Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife, by Linda Berdoll

465 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Historical/Romance

Normally I disapprove of sequels written by people other than the original author, but when I went to the library to pick up the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice, I saw this on the shelf and checked it out on a whim. The book has a lot of issues--big issues, which in normal circumstances would never let me finish reading. However, Berdoll's excellent characterization and my mood for fluff saved it.

So let me talk about the cons first. The POV is omniscient, allowing for a convulted plot and numerous irritating time jumps between scenes--some flashbacks, some flash-forwards, and some flash-I-don't-know-where. Berdoll tries for a grand epic story complete with elaborate purple prose. I can only assume that she was trying to imitate Austen's style, which I found rather long-winded in the first place. After a few hundred pages the prose became semi-invisible, miraculously. I was then able to concentrate on Berdoll's only writing strength: characters.

Truly, the sole reason I finished and actually like this book is characterization. Although the characters belong to Austen, Berdoll develops them further and vividly, especially secondary characters like Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Even with clumsy exposition-style internal monologue, by the last page I felt reluctant sympathy for all the characters, including Wickham (who is the main antagonist). And, of course, I adored Darcy and Elizabeth--the book is a traditional romance in that respect. I have, in fact, placed the sequel to the sequel (Darcy & Elizabeth) on the top of my to-read list. I guess it's too much to hope that Berdoll will have fixed her prose, though.

The Diary of Ma Yan

The Diary of Ma Yan: The Struggles and Hopes of a Chinese Schoolgirl by Ma Yan (edited by Pierre Haski, translated from French by Lisa Appignanesi, originally translated from Mandarin by He Yanping)
166 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Nonfiction/YA/Diary

Another reading whim, this time from the tiny school library. The secondhand translation raised my suspicions a bit, but this slim volume lost none of its sombering, heartrending impact. To give just one quote (used on the inside cover): "My stomach is all twisted up from hunger, but I don't want to spend the money on anything so frivolous as food. Because it's money my parents earn with their sweat and blood. I have to study well so that I won't ever again be tortured by hunger."

And that sums up the book better than I ever could. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone, but especially all the Chinese people out there in the world. I wearied long ago of hearing my dad's childhood stories of poverty, but Ma Yan's story is so much more painful. There are thousands of girls like her in rural China--her diary was published only by a chance encounter. And here I am, living in prosperity, with my worst financial worry being unable to afford a summer writing workshop.

It really makes you stop and think, and give heartfelt thanks to fortune of birth, however unfair it seems.

Pride and Prejudice (film)

Pride and Prejudice
Starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen
Rated PG (~2 hrs)

Eee! Such an amazing movie. I love Austen's original novel, and I thoroughly approve of this adaptation. Elizabeth Bennet is played to perfection by Knightley; Mr. Darcy is just as handsome as everyone assured me. Absolutely lovely film, this was.

I knew it would be poignant, but the most touching scenes came when I didn't expect them. Lizzie's father laughing alone in his study after agreeing to her marriage--it illustrated the concept of laughing and crying at the same time without resorting to melodrama. My favorite character was, surprisingly, Charlotte, for her real sacrifice of marrying for comfort, protection, and financial security instead of love. Charlotte is "plain" and therefore not beautiful, or even pretty; she doesn't have Lizzie's prospects of making a good match, and she accepts the poor hand that Fortune has dealt her.

I did have some issues with the ending, however. The climatic panorama shot of Darcy walking in hte rain toward Lizzie was a bit long. Lady Catherine's objection to the marriage was sort of just brushed aside--I would have liked to see more resolution of that subplot. And ending on a kiss is classic chick flick, but I wanted a bit more substance and a bit less fluff for the classic Regency romance.

I still adore this movie though. For once, a book-turned-film hasn't been a terrible disappointment. Huzzah!