Today we welcome Tamara of Traveling with T! Austen is one of my fave authors so this post thrilled me!
A couple of years ago, I confessed a huge #literaryconfession: I had never read a book by Jane Austen. Oh, I knew the basic plot line of Pride and Prejudice (having watched bits and pieces of the various movie adaptations) and I knew Mr. Darcy’s classic lines. But, the actual sitting down and holding the book in my hand, I did not know.
A couple of years ago, I confessed a huge #literaryconfession: I had never read a book by Jane Austen. Oh, I knew the basic plot line of Pride and Prejudice (having watched bits and pieces of the various movie adaptations) and I knew Mr. Darcy’s classic lines. But, the actual sitting down and holding the book in my hand, I did not know.
Cue Twitter: I virtually met this great group of
people on Twitter who were HUGE Jane Austen fans. The more I talked to them,
the more they encouraged me to give Jane a chance (but they were totally not
judge-y of the fact that I had not read ole Jane). So, finally- I sat down and
pulled up Jane’s Pride and Prejudice on my Kindle and began to read. And read.
And read some more.
At one point, in the book, I believe I hollered
out “Jane, ole Jane, did you not have an editor? Did someone not think that
removing some of these pages would be a good idea?” (I’ll pause while you get
your smelling salts). I considered sitting the book down several times. I may
have even muttered sentences such as “This is why I don’t read classics. It
takes me too long to get into the flow of the language.” At less than 300
pages, I figured it would not take me that long to read ( I read 300 page books
ALL THE TIME!) But the language, gee good golly, the language- I just wasn’t
taken with it.
Until I was.
I finally get to the part of the book where Darcy
proposes to Elizabeth- and from then on, I’m loving it. I’m interested. I want
to know what happens next.
By August, I had finished Pride and Prejudice (not
reading all the time- I did set the book aside several times to pick up other
books that were tempting me with their luscious covers) and I began to think
about Jane and all that she was saying in Pride and Prejudice. And, truly, how
universal the themes of Pride and Prejudice are- love, secrets, betrayal, and
family.
In the end, even as I bemoaned Jane and the so
flowery language of her time- I was a better person for sticking with the book
and spending my summer with Jane.
