Posts Tagged ‘pride and prejudice’
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Which Vintage Classics Heroine am I?
1I can’t resist a good questionnaire (or list) and so despite the late hour (it’s currently 12.15am), I was tempted by the Random House ‘Which Vintage Classic character are you?’ quiz. I tried to answer honestly, although I think I may have fudged the ‘how attractive are you’ question a little. We’ll blame the late hour and my abnormally large intake of sugar in the past 24 hours for that. I’m sure if I was well rested and not on a sugar high, I would have been far more realistic.
So, sleep-deprived and fueled by excess glucose I completed the 9 question survey and was rather delighted to discover that I am Elizabeth Bennet. 
To paraphrase the questionnaire results, apparently my admirable qualities are numerous – I am quick-witted, clever and converse brilliantly. My honesty, virtue and lively wit enable me to rise above the nonsense and bad behaviour that pervade my class-bound and often spiteful society. Nevertheless, my sharp tongue and tendency to make hasty judgements might lead me astray.
In 9 simple questions, the Vintage Classic Character Questionnaire has held a mirror up to my very soul and I see 
reflected back at me my literary doppleganger Elizabeth Bennet – lively, quick witted, spirited and bright-eyed. If only I wasn’t sitting up late by myself, I’d take a quick turn about the room to celebrate my association with the infamous Miss Bennet (and show my figure off to best advantage to any dark brooding handsome wealthy gentlemen who might happen to be sitting nearby writing letters to their sister).
You can take the questionnaire by clicking ‘Like’ on the Random House Australia Facebook fan page and then following the link in the sidebar to the ‘Which Vintage Classic character are you?’ questionnaire (or you can just click here).
I’d love to know which Vintage Classic character you are. Do you agree or do you think you match another literary hero or heroine more closely?
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Do Your Books Look Well-Loved or Well-Preserved?
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Two different comments recently got me thinking about how I treat my books. I heard one and read the other within a couple of hours of each other.
The first was a comment by a friend who had borrowed two picture books – Alexander’s Outing by Pamela Allen and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. She mentioned that she had been very careful and made sure that she reminded her children that the books were borrowed and needed to be treated with great care.
The second was a paragraph at the beginning of the introduction to the 35th anniversary edition of Free to Be You and Me by Marlo Thomas.
I want you to make a wreck of this book. Bend back the corners on the pages you like best. Write your name on the insider cover or any other place you like. Maybe even put a few stickers on the back. A year from now, I want to know that you’ve touched this book – lived it, loved it, cared for it, and shared it – the way I hope it touches you.
I am very careful with my books. Novels that I read often have no creases in the spines and I don’t fold down page corners. This is not so much because I want to keep my books looking like new, as much as my tendency to treat books with respect. Despite this care, the idea of having a book show that I have ‘lived it, loved it, cared for it and shared it’ really appeals to me.
The books I love, those I have read and re-read and those whose pages I have lost myself in, do show signs of my passing. I have several novels with notes in the margins and one of my most treasured books is my high school copy of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which has notes, comments and cross references on almost every page. When I read Chris Cleave’s The Other Hand I couldn’t help but underline parts that I found particularly significant, both for the ideas they expressed and the beauty of the words themselves.
My children’s books have always been placed where they could reach them. Their favourites definitely look well loved and well read and I like that. I like that in years to come they will have evidence of their affection for particular stories. I have encouraged my children to see books not merely as something to be looked at then put safely back on the shelf, but something to be experienced, embraced, enjoyed and shared.
Books and the ideas, images and thoughts they contain are precious but they are also robust – for me their significance and beauty are actually enhanced by signs that they have been appreciated. I’m not likely to ever start treating books carelessly, but I am grateful for Marlo Thomas’ reminder to not be afraid to leave my mark on the books I read, just as I hope the books I read leave a positive mark on me.
Do you subscribe to Thomas’ approach to books, or do you prefer that your books remain as neat and tidy as possible?
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Sequels – Are they Worth the Risk?
1We’re all familiar with the concept of sequels in the movie world. As soon as a movie enjoys reasonable success you can almost guarantee that #2 and quite possibly #3 are already on the drawing board whether there is a plausible way of continuing the story or not. (Did I hear someone mention Police Academy?)
Of course, this happens with books as well and many authors regularly revisit characters and scenarios that have sold well for them previously, often with reasonable success.
Sometimes, however, the sequels are written by someone other than the original author. Take a popular classic, revamp it and voila! an instantly marketable “new” book is born. (I do believe I heard someone mutter the name Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).
Pride & Prejudice seems to have inspired more than its fair share of sequels and companion novels. Many years ago I suffered through Pemberley by Emma Tennant and swore that I would never subject myself to another ill-conceived sequel to one of my favourite books ever again. As a result, when we received The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough last year, I happily handed it over to Meredith and sat back to enjoy the fireworks without risking my own blood pressure.
I have weakened though and have just finished reading Darcy’s Passions by Regina Jeffers, a companion to P&P written from Darcy’s perspective. Aside from a few minor annoyances (was it really necessary to have Darcy dwell on Elizabeth Bennet’s “fine eyes” every 3 pages?) I enjoyed this book. I’m not so sure about Jeffers’ next book, Darcy’s Temptation. Reading the sequel of a sequel is tempting fate, I think.
Do you ever read sequels to classics or do you avoid them? Which sequels have worked for you? Which were terrible? Which ones made you wonder if the author had read the original book at all?
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Book Review – Darcy’s Passions by Regina Jeffers
1Title: Darcy’s Passions
Author: Regina Jeffers
Publisher: Ulysses Press (385 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-56975-699-7
Genre: General Fiction
Grab: some smelling salts and a copy of Austen’s Pride & Prejudice for comparison
I approached reading this book with some trepidation, the memory of Meredith’s experiences with Colleen McCullough’s The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett still fresh in my mind. Two days of text messages from Meredith as she read the book, ranting about various characters and plot developments has left a lasting imprint on my memory.
Nevertheless, I was interested to read this Pride and Prejudice sequel, written from Darcy’s perspective.
On the whole, I have to say that I enjoyed this book. There were a few moment where minor changes of familiar scenes from P&P irked me a little and I didn’t particularly like the embellishments to some sections of dialogue used from the original, but overall the book kept to the P&P storyline and feel of the original and was quite enjoyable.
The use of Darcy’s perspective enabled Jeffers to better explore some less prominent relationships from P&P, particularly Darcy and Bingley’s friendship and Darcy’s relationship with his sister Georgiana.
Jeffers also continued the story past the conclusion of P&P to follow Darcy and Elizabeth into the first few months of their marriage. To Jeffers credit, she doesn’t degnerate into sleezy bedroom scenes between Darcy and Elizabeth as many sequels seem to.
Pride and Prejudice is such a favourite that I doubt it would be possible for a sequel to be written that didn’t attract some criticism. Replicating the beautiful language and symmetry of the original while maintaining character and plot integrity seems a rather large and daunting task to me.
With the exception my mild annoyance at some minor plot variations, the dialogue embellishments and a far to frequent repetition of Darcy’s appreciation of Elizabeth Bennet’s “fine eyes”, I did enjoy Darcy’s Passions and would recommend it to any Austen fan who is able to relax their devotion to P&P enough to appreciate this reasonable attempt at a companion novel.
I did note on the publisher’s website that Jeffers is planning to release a sequel to Darcy’s Passions, titled Darcy’s Temptation, in September 2009. Personally, I think I will stop with this book and perhaps revisit Austen’s original Pride and Prejudice rather than push my luck with further sequels by others.
Darcy’s Passions is distributed in Australia by Bookwise International.
For a more detailed review of Darcy’s Passions, visit Susan’s reviews at Suite101.com.
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – What the?
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Despite the fact that I am a die hard Austen fan, when I heard about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Quirk, 2009) by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith I was still mildly intrigued – enough to check out the publisher website anyway.
Apparently this mashup of Austen’s 1813 classic and a zombie rampage storyline has made it to number three on the New York Times bestseller list. Not having read the book, my guess is that this success would be more attributable to the cult status of P&P than any literary revelation attributable to the zombie additions, but I could be wrong.
Far more fascinating than the novel itself, which seems to me a novelty concept that would be read once then put aside, is the internet buzz amongst book bloggers stirred by a rather bizarre publicist letter included with review copies for bloggers.
Rather than rehash everything here, you can find the details at:
- Still Life with Book Maven Part One and Part Two
- Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’?
- Twitter with the hashtag #quirkppz
The fundamental issue seems to be whether book blogs are equivalent to print book review columns and whether bloggers should be accorded the same respect as print journalists.
Personally, I can’t see why book bloggers wouldn’t be given equal credit. In these uncertain times with the ever decreasing readership of newspapers and other print media, internet journalism in various forms seems the way of the future. In my admittedly inexperienced viewpoint, this is the time for publicists and marketers to be harnessing the power of online reviews rather than alienating bloggers.
As with anything else, there are good, bad and ugly examples of book blogs out there and they are certainly not all of equal value and/or quality (as is also the case with newspapers and magazines). My personal preference is for book blogs that convey some personality and a sense of humour in addition to intelligently and well-written reviews.
Discussions of the latest Austen distortion aside (these are more than adequately covered on the sites linked above and others), what role do you see book blogs having now and in the future? Do you have a preference for a particular style or format and do you think a blog review is equivalent to a review in print?
