Customer Reviews

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World (Pride & Prejudice Continues)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As a Jane Austen fan it's fun to think about the characters she created and put them in different scenarios. But even doing this, one still keeps to the characters' personalities and attributes. If not, then they aren't Austen characters but rather newly made up beings. Reynolds has claimed she was reimagining P&P's leads within a slightly different scenario. Unfortunately, what she really did was change the characters to fit her new scenario.

Let's consider her basic premise: Elizabeth accepts Darcy's original offer of marriage. It's not unthinkable if one changes just a tiny detail or two from the original tale. For instance, if Wickham had exposed himself to be untrustworthy earlier, or if Elizabeth had not definitively discovered Darcy's part in keeping her sister and Bingley apart. But Reynolds does not take a simple route, she takes the preposterous premise that Darcy is so taken away in passion when proposing that he kisses Elizabeth against her wishes before she'd had a chance to reply anything to the offer. She uses his ego as the excuse. While Austen portrayed Darcy as sure of himself, there is no way he'd touch, let alone kiss, Elizabeth until his proposal was accepted. Propriety meant everything for this man. But this absurd breach of character is the least of it. The most insulting part of Reynold's premise is that being caught by Fitzwilliams engaging in said kiss Elizabeth suddenly feels like she must accept Darcy's marriage proposal. Ridiculous! Even in Austen's day a mere kiss did not force a woman into marriage. Women could break off an engagement. It makes no sense and therefore infects everything that follows with a further off-character meander.

As the tale progresses, Elizabeth is afraid of Darcy. She is spineless. She never speaks her mind. Darcy is a lovesick puppy or a cold hearted, insensible idiot. I'm not sure who these people are who share Austen's character's names. I do know they aren't the characters of Pride and Prejudice.

If the book were simply a historical romance, it would be a bit melodramatic but acceptable. But when the author uses some of literature's most beloved characters, then the author should at least try to keep traits, personality, values, temperament on par. Nobody is expecting writing like Jane Austen's. The story can be forgiven its lack of writing style, sharpness, humor or manners commentary. But is it really too much to ask to keep Darcy smart, proud and fair and Elizabeth smart, spirited and funny? The dolts she wrote about make Mrs. Bennet seem a wit.

I decided this past summer to give myself a treat and re-read all the Jane Austen books which I like best. In doing so I also discovered many, many selections for what I call take-offs. This book is one of the ones which caught my attention so much that I wanted to read it.

I had never before read anything written by Abigail Reynolds. I chose this particular title because the dialogue in Pride and Prejudice from which it is taken has always been a huge favorite of mine. Lizzie and Darcy really let their hair down during this scene and I have always wanted it to go on longer. Now I had my chance. I really appreciate the way Ms Reynolds handled this interaction between my two favorite literary characters. I willingly accepted her Darcy. Elizabeth was a little harder for me to fall in step with. I wondered if the reason Elizabeth found herself engaged to Mr. Darcy was quite strong enough. Would MY Elizabeth not have straightened out the problem immediately with one of her tart, straightforward statements? Perhaps. But, as I continued to read I was more and more willing to accept THIS Elizabeth and her actions.

I have to say that I don't think I have ever read a book where the main characters (Elizabeth, Darcy and Georgiana) misunderstood each other so often as they do here. Austen's Elizabeth would have asked a lot more questions to clear up details. Alas, this Elizabeth (nor Darcy, nor Georgiana) asked enough questions. I finally had to let go of my pre-conceived notions and just accept these characters as written. From there on out I felt better.

I enjoyed Ms Reynolds depictions of Pemberley. I liked the book as a whole and fully intend to get the other books in the series. I think that says a lot for my enjoyment level. I am probably not what most people would consider an Austen purist so this book was a good, entertaining read for me. If you insist on any author staying completely faithful to every word written by Jane Austen, you are never going to be happy with this or any other variation on the canon. My advice, if you can allow yourself to imagine "what if..." then this book will give you pleasure.

"Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy," originally published as "The Last Man in the World: A Pride & Prejudice Variation" in 2007, is an engaging and clever variation of "Pride and Prejudice." If you have not yet had the pleasure of encountering this series, "The Pemberley Variations," by Abigail Reynolds, it is collection of "Pride and Prejudice" re-tellings that asks the question "what if?" In these variations we see how one small change in the plot can alter the course of "Pride and Prejudice." This is one of my favorite variations by Abigail Reynolds, I love how heartbreaking and emotional the story is.

The slight change that sends "Pride and Prejudice" on its ear in this variation is Mr. Darcy kissing Elizabeth before she can refuse his offer of marriage and that kiss being observed by Colonel Fitzwilliam and Rosing Park gamekeepers. Now Elizabeth finds herself in a difficult situation as Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam are under the impression that she has accepted Darcy's addresses and if she were to correct their assumption it would jeopardize not only her reputation, but also the reputations of her sisters. Even though Elizabeth never gets to proclaim to Darcy that he is "the last man in the world whom she could ever be prevailed on to marry," she strongly despises him for what he's done and her outlook for her a happy future is very bleak.

In "Pride and Prejudice" the flaws of "pride" and "prejudice" are played upon. In "Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy" these flaws are still represented but added to them are "selfishness" and "deception." Mr. Darcy selfishly believes that Elizabeth's answer to his proposal could only be yes, and Elizabeth decides it best to deceive her husband into believing her happily married instead of being truthful about her feelings for him. One of the reasons I love Elizabeth and Darcy is because they are flawed and they make mistakes. No one is perfect and in the literary world sometimes we tend to idolize our heroes and heroines. It is a nice change to see them feel insecure, embarrassed, or misunderstood. I believe even Elizabeth Bennet has times when she lacks confidence or jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Abigail Reynolds is a very talented and gifted author that clearly loves Jane Austen and "Pride and Prejudice" with a passion! I am delighted to own both this book and her self-published version of it "The Last Man in the World." After reading "Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy" and scanning through my copy of "The Last Man in the World," I did not find many changes in the plot, and I would venture to say that the only changes were grammatical. So if you already own "The Last Man in the World" you might not want to buy this book, however, if you are like me, you wouldn't mind having this lovely book grace your shelves twice! In addition, I would like to warn readers who don't enjoy intimate and romantic scenes between these characters that there are a few included in this book. However, the romantic scenes are very infrequent and are not overly explicit.

I highly recommend this novel for people who are interested in seeing "Pride and Prejudice" travel a different course!

Austenesque Reviews

Taking such well-loved characters as Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet and putting them into a situation such as this - forced to marry each other well before either is ready, in their head or their hearts (Darcy is far from ready to love unconditionally and unselfishly, for all his admiration of Elizabeth) - would daunt many writers, but someone with the talent and style of Abigail Reynolds can pull it off with great finesse.

This is a highly original story, immensely satisfying to read not only because of the new direction for such interesting characters but because of the quality of the writing. Abigail Reynolds is a master storyteller. She delves into the depths of her main characters' individual despair, their individual growth and the eventual understanding of each other that leads to a heart-warming reunion with a quality of writing that makes you wonder why has not been published long before now.

For anyone who appreciates imaginative and high quality story-telling, I highly recommend this book.

What happens if it is not until after marriage that Fitzwilliam Darcy learns that Elizabeth Bennett does NOT think that he is all that? And what if it is only after marriage that Elizabeth discovers that Darcy has some good qualities besides being an affectionate brother? And that perhaps George Wickham is not to be trusted?

In this variant on Pride and Prejudice, the overconfident Mr. Darcy follows his first proposal to Elizabeth Bennett with a kiss. Before she has a chance to express her disdain for him, this embrace is witnessed and she has the difficult choice between marrying a man she doesn't love or ruining her reputation and the marriage chances of her sisters as well as her own. It's a decision she must make in an instant, and she chooses Darcy but not without regret.

The author Abigail Reynolds uses this variation to explore the difficulties in a situation that many women of Elizabeth's time and class must have faced. Elizabeth has avoided the trap of marrying Mr. Collins, whom she cannot respect, or falling under the sensual spell of George Wickham who is clearly on the make. Darcy, of course, is an excellent match from society's point of view, but what happens in a marriage when the man chooses a wife from passion, and the woman, unable to reciprocate, tries to make the best of it? I really liked how the author shows Elizabeth and Darcy trying to make each other happy and failing until each acquires real knowledge of the other. Fortunately, neither Darcy nor Elizabeth are ordinary people and after much misunderstanding they achieve the happy ending the reader is waiting for. I think this may be my favorite of the Pemberley variations. I will be reading it again and again.

This review is based on an ARC I received from the publisher. "The Last Man in the World" is a "Pride and Prejudice" variation. Purely judged as a "takeoff" of Jane Austen, the novel didn't work for me. The main characters were nothing like the "Pride and Prejudice" characters. Elizabeth was terribly insecure, compliant, and melodramatic. Her sole objective was to please Darcy, both when she hated him and when she loved him. Darcy was impulsive, conceited, and physically passionate even in public.

I also never expected explicit sex in a Jane Austen "takeoff" novel. This one caught me by surprise with 5+ pages of explicit sex in one (married) sex scene, a 3 page explicit sex scene near the end, and explicit sexual thoughts sprinkled throughout.

Judging this novel as if it had nothing to do with "Pride and Prejudice," it still didn't work for me--though I did find it a fast read and a terribly funny situational comedy (though I think it was meant to be a drama).

Elizabeth came to love Darcy within the first 50 pages. Everything after that was a series of misunderstandings where each misread the intent of the other's every word and action and then refused to believe what the other said when they explained what they really meant. These misunderstandings got to the point of being unbelievable, especially when the characters had to act inconsistently to create the misunderstanding.

It didn't work for me as a historical, either, since the author had several modern sensibilities and behaviors in the story.

This novel was a group "out loud" read. One listener was a male, and he commented that the novel didn't accurately portray how a male thinks. We (two) females had to assure him that women don't think like this Elizabeth, either.

I don't recall any bad language. There was explicit sex. Overall, I suspect the target audience for this novel is fans of romances with explicit sex who also have a crush on Darcy.

Review by Debbie from Genre Reviews
(genrereviews. blogspot. com)

This is such a clever premise! My heart ached for Darcy from the beginning as he is truly portrayed as a man violently in-love with a woman who does not return his affections. My sympathy for him when he discovers he "is the last man in the world" Elizabeth would marry -- after WEEKS of marriage, was well, that was simply gut-wrenching! Abigail Reynolds really made me love these characters (even more than in other Pride and Prejudice adaptations and, or sequels)as they struggled to find there way back to each other. Her writing is top notch and not a careless word written. This book I keep at the top of the stack and often enjoy re-reading it from wherever the book falls open! Most enthusiastically recommended.

This is a wonderfully written, fascinating variation on Pride and Prejudice. I always find stories interesting where the hero and heroine marry lacking understanding and love on both sides - one is desperately in love and the other marries out of necessity. I think this is the sort of conflict that we love to see resolved. This is a rather original take on that, applied to Pride and Prejudice. The characters are well developed, the plot is plausible, and you truly want Darcy and Elizabeth to come to an understanding - by turns I felt truly sad for them and wanted to smack some sense into them. And as always, Abigail Reynolds never disappoints with an excellent ending. If you're a fan of this genre, I think you will enjoy it.

Fun, light, entertaining, and well written. Abigail Reynolds can write Fan-Fiction! Once you read one of her stories you will want to get the others!

"Pride and Prejudice" is one of my all-time favorite books, so when I stumbled on Abigail Reynolds' "what if" books through the local library, I figured I'd give this one a try. I mean, what P&P fan wouldn't enjoy a bit of fun conjecturing on alternate fates for our beloved Lizzy and Darcy? Great!

Nope. Not so great. Cue the sad trombone [wah wah].

Not only is Reynolds' plot line (or lack thereof) absurd, but she also warps the characters' personalities so much as to be wholly unrecognizable. Her lack of action, depth, development, and even a remotely plausible or engaging central conflict -- all ingredients necessary to a good book, in my opinion -- are quite disappointing. Bummer.

I must also mention Reynolds' apparent fondness for eroticism, too. If the rest of her book only disgruntled me, her superfluous sex scenes and erotic narration angered me. Could she possibly insult P&P any more? Reynolds further revealed her authorial incompetence by filling pages with unnecessary and self-indulgent explicit material, stuff that would render Austen, I imagine, rancorous.

IN SUM: If you're looking for a boring, silly book with graphic sex scenes, this is the one for you! But if you consider yourself to be an intelligent, thoughtful, literature-loving person, stay far, far away from this book. You'll be much better satisfied by another happy jaunt through the classic itself.