Okay, I have to begin my first book post with a confession--my first of many, if I am to live up to my pretentious blog title. I LOVE Jane Austen. Please, before you run screaming into online oblivion, never to return, give me a chance. I DO acknowledge there are other authors--some even from this century. I DON'T parade around in Regency costume, learning country dances and holding tea parties (not that there's anything wrong with that). I've never fantasized about being swept away by Mr. Darcy, or even Colin Firth. But I've been enjoying Austen's work since I was in my teens, re-reading every few years, and am always entertained by her gentle nuance, and amazed by her razor wit. I'll save individual reviews of her books for future posts, but if you've never given Jane a try, you might be pleasantly surprised by her.
So I decided my first book had to pay tribute to my favorite authoress, with a review of a recent Jane Austen "sequel". You see, there is an entire literary sub-genre of JA fan fiction--sequels, prequels, retellings, modernizations, etc. Since poor Jane only managed to give us a few novels, her fans have always hungered for more. As you can imagine, some of these are better than others. And none of them truly live up to the originals. Still, after you've read "Pride and Prejudice" for the eighth or ninth time you want to find a way to spend a little more time with Lizzie and Darcy. It's fun to see her world through others' eyes, and read what they imagine might have happened after the curtain fell, or how the story might be seen from the perspective of a different protagonist.
That's the premise of Janet Aylmer's "Darcy's Story". Rather than relating the events through the eyes of Lizzie Bennet, JA's female protagonist, the author chooses to tell us the story as experienced by Darcy, the leading man. As Mr. D is the brooding, strong silent type, we were always left wondering just what was going through his mind at critical moments. Aylmer seeks to answer this question for us, while also filling us in on what he was doing during the lengthy passages in the original in which he does not appear.
I've read several of these novels, and I have to commend the author for her attempt to remain true to the original, unlike so many others. Unfortunately, this leads to her using much of Austen's material, including long passages of dialogue repeated verbatim. I found myself thinking I could just have read "Pride and Prejudice" and probably enjoyed it more. That said, I did enjoy the story. The character of Darcy was a bit more fleshed out, and the author's imaginings of what he might have been doing, thinking, and saying in those times in which he is not a part of the main action of the story are interesting and well thought out. Aylmer also does a very good job retaining the writing style and language of the early eighteenth century without sounding stilted or artificial. And I appreciated the fact that that, unlike many contemporary reworkings of Austen's work, no attempt was made to made to "spice up" the work for a modern audience.
Not Jane Austen, but not bad. And believe me, I've read enough bad to recognize it.
So I decided my first book had to pay tribute to my favorite authoress, with a review of a recent Jane Austen "sequel". You see, there is an entire literary sub-genre of JA fan fiction--sequels, prequels, retellings, modernizations, etc. Since poor Jane only managed to give us a few novels, her fans have always hungered for more. As you can imagine, some of these are better than others. And none of them truly live up to the originals. Still, after you've read "Pride and Prejudice" for the eighth or ninth time you want to find a way to spend a little more time with Lizzie and Darcy. It's fun to see her world through others' eyes, and read what they imagine might have happened after the curtain fell, or how the story might be seen from the perspective of a different protagonist.
That's the premise of Janet Aylmer's "Darcy's Story". Rather than relating the events through the eyes of Lizzie Bennet, JA's female protagonist, the author chooses to tell us the story as experienced by Darcy, the leading man. As Mr. D is the brooding, strong silent type, we were always left wondering just what was going through his mind at critical moments. Aylmer seeks to answer this question for us, while also filling us in on what he was doing during the lengthy passages in the original in which he does not appear.
I've read several of these novels, and I have to commend the author for her attempt to remain true to the original, unlike so many others. Unfortunately, this leads to her using much of Austen's material, including long passages of dialogue repeated verbatim. I found myself thinking I could just have read "Pride and Prejudice" and probably enjoyed it more. That said, I did enjoy the story. The character of Darcy was a bit more fleshed out, and the author's imaginings of what he might have been doing, thinking, and saying in those times in which he is not a part of the main action of the story are interesting and well thought out. Aylmer also does a very good job retaining the writing style and language of the early eighteenth century without sounding stilted or artificial. And I appreciated the fact that that, unlike many contemporary reworkings of Austen's work, no attempt was made to made to "spice up" the work for a modern audience.
Not Jane Austen, but not bad. And believe me, I've read enough bad to recognize it.
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