Two hundred years of Pride and Prejudice, and with all the blogging going on about it, this is one discussion we definitely want to be a part of!
I will begin by relating how I was introduced to this story. One night more than twenty years ago, I came home late from work. Cindy and our son were asleep, but I was too wound up to go straight to bed, so I turned the TV on and started watching a movie. I didn’t even know the name of it, but recognized Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. The movie immediately grabbed my full attention, because it was really funny! I came in around the middle of it - I say middle meaning somewhere after the beginning - and can point out the exact scene: it’s the part with the bulldog puppies.
Anyway, I finally found out the name of the movie on one of the commercial breaks -- Pride & Prejudice. At the time, I had no idea there was a book by that name, and with head held low, I must admit I had never even heard of Jane Austen. But I loved this movie and had to go rent it asap so I could see the whole thing and share it with Cindy, after which I quickly bought it. It was VHS; there were no DVDs back then... as a matter of fact, we had just recently purchased our first VCR and entered the world of watching what-you-like when-you-like at home!
This was my introduction to one of the greatest love stories ever told.
Although it has been many years now, I have made it a practice to read P&P once a year. Each time the dialogue sounds fresh, and of course, funny. Even though I know the story so well, I find myself swept along, feeling all the emotion I did the first time I read it. Despite the fact that some guys would laugh at that, I think most who kid their wives about “chic-flicks” really enjoy them as much as the women in their lives do. I mean, there are plenty of “real men” involved in the making of these films.
For the two hundred year anniversary of P&P, we will be blogging about the movies, characters and so on. We look forward to sharing our thoughts about what we like and don’t like about the different movie versions -- there are many, you know. And we will consider each character and who we think plays the part best.
Even though we take our Jane Austen quite seriously around here, it should be great fun. Please join us and leave comments whenever you feel like it.
