Happy Birthday, Pride and Prejudice
January 28, 2013 in Blog, Books, Tweetspeak Poetry
How’d you spend your weekend? Me? Snuggled up to my desk with a hyper-linked digital copy of Pride and Prejudice and the Jane Austen Thesaurus.
I have to be honest. Pride and Prejudice was the book that finally convinced me that it was permissible to stop reading a book you really didn’t enjoy. The irony of spending my weekend with a book I still haven’t read is not lost on me.
Today is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and at Tweetspeak we just can’t help ourselves but to celebrate these events. (We were late for Edith Wharton’s birthday, so we’re making up for it with the festivities today. We have a Pride and Prejudice themed playlist, a clever set of Pride and Prejudice quotes, and coming later today a definitive set of Austen resources to help you enjoy even Lizzy’s grueling trek across a muddy field in the rain.
And? My weekend project:
The Simpleton’s Guide to Pride and Prejudice: An Infographic.
Want to share this infographic on your blog? Grab the code, and please credit with a link to the original post at Tweetspeak Poetry.
Holey moley, woman. You must be exhausted! This is terrific fun – I am only sorry that you couldn’t find much fun in the book because I’ve always thought it was hysterically so. And you did leave out one of the more interesting plot devices: Lizzie’s friendship with Charlotte and Charlotte’s very pragmatic approach to her marriage to the vicar-of-such-astounding-pomposity. I actually found that whole story line important on lots of different levels. The commitments of friendship, the habit of travel/visiting for long periods of time in that day/the ugly classism of Darcy’s aunt/the almost farcical turns of events that ensue from this trip and the one Elizabeth takes with her aunt. In fact, I remember being impressed with the ease with which people regularly traveled fairly long distances in those days. Somehow, I guess I thought everyone just stayed home. :>) (Personally, I think “Persuasion” is the very finest example of Austen’s writing genius. It makes me weep every time.) This probably means you cannot abide some of my favorite things in all of life – the BBC productions of Austen’s works, most especially the 5 part Colin Firth be-still-my-beating-heart extravaganza of the 1980′s. The Joe Wright production grew on me, however, and I have now viewed my copy many times. On a more serious note, I will add this bit of trivia. When I was heartbroken with grief over the state of my son-in-law’s health and the dreadful burden my daughter carried for so many years, I turned to Austen with regularity. I really needed a happy ending and she gave me many. I watched movies/tv productions multiple times and read all of her books again. There is a reason she has endured, despite the incredibly difficult vocab at times.
Diana, be sure to read the reprint at TSP of one of Kimberlee’s articles on P&P. It’s wonderful. http://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2013/01/28/5-amusing-pride-and-prejudice-quotes-wet-shirt-included/
Also, though I am hesitant to admit, spending the time on the research this weekend did sort of make me maybe a little bit interested in trying it again. We’ll see.
When I was reading last time, I gave up and put Sense and Sensibility on Netflix. So I’m not a total loss to Austen.
A delightful cheat sheet version of “Pride and Prejudice for Dummies.”
I rather enjoy them [Austen's books], some more so than others. I think it’s the “sensibility of humor” aspect.
Delightful, Miss Lyla!I agree with Diane: the happy endings still are welcome respose in this world. And I dearly love Austen’s classical writing style of stating circumstances and opinion in such eloquent manner
(See, just the remembrance of it removes any snarky comments)