I will freely admit to some trepidation in reviewing such a well-known book. Being as it is my first classic that I have considered reviewing, and one that has garnered much praise and censure that I believe I will not be able to add anything new, I did indeed waffle back and forth on whether or not it'd benefit me or anyone in my sphere to do so. I eventually decided that it'd be a fun challenge for me as well as not wanting to break my recent habit of reviewing every book that I read.
Be forewarned, I have watched the BBC version of this story many times for somewhere in the ballpark of 15 years. This means the story as a whole was not new to me, though the particulars were.
I did realize before reading this book that there were bound to be aspects which seemed odd to me, or that I may dislike, that would be considered part of the time period and other such nonsense. Basically, in stating what I did not take pleasure in, I hope not to draw criticism in the form of "Well, that's part of what makes it a classic." or "That's the way stories were told back then and is beyond critique."
I'll start with my minor annoyances, since they were so few and far between as to hold little impact on the whole and should not take much time to convey.
Early on I noticed a penchant for -- certain words either partially or in their entirety. At first I thought Austen was too lazy to type out those words and therefore just expected me to know what went there, but then I thought, "If she was perfectly content writing out this long of a book, I highly doubt she'd lower the quality of the story by being lazy on a few words." So yes, I did some research and found it was a habit of writers of the time to dash words so as not to offend people who may live on those streets, or in those towns, or who were part of those militias, etc.
Though I know understand the reason behind the "dashing", it was still an irritation and I think omitting a word, or part of one, so as not to offend the sensitivities of someone who might feel slighted that an author is casting any sort of undesirable traits to an area a person may be connected with is silly. And I read what is before me so every time I'd come upon one such instance I'd go, "The (blank)shire" or "the something that's in Hertfordshire." I wouldn't make up my own town, or street, or whatever I was supposed to supply.
I winced at every "chuse" and "shew". I get it. It was most likely the way to spell show and choose at the time, but ugh, my mind wanted to slay every usage of the two.
And really, that was all the negative I have to say.
The story itself didn't hold much mystery, as I am very familiar with it. I can't speak on the storyline, the characters, or any other such aspect which I feel best qualified to judge when the story is new to me.
I was most pleased that the tv miniseries was, for the most part, faithful to the novel. I felt some hesitancy in reading this initially, in case it did lessen my enjoyment of a long time favorite movie.
Some conversations were moved, or shorten, or even omitted. There were scenes that didn't exist in the movie. The greatest alteration that I detected was from the point where Lizzy meets Darcy on his property until the end of the book. There was a great deal that'd been altered or added, deleted. Things such as Darcy diving in the lake and appearing half-dressed, Lizzy and her family continuing their tour of the grounds after that meeting, and lots of little things. Georgiana was much more a background character in the sense that I didn't really get a feel for her. In truth the movie did a much better job of highlighting the secondary characters such as Mary, Kitty, Georgiana, Louisa, etc. Not that all secondary characters need such illumination, but I enjoy getting a sense of them.
Despite a fair bit of differences in the last part of the book from what I'm used to, the story was engaging and I maintain that the BBC version did capture the essence of the book.
I particularly found the conversations that I wasn't privy to in the movie to be the most interesting aspect. My favorite part of the story has always been the dialogue. I love the banter that goes on between the characters. The subtle jabs that can be seen, even wrapped though they are in politeness and proper manners. The embarrassment Lizzy must of felt by the actions and speech of her family was so apparent because the sense of the time and what was proper was so thoroughly portrayed throughout the book. I found several little pieces here and there of where Lizzy is ruminating on something that I found particularly delightful because I've been in a position to think something along those lines myself.
I feel like the mortification surrounding Darcy and his actions to her, and hers to him, and the impact her family had, came through much stronger in the novel than in the movie. I enjoyed getting more into Lizzy's head with that.
Jane was much more annoying to me as her insistence on seeing no evil was so much more dwelled upon that I wanted to smack some sense into her.
The father, I always knew, had several faults and had done the family many a disservice by his actions or rather lack of action, but with the book it was much more blatant and I think above all the characters, his was the most changed in my estimation upon conclusion of the story.
Overall, yes, this is a book that you need to slow down and savor to get the full effect of what lies inside. It is a story that focuses on the everyday life of a family and can be slow in terms of plot if you're not stopping to smell the roses. It won't be for everyone, and as a reader who primarily enjoys fantasy, I can understand that, but this is one of those historical pieces that engaged me throughout and never did I find myself skimming or bored. I loved how the ending wrapped up everyone's lives more tightly than the movie did, and I shall now be able to see I've seen both the movie and read the book and enjoyed both. Rather than diminishing my pleasure of the former, the latter has only increased the depth of it. I'll now watch and now what is going on that I do not see.
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A transcendent novel of love, loss, and self-discovery by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Where the Forest Meets the Stars. | Learn more
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Beautiful edition! Be cautious of sticker.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2020
Truly beautiful books. These cloth bound editions are a modern, yet timeless approach to the classics. They’re dynamic and feel expensive.My only complaint is that the sticker on the back of the book peels off the design on the book cover if you try to remove it. It’s easy to peel, but does damage the book. I got several different books in this series and it happened each time.
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2020
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Now as for book and printing - very nice. The font used is Sabon instead of something ghastly like Times New Roman. Text size is quite comfortable. Paper quality is nice and has a smooth texture to it, although people accustomed to the bright off-white pages might be a bit disappointed at the not so bright pages. So my suggestion is to buy the penguin edition.
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