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The Annotated Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen and David M. Shapard
739 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Nonfiction/Literary/Romance
This was my second reading of Pride and Prejudice; obviously it is significantly longer. It took me ~2 months to finish reading--I've renewed it at the library three times. But nevertheless, I do think it's worthwhile for Austen fans. The annotations are interesting and point out things that I would have never thought to consider on my own--the period meaning of "afternoon," for instance. The flow, however, is slowed by these asides; I would definitely not recommend this book for a first-time reader of Austen's most famous work. Shapard is a serious Austen scholar--the effort in determining chronology alone is beyond admirable.
Reading it so slowly, I am reminded of how characteristic the romance really is of Regency archetypes. Although Darcy and Elizabeth are depicted as developing a rational (versus passionate) love, they are in each other's company very little. Not much time passes from first meeting to engagement, if one considers that Shapard frequently discusses the novel as a model of realistic love. Well, not really.
It's still lovely and loveable, though.
by Jane Austen and David M. Shapard
739 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Nonfiction/Literary/Romance
This was my second reading of Pride and Prejudice; obviously it is significantly longer. It took me ~2 months to finish reading--I've renewed it at the library three times. But nevertheless, I do think it's worthwhile for Austen fans. The annotations are interesting and point out things that I would have never thought to consider on my own--the period meaning of "afternoon," for instance. The flow, however, is slowed by these asides; I would definitely not recommend this book for a first-time reader of Austen's most famous work. Shapard is a serious Austen scholar--the effort in determining chronology alone is beyond admirable.
Reading it so slowly, I am reminded of how characteristic the romance really is of Regency archetypes. Although Darcy and Elizabeth are depicted as developing a rational (versus passionate) love, they are in each other's company very little. Not much time passes from first meeting to engagement, if one considers that Shapard frequently discusses the novel as a model of realistic love. Well, not really.
It's still lovely and loveable, though.
