It is a truth universally acknowledged that I have read Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count. I have not read this particular copy however, which is why it is in the pile. This copy was given to me by my best friend Beth, who brought it especially for me from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath. It even came complete with a Mr Darcy bookmark!
Pride and Prejudice is by far my favourite Austen and, as common as it is, my favourite book. The characters are so wonderfully witty I defy anyone not to laugh at the snide jabs and social comments that are found within. Just one small word can change the weight of a sentence and I find myself chuckling quietly as if I am privy to a whispered joke.
As far as film adaptations go, the BBC version with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy is the one to watch. The 1940 version starring Greer Garson as Elizabeth and Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy is quite watchable and entertaining, however not terribly faithful to the text. Please don’t bother with the 2005 version, unless you have an urge to watch Keira Knightly pout her way through two hours as the most ineffectual, wishy-washy Elizabeth Bennet there ever was.
If you love Austen as much as I, I would also highly recommend the film Becoming Jane. Anne Hathaway is brilliant as a young Jane Austen and I could watch James McAvoy all day. I have no idea how accurate it is in depicting Jane Austen’s life, but it's a lovely story, and the way the character of Jane Austen is depicted, is very much how I would hope her to be.
257 days remaining, 18 books to go.
I've never been much of a Jane Austen fan, I studied 'Emma' for hsc english and managed to slip through without actually finishing the book (I remember getting caught out referring to the film in class but got away with it by pretending I was geting the two mixed up...oops).
ReplyDeleteFound the book infuriating at the time, I remember the swathes of British properness made the blood rush to my head producing waves of nausea and delirium.
Sorry this is no way to talk to a fan of Jane Austen, but hey, maybe you can change my opinion sometime.
I love the suggestion made in Blackadder the 3rd that Jane Austen was actually a huge Yorkshire-man with a beard like a rhododendron bush.
R ;)
Ah well, I have always maintained that if I was ever forced to study Jane Austen, I should never have delighted in her work as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteThankfully I was spared the horror of having to dissect and dismember Miss Austen’s words. Thus I am able to appreciate her novels for what I get from them, not from what I believe my teacher wants me to get from them.