Mrs Bennett, I beg you; no lace."

In fact, each and every one of the main cast members was exactly how I had always pictured them in my head. It was uncanny, as though the casting director had peered into my head and plucked out the images. 4 Weddings and a Funeral's Duckface - Anna Chancellor - was a wonderful Miss Bingley, especially in the scene where she was trying to put Lizzie down in front of Mr Darcy, talking about her fine eyes etc.

It seems peculiar that the book is 200 years old. I'm sure Jane Austen had no idea of it ever being read so widely and so long after her death. Actors have to achieve their success in their lifetimes, obviously, but writers (and painters) can create a body of work that never even gets seen until after they are gone.

Here are a couple of links that you might be interested in:
Pride and Prejudice 200 lists the world-wide events that are happening this year.
Jane Austen's House Museum
The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

Pride and Prejudice - love it, hate it, meh?

Have you signed up yet?
Click here for the linky list
I'm looking forward to reading about your imaginary friend!

The Booker and Sunshine Awards

Rosalind Adam and Mina Lobo have both paased the Booker Award to me. I now get to tell you about my favourite books...

This won't be a shock, because I often talk about my favourite books, but here goes...

Pride and Prejudice - Admit it, you didn't expect that one, did you?

Diary by Chuck Palanhuick - It's one of those books I just keep going back and re-reading. A woman is trapped in a loveless marriage, with a child that doesn't seem to like her much, and an overbearing mother-in-law. Seems quite a normal literary situation, doesn't it? But all is not what it seems!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - This is a very happy and uplifting book, which gives a new take on Heaven. At the end, I just felt really happy and uplifted!

The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier - I'm not keen on her novels, but her short stories are divine and beautiful, rich and fulfilling... in fact everything I'd like to be as a writer.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Read it, if you haven't done already... just read it. A great story, a great way of really understanding the plight of Jews during Nazi Germany.

Next Rebecca Bradley has awarded me the Sunshine Award. I've been given this one before, so I'm not going to answer the questions - sorry Rebecca, but thank you for thinking of me. You'll recognise Rebecca's name from my last post, so if you haven't visited her yet, now's your chance!

You'll also notice I haven't, as usual, passed either of these awards on to anyone else. If you'd like to tell me about your favourite books, I'd love to read about them. And everyone deserves the Sunshine Award because your blogs cheer me up. Yes, I'm talking to you right now!

Persuasion by Jane Austen

I recently asked my Facebook friends which book I should read - I'd just bought Persuasion and Northanger Abbey - and Persuasion was regarded as the book I should opt for first.

So I did.

But I didn't like it.

And then I thought that maybe there was something wrong with me, because I didn't like it.

As you're no doubt aware, I love Pride and Prejudice. But apart from Sense and Sensibility, I'd never read any other Austen novel. I aways thought this was remiss, especially as they are spoken about with such warmth, so I snapped them up when I saw them in a sale. But whereas the characters of Elizabeth, Mr Darcy, Mr and Mrs Bennett - even Mr Collins - jump off the page, I did not feel the same about Anne Elliot or Captain Wentworth. In fact, regarding the latter, I had absolutely no clue about him at all from the first half of the novel; I certainly didn't know - and didn't care - why Anne Elliot found him so attractive.

Mr Darcy is appealing from the very first aloof glance - even if you don't like him, his character is established well, you get a sense of who he is and why Lizzie might like him. Lizzie, too, talks, is listened to, has contact with Darcy so the reader can see the state of their relationship from the start.

None of these things is apparent between the two main characters in Persuasion, indeed it took a while to work out what the story was! Anne Elliot herself seems so content to sit back and listen to the other characters talking around her that it seems almost wrong to call her a main character at all!

Many people like this novel a lot, so my question (without any flippancy or sarcasm) is: why? What am I missing? Should I read it again, and will I be swayed towards a different opinion if I do? Have you read this novel? Did you love it or hate it?

Please help!

P is for Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

(Source) Gratuitous Mr Darcy moment

Hands up who guessed this would be my P? Hands up who thought it might have been my A or J? If you've followed me for any length of time, you can't have escaped my love of this book! It's one of the only things that I can quote from on a regular basis, in context. And usually it's only my sister who understands what I'm talking about. I even made a comment the other day on someone's blog, then deleted it because it was a P and P quote and I sounded nerdy! :-)

(In fact, I'm so nerdy, I know exactly where this photo comes from in the series - do you?)

I first discovered Pride and Prejudice by watching this 1940s version. My overriding memory of the film was being dissatisfied by the conversation between Lizzy and Lady Catherine at the end. The argument happens vaguely as it does in the book, however when Lady Catherine departs, Darcy is waiting for her in the carriage - she tells him that Elizabeth is just the kind of woman she likes, and Darcy should propose to her immediately. Which he then does!

Pah! Even without having ever read Austen before, I just knew this wasn't right. So I bought the book, and the rest is history!

Everything you need to know about Jane Austen,
via Wikipedia

I'm not sure this book ever inspired me to write, but it certainly was one of the few books at the time (16 or 17 years old) which totally captivated me and emersed me in its pages. And, for that, I will always love it.

In the picture - right - the book at the bottom is a gift from work colleagues when I left my job in a college library, directly above it is my annually-thumbed copy and - of course - I have the BBC Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version (first on video, then on DVD, after watching it when it originally aired, in my mum's kitchen with Hubby, who was then just Boyfriend).

P and P led to Sense and Sensibility, which led to Emma. But none has the same pull. In fact, it's been about a year since I last read it, so if you'll excuse me...