Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Wish me luck!

I am actually (I can't believe I'm saying this) attempting to read....

...are you ready?...






Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.




I know, I know... the people who know me in real life are saying, "WHAT?? You hate 19th century literature!" And that is true. The melodrama and the way every conversation is so drawn out makes me want to cry. But the way I look at it, if I could slog through Moby Dick and find it funny ("Alas, York was a butterless man...") and read The Lord of the Rings (INCLUDING, I might add, all the elf songs... although I was ready to scream at the end if one more character decided to belt out a tune), then surely I can wade through Pride and Prejudice, right?

PLEASE tell me I'm right!

Now watch... I'll get more comments than I could ever DREAM of getting, all telling me that this is their favorite book of all time. I respect and honor all of you out there -- truly I do! But this is just not my genre (despite the fact that I think The Count of Monte Cristo was one of the best fiction books I ever read), and I have set a lofty goal for myself.

Wish me luck.

8 comments:

Rebekka said...

Good luck. My mom feels your pain. I made her read Persuasion. (I loves Jane Austen.)

I agree with you about Lord of the Rings, though. I get that it's epic. I just which it wasn't epically slow and long... :-(

I hope the rewards make the struggle worth it!

Unknown said...

All I can say is, "Yee-ha!" You know full well how much I love this, so if you hate it, be gentle. But it's wonderful, insightful, witty...and short.

No elf songs that have more stanzas than "Amazing Grace" in a Baptist church, no epic battle scenes, no melodramatic speeches, no butterless men-- I think you'll like it once you adjust to her style. And she does have style. :-)

Enjoy, my friend!

Unknown said...

And yes, The Count of Monte Cristo was, for lack of a suitable nineteenth-century phrase, totally AWESOME.

Beth said...

Good luck. I can't believe you made it through LOTR. Good LORD :)

I LOVED the Count.

CD said...

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice. I love Austin's witticism (Mr. Bennett is a riot albeit not the best father). Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorites as you know. I place Austin's books up there too. I think I enjoy her insight into people. Although they lived in a more genteel time period and their lives were governed by the rigors of a class system, there is an element there that transcends time. In the end for Austin, true love tempered by integrity always prevails over the confines of the human-imposed systems. I hope you find at least some enjoyment from the book.

Ouiz said...

See? I knew it! I knew I'd get lots of comments if I mentioned trying to get through P&P! *grin*

Seriously, thank you for the encouragement.

It helps a great deal (I think) to have watched the A&E version (thank you very much). I just got to the point where Mr. Collins is introduced, and in my mind I see the greasy character he was in the mini-series, which makes it much more enjoyable.

Glad to see that so many of you agreed with me on the Count of Monte Cristo. Incredible book!

And yes, Beth, I did manage to slog through LOTR. Toward the end, though, I really was talking out loud to it: "You have GOT to be kidding me. ANOTHER elf song? Why can't you people just talk things out????"

You have to admire the actor Christopher Lee (who played Sauroman in the film). He reads the book EVERY YEAR.

Oy.

Angie said...

Kathy,

I also despise 19th Brit. Lit and adore 19th Amer. Lit. However, I forced myself to trudge through P&P recently. It took me awhile to get into it, but by the end, I actually kind of enjoyed it. Not my favorite book, and I won't read it again, but I enjoyed the humor. :-) Happy reading!

Ouiz said...

Angela, I hope you are right! So far it's been slooooow going!