The Last - Pride and Prejudice

Here we are, the last blog in our Jane Austen Challenge, the challenge to read all her books in a year and watch at least one movie related to those books. And...honestly, I'm out of steam. I've read all the books, ages ago (and loved them), and I saw the movies (those were great, too), but the writing has tripped me up.

My excuse list is very long, but basically it boils down to this: there are hundreds of Pride and Prejudice reviews online, so there is absolutely nothing that I can say that has not already been said.

If you want to read a really great review, you can go here:
http://classiclit.about.com/od/prideprejudice/fr/aa_prideprej.htm

or here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/187911?book_show_action=true

So what words can I choose for this very last blog of this series? Jane Austen books are entertaining, thoughtful, funny, engaging. Pride and Prejudice is one of her most famous, and if you only choose one to read, this would be an excellent choice. No, there are no fight scenes, sweeping commentaries on social inequalities, or Fifty Shades style love scenes.

But giving Jane a try brings huge rewards. When you read Jane Austen you will:
- enlarge your vocabulary. After a few chapters you will catch the rhythm of the language and hear the meaning behind the words.
- appreciate the expanded social world where we live. In the 1700s England's rigid social system allowed very few "self-made" men and absolutely no women. With no career mobility or political voice, women (and some men) survived by marrying well. Marrying for love (or even for like) was a luxury.
- make friends. Her genius ability to observe and record personal interactions brings each character right into the room with me. The side comments, whispered to the back of her hand, are the winks of a best friend, leaning in close, sharing a private joke.
- learn that, even after all this time, people have not changed much. Parents still want their children to be happy and settled. Mean girls still try to take the best looking man. Hearts still get broken. A beautifully worded letter of apology will still win the girl. And we all love a happy ending.

I hope you have taken time to read at least one of these books we have reviewed through this last year. For my part, I am richer for taking on this challenge and very glad for it.

What about you? Have you read any Austen? Which is your favorite? Which movie version of Pride and Prejudice do you like? Who is your favorite Elizabeth? or Mr. Darcy?

Next blog we will go back to the Top 100 Books...Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens.

The "Plus" Bit

Hello all, and back to the blog…

After taking a year plus off for other work opportunities, family responsibilities draw me back home and set me down at the computer.

When I read early in 2013 that this year marks the 200 anniversary of the publishing of Pride and Prejudice the book nerd in me rose up and smelled a challenge.  I searched the internet and read blogs suggesting celebrating the anniversary by not only reading Jane Austen’s works, but also commentaries about her writing, listening to audio books, even traveling to sites where she wrote and lived! Feeling overwhelmed, I was tempted to push away from the computer and go back to folding the laundry.

But then I stopped…This blog is called “One Hundred Books Plus”, and I cannot let the “Plus” part of the blog title hang neglected. New positions and life situations call me to readjust my focus. Why could we not have our own scaled-down version of our own Jane Austen challenge in our little gathering?

I set as a personal goal to read all of Jane Austen’s works this year. They are: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey.

Would you like to join me? Of course, for research and the sake of comparison, I also will be watching at least one movie adaptation of each of these books (can’t get enough of Mr. Darcy striding across the moors in that puffy shirt!).  

I’m starting with Mansfield Park. For those of us who are checkbook challenged you can download this for free to Kindle or pop by your local library. I have found three Mansfield Park films: one mini series on Netflix and two on You Tube.

Let’s plan to meet with a favorite beverage and our thoughts, rants and raves the end of March.

Have fun!

And don’t worry, we’ll pick back up with the 100 Books List very soon!