It was 1980. I was 17 years old and I had just watched episode 1 of the BBC's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice on Masterpiece Theatre.
I was enthralled. I could not wait until the next Sunday (a whole 7 days away!) to find out what happened next! So immediately after school the next day I went to the library and checked out the book. By Thursday I was done. And thus began my love affair with Jane Austen. Over the course of the next two months I read every one of her books, and then re-read them.
Tomorrow marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of this most beloved of books. I must admit - until reading about the anniversary in yesterday's Globe and Mail, I had quite forgotten that Pride and Prejudice was also a January baby.
I won't add to the literary analysis of why these books have stood the test of time - I am certainly incapable of adding much there! But for me, this book spoke to me at the time and still does today because it was witty, and her characters were like people I knew, even though they were from a completely different time and place. And though her portrayal of characters was laser-like and at times lethal - Jane Austen obviously did not suffer fools gladly and was cynical - there was also a great romanticism at odds with that cynicism. All of the things that so appeal to a young woman (and in fact Jane was only 21 when she finished writing it, though it was revised and published when she was much older).
And when I read about Jane's life at the time she was writing the book, it seemed about as far away as mine at 17. No boys I dated or wanted to date could provide the romantic repartee of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
I have yet to meet a man who has read Jane's books, though most men I know seem to really like the movies. My husband was quite besotted with the 1995 miniseries with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.
In addition to movies and ministeries based on her works, so many other movies have adapted the plots of her books either subtly or blatantly (my favourites? Clueless and Bridget Jones's Diary) or been a love letter to one of her books (You've Got Mail) that Jane and her work continues to thrive. I also really loved the movie, Becoming Jane with Anne Hatheway, a movie purported to be based on Jane's early life.
This is a book that I would take in my crate of books to a desert island. And one of my fantasies is to go to England and tour various Austen sites (along with various Virginia Woolf and Bronte sister sites) and walk in her shoes, if only for a moment.
For those of you who are interested, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath has all kinds of nifty things on their website and great information here.
While it may be common, I must admit that Pride and Prejudice remains my favourite of her books. So tomorrow I will raise a glass to the book and to Jane. I may even see if I can find mutton somewhere in the city - since to me mutton seems quintessentially regency period - and put on a nice frock for dinner. I will probably dig out my DVD box set of the 1995 miniseries and for sure, I will take a moment and skim some of the book (I doubt I will get through it all in one or two days as I did 33 years ago!) and reread my favourite quote (which is so cheeky!):
"Will you tell me how long you have loved him?"
"It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley."
Here's to you Jane Austen and to your Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy (whose first name we will never know!): thank you for 200 years!
Happy Sunday all and stay safe out there!
I was enthralled. I could not wait until the next Sunday (a whole 7 days away!) to find out what happened next! So immediately after school the next day I went to the library and checked out the book. By Thursday I was done. And thus began my love affair with Jane Austen. Over the course of the next two months I read every one of her books, and then re-read them.
Tomorrow marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of this most beloved of books. I must admit - until reading about the anniversary in yesterday's Globe and Mail, I had quite forgotten that Pride and Prejudice was also a January baby.
I won't add to the literary analysis of why these books have stood the test of time - I am certainly incapable of adding much there! But for me, this book spoke to me at the time and still does today because it was witty, and her characters were like people I knew, even though they were from a completely different time and place. And though her portrayal of characters was laser-like and at times lethal - Jane Austen obviously did not suffer fools gladly and was cynical - there was also a great romanticism at odds with that cynicism. All of the things that so appeal to a young woman (and in fact Jane was only 21 when she finished writing it, though it was revised and published when she was much older).
And when I read about Jane's life at the time she was writing the book, it seemed about as far away as mine at 17. No boys I dated or wanted to date could provide the romantic repartee of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
I have yet to meet a man who has read Jane's books, though most men I know seem to really like the movies. My husband was quite besotted with the 1995 miniseries with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.
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| odd that I chose this picture... |
This is a book that I would take in my crate of books to a desert island. And one of my fantasies is to go to England and tour various Austen sites (along with various Virginia Woolf and Bronte sister sites) and walk in her shoes, if only for a moment.
For those of you who are interested, the Jane Austen Centre in Bath has all kinds of nifty things on their website and great information here.
While it may be common, I must admit that Pride and Prejudice remains my favourite of her books. So tomorrow I will raise a glass to the book and to Jane. I may even see if I can find mutton somewhere in the city - since to me mutton seems quintessentially regency period - and put on a nice frock for dinner. I will probably dig out my DVD box set of the 1995 miniseries and for sure, I will take a moment and skim some of the book (I doubt I will get through it all in one or two days as I did 33 years ago!) and reread my favourite quote (which is so cheeky!):
"Will you tell me how long you have loved him?"
"It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley."
Here's to you Jane Austen and to your Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy (whose first name we will never know!): thank you for 200 years!
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Happy Sunday all and stay safe out there!
I must be a man, I never read Jane Austen (but I am a bit lacking in the English classics department) but I bought a volume of all her novels at Barnes and Noble before the holidays and your post could just be the right thing to motivate me to start reading it! Good thing I never so a movie of Pride and Prejudice, I am uncapable to finish a book if I have seen the movie made after it (even if there is more to the book, I have to do it the other way around)
ReplyDeleteHi Ema! I know what you mean about seeing the movie and then not wanting to read the book. Although sometimes it works in reverse for me - I felt like there were some important points missing in Les Miserables and at about 20 minutes into the movie had to pretend in my mind that I had never read the book!
DeleteI think you will like them them! It takes a few pages to get into the rhythm of the writing and then you are off to the races!
Ha, me too Ema. I've seen both the mini-series and the more recent movie with Kiera Knightly. I admit I have no wish to read the book after seeing the movies, they were both so good, especially the mini-series.
DeleteHa! I hear you! I am actually trying The Jane Austen Bookclub this afternon - have never seen it!
DeleteBath is a great city, it has such a rich cultural history, we've got pics of me posing there in my scratch and sniff t shirt and flared jeans at the Roman baths. Oh a plate of mutton actually sounds lovely, it's hub's birthday on Wednesday so we're having a treat today, the yearly "fish and chips' but with black pudding instead of fish - I know it repulses most people but boy is it tasty.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of black pudding?
DeleteThere are so many places to go! There is a great book written by Joan Bodger, How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books, that is just wonderful. She and her husband and their two children visited all the haunts of Children's books in Britain - my favourites were visitng A.A. Milne's wife and also meeting Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazons fame (A book my daughter and son both loved) - it is a great book and it also really made me want to do a literary tour of Britain, with plenty of stops at pubs along the way!
ZOMBIE SAUSAGE Tabs, the hubs here would be delighted that you are indulging in black pudding, which most over here think vile, although majority haven't had it. I can't do it at breakfast, but can manage a bit (rich) once a year or so, if I know where it was made and it is very crisp-ly fried.
DeleteOh. Just looked it up. Oh!
DeleteAte too much and had one too many cocktail. No black pudding for me!
Ah, a black pudding supper - bon appetit Tabitha! (I also love a white pudding supper - haven't had one in years though.)
DeleteOkay, I had to look that up, too and think I can do that!
DeleteJANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB WMM, you would really appreciate bubbly Bath and have a ball. There is also plenty to draw not-Austen devotees, architecture, gardens, history, good pubs. The annual September JA Centre-town festival is quite something - OTT and twee, but in a very charming way. I never really saw how "Clueless" is also considered an inspired-by (Emma) film, but it is wonderful how Jane's fame endures for each generation of readers and film watchers, her sensibilities are somehow timeless. Have you read any of the books of her letters to sister Cassandra etc.?
ReplyDeleteAnd you are right, even if her novels aren't your taste, it is compelling to think about someone who wrote six novels between her teens and 41, while never moving from the family home. Her insights about human nature, and for a spinster, matters of the heart, are really remarkable.
DeleteHi GF - I haven't read those books of letters - one more thing to get to! I think Bath looks amazing! It is so hard to fit it all in, but I am definitely going there!
Deleteand to your second point - she was pretty amazing, wasn't she? and to be read and studied 200 years later and considered a classic is unfathomable!
DeleteI am something of a Jane-ite, have several editions of the novels, but I did not know tomorrow was such as auspicious day. Thanks, WMM! My girls both love her , too, a gift for me.
ReplyDeleteOh you are so lucky! My daughter, who is almost 21, hasn't read her yet, but since she is doing a degree in english literature, will no doubt discover her soon!
DeleteAnne of Green Gables and Pride and Prejudice. Now you just have to throw in Little Women and you will have covered 3 of my favorite books growing up. I could watch the Keira Knightley movie over and over again, if only for the scenery. (And -it would be hard not to fall in love with the owner of Pemberley!)I have been to Bath and loved it, so now I need to make it to you neck of the woods for a peek of Anne territory.
ReplyDeleteYou have got to go to PEI. Green Gables is VERY commercial, but most of the rest of the island is pristine and her aunt and uncle's house up on the shore is amazing.
DeleteI love Little Women.
The Keira Knightley movie was gorgeous and very earthy - all the muck on the dresses - and certainly fed into all the fan fiction! I also loved the Little House books and All of a Kind Family. Oh and the Enid Blyton adventure books were huge favourites!
Hi WMM, I have never seen the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice, but I adore the one with Keira Knightley - Matthew MacFadyen is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI hope you manage to do your literary pilgrimage of the UK some day - what a fabulous theme for a holiday!
Hi Patricia! You should definitely try the miniseries - it really is great! I sure hope I get there, too!
DeleteI love "Pride and Prejudice", so bright, sparkling and witty! It's one of those books I can read over and over and never get tired of. My husband and I both enjoyed the most recent movie adaptation with Keira Knightley. I know lots of people loved the BBC miniseries with Colin Firth, but I did not like it very much (blasphemy, I know!). I liked the earlier series from the 1980s much better.
ReplyDeleteHi Louise! Not blasphemy at all! I liked them all, but they were all so different! I agree - an amazing book!
ReplyDelete