Mr. Darcy...
*swoons*



First, we need to clear something up. Colin Firth is the only Mr. Darcy.
That other Mr. Darcy was horrible! No, no, no, no, nooooo!
Make it stop. Make. It. Stop.



So, quite obviously, the BBC miniseries (in all its 327 minute glory) is the only version that is acceptable. The other movie was such a travesty to this book, that I wept big, fat, angry tears...like the spoiled brat that I am.
Or maybe I'm exaggerating slightly.
What were they thinking?! You don't mess with perfection!
What did you think, Elizabeth?



Exactly.

I'm kidding. Sort of.

Anyway, instead of reading it this time around, I listened to an audiobook version. Apparently, which audio version you listen to makes a difference.
My real-life BFF said her version had an American n  doing British accentsn and she found it terribly annoying. I, however, had a version with an actual lady from the land of tea 'n crumpets, and she did a fine job. Well, she did have this lounge singerish voice, so instead of sounding like a fresh-faced 20 year old, Elizabeth sounded like she had been smoking 3 packs a day for about 40 years.
Eh, I was ok with it. I kept imagining Lizzie with a cigarette dangling from her lips like a truck stop hooker, and it gave the story a fresh perspective.



I've read this so many times over the years that I've lost count, but I still wish I could go back and read it for the first time all over again.
I hated that stupid, arrogant, arse-faced Mr. Darcy when he first showed up at the ball. Ugh. What a prick!
So, just like Lizzie, I remember being shocked at his proposal. And just like Lizzie, I was horrified by the way he dissed her family while he did it!
And how could he think she would ever agree to marry him after the way he convinced Bingley that Jane didn't love him?!
And the way he treated poor Wickham!
Just who did this guy think he was!



But then...The Letter!
Oh, my! Well, that certainly put a different spin on things didn't it?!
Elizabeth & I were so ashamed that we had judged him so harshly.
*hangs head*
And the way he acted toward us when we met near the lake!
So kind...such a gentleman!



Ok, I've probably read that particular scene (at Pemberley) a million times. Sometimes, I would just pick up and start the book from there.
Total comfort food.
It's just...ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Of course, Lydia has to go and ruin everything! How could she be such a stupid, selfish, uncaring twat!? Grrrrrrr!
*strangle, strangle, strangle*



How will Darcy and I...I mean, Darcy and Elizabeth...manage to get their Happily Ever After?
Feelings! Oh, the feelings!



So. Yes, I'm unashamed to admit that I am that cliché of a woman who loves Pride and Prejudice. Unashamed!
I just...{insert fangirl screaming and crying}
*Throws panties at Mr. Darcy*

Welcome back to another edition of Tim has an unpopular opinion: and this is a big one, as Tim is about to state that he frankly dislikes one of the most popular books ever written.

Yes, I dislike Pride and Prejudice. I’ll be honest, the only reasons it gets two stars is because of its historic influence on literature and the fact that it made me laugh on a few occasions, all from dialogue by Mr. Bennet, who while a flawed character was a joy to read. I dare say it would have been a 5 star read had it just been about him sitting in his library, tired of his relations and trying to get out of the story by mocking all of them.

I just don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, I understand it’s influence, and I respect the people who love it, but I was bored the entire time and don’t get the love for it.

Abridged recap of the book: let’s go to a party. Let’s visit someone’s house. Oh my, now they are visiting us! What fun! Oh no, drama and gossip. Elopement… scandalous. Oh, hooray, a visit. That visit went poorly, hopefully the next will be better. Huzzah, it was!

I guess if I was trying to compliment it further, I should note that it is a rare example of a “pure” character done right. Jane is the annoying “see the good in everyone” but is actually able to see ill, she just doesn’t want to. It hurts. It’s not stupidity but a form of self preservation. This is refreshing, as usually in 19th century literature their purity just shines seemingly from stupidity.

Sorry everyone, I know this is a loved classic, but all I can say is that at least I’ve crossed it off my list of ones to read. It is at this point that I must just assume that Austen is not for me (though I at least did not despise it like I did Northanger Abbey.) 2/5 stars

Will I read Pride and Prejudice again? Yes, a thousand times, yes!

Near perfection! P & P is one of those rare gems that weds character, plot and language all in one harmonious marriage.

Austen's plotting is so very precise here. It's an absolute pleasure to behold. The timing is impeccable and there is very little, if any, fat in the prose to slow it down. Finding new clues to future plot twists and turns with each reread has reached the level of a sport for me now!

They say, write what you know. Austen knew the life of the upper class (more precisely, the lower ranks of the upper class). She knew all about sitting around in parlors waiting to one day possibly be wed. She knew the rules of engagement that her class and gender imposed upon her. And so she wrote about those things and wrote well, weaving complex love triangles in a realistic, down-to-earth style.

Some readers, often American, complain that Austen's work is tedious and unimpassioned. They are annoyed by characters that do not speak out or act when action would resolve the problems that arise in the social situations that make up the basis of Austen's stories. They lose sight of the fact that the early 19th century is not early 21st. Heck, it's not even the same country. To some living 200 years after Austen published, these sensibilities do not readily make sense. You must understand that the basis of Austen's writing is founded upon the mores of her time.

What makes P & P so exciting and intriguing is that our protagonist does push back, she does speak out. She does all those things we modern day readers wish she'd do. You just have to read very carefully to see it all happening. It's occasionally quite subtle, but it's there. A familiarity with early 19th century England, its language and customs will help unveil this novel's beauty and brilliance.

While I would not have wanted to be a woman living then, essentially tied down and utterly reliant on a wealthy man's whim for my happiness or even salvation, I try to at least enjoy the spectacle of something absolutely foreign to the way I live. Watching these people in the midst of arguing or courting is much like watching the controlled chaos of a boxing match. The principle parties are dueling like fighters looking to beat the crap out of one another, yet under strict rules by which they are bound. Break the rules and you may be disqualified. The constraints these people put themselves under in the name of civility may seem fanciful to us outsiders, but for a woman whose very livelihood depended on winning this bizarre game, it was very real.



(Reviews of film and television adaptations to come!)

This book is every sort of beautiful!











Happy Reading!

Mel

(Book 938 from 1001 Books) - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813.

The story charts the emotional development of the protagonist, Elizabeth Bennet, who learns the error of making hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between the superficial and the essential.

عنوان: غرور و تعصب - جین اوستین (نشر نی، بنگاه ترجمه و نشر، زرین) ادبیات انگلستان؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1974میلادی

عنوان: غرور و تعصب؛ اثر: جین اوستین (آستین)؛ مترجم: شمس الملوک وزیری؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، بنگاه ترجمه و نشر کتاب، 1336، در 661ص، زیر نظر احسان یارشاطر؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده 19م

مترجم: شاهرخ پورانفر، تهران، زرین، 1362، در 536ص
مترجم: رضا رضایی، تهران، نشر نی، 1385، در 449ص

ترجمه های دیگر خانمها و آقایان: «شایسته ابراهیمی»؛ «فرزانه حاجیلوئیان»؛ «صنعان صدیقی»؛ «راضیه میرزایی»؛ «عبدالحسین صبوری»؛ «اعظم ضامن‌پور»؛ «مرتضی صادقی‌زاده»؛ «مجید غلامی شاهدی»؛ «فائزه ارباب»؛ «فرناز سلطانی»؛ «سهیلا امامی»؛ «سعیده هاشمی»؛ «میروحید ذنوبی»؛ «الهام رحمانی»؛ «نوید اصلانی»؛ «مجید معتمدی راد»؛ «بهاره هاشمیان»؛ «میترا میرشکار»؛ «فرشید غضنفری و حسن طاهری»؛ «مریم امیری»؛ «فاطمه نصرتی»؛ «كیوان عبیدی‌آشتیانی»؛ «فرناز اخوان‌طباطبایی»؛ «رحیم اصلانی»؛ «کرم شکرزاده»؛ «رستو عوض‌زاده»؛ «سبا هاشمی‌نسب»؛ «مهشید مجتهدزاده»؛ «سحر پوریایی»؛ «هانیه چوپانی»؛ و ...؛

داستان را «جین آستین» در سن بیست و یک سالگی، و در سال 1796میلادی بنوشته است، و برای نخستین بار در سال 1813میلادی چاپ شده؛ و در ایران به سال 1336هجری خورشیدی، با ترجمه ی بانو «شمس الملوک وزیری»، به زیور طبع آراسته گشته است؛ آقا و خانم «بنت» پنج دختر دارند «جین»، «الیزابت»، «لیدیا»، «مری»، و «کیتیا».؛ «جین» و «الیزابت»، بزرگتر و زیباتر از سه خواهر دیگر خویش هستند؛ مردی سرشناس و ثروتمند، به نام «چارلز بینگلی»، در باغ خویش، و در همسایگی آنها زندگی میکند؛ او بسیار مهربان و خوش چهره است؛ خانم «بنت» کوشش میکند، مرد جوان یکی از دخترانش را، به همسری خویش برگزیند؛ و ... ادامه داستان؛

نقل از برگردان جناب رضا رضایی: («الیزابت» که دلیلی نمی‌دید این حالت بلاتکلیفی را ادامه بدهد، به محض رفتن «کیتی»، با جسارت تمام باز هم با آقای «دارسی» راه رفت؛ حالا وقتش شده بود که تصمیمش را عملی کند؛ به خودش جرئت داد و گفت: آقای «دارسی»، من آدم کاملا خودخواهی هستم؛ برای آرامش دادن به احساسات خودم هیچ فکر نمی‌کنم که شاید احساسات شما جریحه دار بشود؛ نمی‌توانم جلو خودم را بگیرم و بابت محبت فوق العاده‍ ای که در حق خواهر بیچاره‌ ام کرده‌ اید از شما تشکر نکنم

از وقتیکه به این مطلب پی برده‌ ام، مدام دلم می‌خواسته به شما بگویم که چه احساس امتنانی دارم؛ اگر بقیۀ افراد خانواده نیز می‌دانستند، الان صرفاً من نبودم که تشکر خود را به زبان می‌آوردم؛ «دارسی» هیجان‌زده و متعجب جواب داد: متأسفم، خیلی متأسفم که شما از موضوعی باخبر شده‌ اید که اگر درست به شما انتقال نداده باشند، احتمالا باعث رنجش می‌شود؛ هیچ فکر نمی‌کردم که خانم «گاردینر» اینقدر غیرقابل اعتماد باشند؛ - زن دایی‌ ام تقصیری ندارد؛ حواس پرتی «لیدیا» باعث شد من بفهمم شما در قضیه دخیل بوده‌ اید؛ خب، من هم تا جزئیات برایم روشن نمی‌شد، آرامش پیدا نمی‌کردم؛ اجازه بدهید بارها از شما تشکر کنم؛ از طرف همۀ اعضای خانواده‌ ام تشکر می‌کنم، به خاطر بلندنظری و محبتی که محرک شما در اینکار پر زحمت بوده و این همه دردسر را تحمل کرده بودید، تا آنها را پیدا کنید)؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 25/05/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 05/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

I was forced to read this by my future wife.
I was not, however, forced to give it 5 stars.

Well-loathed books I've re-read

Rating: 4 very annoyed, crow-feathered stars out of five

The Book Report: No. Seriously. If your first language isn't English, or if you're like nine years old, you might not know the story. Note use of conditional.

tt
My Review: All right. All right, dammit! I re-read the bloody thing. I gave it two stars before. I was wrong-headed and obtuse and testosterone poisoned. I refuse to give it five stars, though. Look, I've admitted I was wrong about how beautiful the writing is, and how amusing the story is. Don't push.

Stephen Sullivan, who rated this with six stars of five, is now on a summer travel break from Goodreads, so I can publish this admission: He was right. It is a wonderful book. I had to grow into it, much as I had to grow into my love for Mrs. Dalloway. But now that I'm here, I am a full-on fan.

Deft is a word that seems to have been created for Austen. She writes deftly, she creates scenes deftly. She isn't, despite being prolix to a fault, at all heavy-handed or nineteenth-century-ish in her long, long, long descriptions. She is the anti-Dickens: Nothing slapdash or gimcrack or brummagem about her prose, oh nay nay nay. Words are deployed, not flung or splodged or simply wasted. The long, long, long sentences and paragraphs aren't meant to be speed-read, which is what most of us do now. They are meant to be savored, to be treated like Louis XIII cognac served in a cut-crystal snifter after a simple sole meunière served with haricots verts and a perfect ripe peach for dessert.

The romantic elements seem, at first blush, a wee tidge trite. And they are. Now. Why are they? Because, when Miss Jane first used them in Pride and Prejudice, they worked brilliantly and they continue so to do unto this good day. Why? Because these are real feelings expressed in a real, genuine, heartfelt way, as constrained by the customs of the country and times. And isn't that, in the end, what makes reading books so delicious? I, a fat mean old man with no redeeming graces, a true ignorant lower-class lout of the twenty-first century, am in full contact with the mind, the heart, the emotional core of a lady of slender means born during the reign of George III.

You tell me what, on the surface of this earth, is more astonishing, more astounding, more miraculous than that. Jane Austen and I Had A Moment. She's Had A Moment with literally millions of English-speakers for over 200 years. She's had moments with non-English speakers for more than a century. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are cultural furniture for a large percentage of the seven billion people on the planet. (Large here is a relative term. Less than one? Still amazing for a book 200 years old.)

Reading is traveling in time, in space, but most importantly inside. Inside yourself, inside the characters' emotions, inside the author's head and heart. It is a voyage of discovery, whether you're reading some bizarro mess, Dan Brown's mess, religious tracts, Twilight, whatever. You-the-reader are going somewhere in a more intimate contact than you-the-reader have with any other being on the planet. Movies, TV, sex, none of them take you as deep into the essence of feeling and emotion as reading does. And no, snobs, it does NOT matter if it's well written, it matters that the book speaks to the reader. (Sometimes, of course, what one learns is how very shallow and vapid some people are...I'm lookin' at you, Ms. Fifty Shades.)

So I thank that rotten, stinkin' Stephen-the-absent Sullivan, safe in the knowledge he won't see me admitting this, for reminding me to live up to my own goal of remaining open to change. I heard him yodeling his rapture, and I revisited the book, and I learned something valuable:

Only admit you're wrong when the person you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of isn't around to see.

Pride and Prejudice is my absolute favourite classic! By now I have lost count on the number of times I have read the book and seen it on screen although I have heard it as an audiobook only once (the Librivox production). So when this new audiobook production by Saga Egmont came up for request on NetGalley of course I grabbed at the chance to listen to it and was completely certain I would enjoy it.

Unfortunately, not so.

This audiobook is narrated by Adjoa Andoh who has starred in the Bridgerton series and I just felt she was a wrong choice to narrate the book. Her normal narration voice was very pleasing to listen to but the issue arose when she modulated her voice/pitch and accent for the different characters. Mrs. Bennet, Lydia, Caroline Bingley, Catherine d'Bourgh came off sounding very shrill and it felt they were screeching most of the time while Elizabeth, Mr. Bennet and Darcy sounded too harsh. The book is full of wit and banter between characters but listening to this audiobook it seemed that they were all fighting verbally instead. The overall effect was quite jarring to the ears. At this point, I still prefer the Librivox version narrated by Karen Savage.

My thanks to NetGalley and the audiobook publisher Saga Egmont for the audio ARC.

Rating: ⭐⭐✨

it is official: now everyone on the planet has read this book. i was the last holdout, and being the last person (excluding those who are just being born...... now) i am sorry i didn't like it more. i knew going into it that i was not a jane austen girl; i had read two others and thought them bloodless and mercantile. but everyone said to me, "well, you haven't read pride and prejudice is why you don't like her." which i thought might be valid. but it's not. because i still don't care. this is not the greatest love story of all time. it's more like the most amiable alliance of compatible feelings that ends up in a mutually agreeable union and merging of fortunes and temperaments. i mean, really. this book needs heathcliff to come barreling in on a stallion all wet from the moors to ravish all five of these daughters and show them what a real man is all about. now there's a love story...

come to my blog!

I hope Jane Austen is somewhere up there and that, even in death, she knows that Elizabeth Bennett is still That Bitch in 2019.

n  

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

n

Pride and Prejudice is one of those books that comes with the "everyone who has a literature degree should have read this" stamps and I am, in fact, doing a literature degree. The sheer amount of times this has been referenced in the course of my degree definitely made me think I should read it. The good news is, everyone seems to love this book. Even people who don't really like classics. And guess what? The hype was right because I kinda love it too

Pride and Prejudice is an excellent social commentary delving into the tenuous economic positions women in the 19th century held. Mrs Bennett's desperate scramble to marry off her daughters, particularly Jane and Elizabeth, as soon as the eligible bachelors Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy wander into town provides for an entertaining and often hilarious tale but it's also dire in that throughout the novel you are well aware that the sisters face potential poverty and homelessness should they not find good marriages sometime before their fathers death. And for me, one of the real strengths of this book is how well it balances out the romance and the satirical humour of the situation with the real reality of the situation. While this book did make me laugh, I really have to sympathise with Mrs Bennett and what she's trying to do here. It's also really interesting when you consider that there is an element of Jane Austen's own life reflected in the situation the girls find themselves in.

n  

“We are all fools in love”

n

I think what I loved about this is the pure drama of it all, but it's all so serious in it's frivolity. Even though we're talking about getting sick to hang out at your mans house longer, and buying ugly bonnets and running off with your new soldier boyfriend, the drama is compelling. I think that a real strength of this book is that it is so insightful. All the drama is perfectly positioned to make a Point, and all of it is deadly serious. Even though it's kind of funny Mrs Bennett is going to force her daughter to catch a cold just so she can (maybe) hang out with Bingley a bit longer, there is also a element of understanding and truth that rings in it - these girls really DO need to go to all lengths to get married. The satire is so well placed, and the story is so thoughtful.

Elizabeth Bennett is also such a compelling and fun main character. She IS that bitch!! I loved how rebellious and independent she was, and her relationship with Jane was so beautiful. I really loved the focus on the girls strong bond and the prioritisation of the girls relationships with eachother over anything else. Elizabeth is also ICONIC. The bit when she verbally beat the shit out of Mr Darcy? I truly have decided to stan forever.

Speaking of Mr Darcy - I have to say he's not in it as much I expected?? Everyone RAVES ABOUT HIM and I get it because, yeah there is something really appealing about him being The Hot Rich Bachelor Who is Really Into You But He's Too Awkward To Show It but he honestly doesn't feel like he appears that much? For me it felt like the Bennett sisters and Elizabeth's struggle to reconcile her situation and her happiness were much more interesting and pertinent themes and relationships than the romance. THAT SAID, I do still love the romance. God, the slow burn, angsty beauty of it all. Are we talking about That Scene in Permberly? I'm talking about it. When he comes across the fields and they catch awkward eyes and it's like okay they're in love PHEW love that. Also, when Elizabeth is at dinner half hoping half dreading he will turn up. SISTER why is that so relatable when this is a 200 year old book ??

n  

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

n

There is something remarkable to me that in all the time since the publication of this book, so much of it stays relevant and loveable. I genuinely thought reading this it reads in some ways like a modern book. I loved that about reading this - even though it is obviously a classic it was so easy to read and get really invested in. It makes the reading experience so much better, since classics can be so hit and miss sometimes. Austen is funny and frank and insightful and thoughtful, and her characters are well developed and compelling. That Pride and Prejudice is so far from our everyday, and yet remains so relatable, and so beautiful, and that romance still stands is truly powerful in itself, and goes to show just what a GOOD book this is.

I really really enjoyed this, and I plan on working through Austen's other works in the future. (Sense & Sensibility is most likely next). I will say this, literature world - I get the hype.

Austen was a brilliant writer.

This story is timeless.

Simply beautiful.

I had forgotten just how witty this novel is. And how key reticence is to the plot. In particular Elizabeth’s, in stark contrast with her mother who shoots off her mouth at every opportunity with a vulgarity that constantly has one squirming on Elizabeth’s behalf. Elizabeth is like the family editor, the family censor. It’s her who receives most of the critical information in the novel and very rarely does she share it. I often found myself puzzling why. In an age when women were largely silenced it seemed odd that Elizabeth voluntarily silenced herself. But it also made me keenly aware at times of how much human nature – or maybe female social decorum - has changed. When Elizabeth finds out why Bingley has dumped her sister she doesn’t tell her sister. I’m pretty sure all of us now would be on the phone to our sisters in a jiffy. Clearly Austen didn’t find this a strange decision; in fact she breezes over the disclosure so swiftly it’s as if she assumes the reader would perfectly understand Elizabeth’s motive without any explanation. Maybe Elizabeth’s extreme reticence was a plot device, a very effective one to be sure because it enables Darcy to remain mysterious and it even enables Elizabeth to remain mysterious to herself. It’s super clever of Austen to refer to Darcy as proud throughout the novel when in fact it’s Elizabeth who is the more entrenched culprit of that emotional stance. It’s largely her pride that creates the atmosphere of prejudice around Darcy.

It’s also a novel that makes you miss being in love. As much for all the anxiety, embarrassment, keyed-up second guessing, girly gossiping/speculation and ghastly self-consciousness as the elation and well-being.

In short, I loved it again and found it didn’t matter one iota that I knew what was coming. Only brilliant writing and craftsmanship can sustain dramatic tension when you know what is going to happen next.

As a footnote when I was seventeen my mother told me I needed to develop the Elizabeth in my nature and curb the Lydia. Thing is, the Lydia type has more kudos now than she had in Austen’s time. Psychotherapy would probably argue for a balance between the impulsive Lydia and editorial Elizabeth as a model of behaviour. You sense Austen held a similar view.