Abandoned by Shellie ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

 

Abandoned!

I tried this in audio with two formats, and read a bit. In the first the reader did not have a pleasant voice - stuffy and with a nasal sound. Very annoying. The second reader's narration was much more pleasant but after listening for a few hours I know now that I will become very annoyed and frustrated with the conversations and what appears to be petty manipulations and suppositions by the characters.

I am not a big romance fan, had enough Victoriana as a kid (mom dragged us to antiques stores for hours on end) and I am fairly certain that “reading it” will also produce the same feeling, since I did read several chapters as well. Perhaps I will try again in a few years?  Probably not.

I do think Nancy Pearl has a great philosophy - the older you get the less time you should spend on books you don't enjoy. She even has a mathematical formula for it. Here is her quote:

If you're 50 years old or younger, give every book about 50 pages before you decide to commit yourself to reading it, or give it up. If you're over 50, which is when time gets shorter, subtract your age from 100 - the result is the number of pages you should read before deciding whether or not to quit. If you're 100 or over you get to judge the book by its cover, despite the dangers in doing so.

— Nancy Pearl

I have read more than 50 pages of this book, parts twice. I quit!  1 star.

• MP3 Book
• Published March 10th 2005 (first published 1813)
• by Blackstone Audio, Inc.

After Thoughts:   Even though I have chosen to stop reading this book I do value it as a literary classic. I know that it is also considered to be a feminist work (thanks to Linds). I also decided that since I did not want to finish it I would at least like to know its plot. So I went to Wikipedia.

Beyond the plot line, listed there are a large number of books which are linked to the novel.  Modern movies such as Bridget Jones (which I enjoyed in movie format), speculative fiction off shoots, and a number of other interesting flotsam. One non fiction book in particular attempts to hypothesize that Mr. Darcy had  Autism - albeit on the lower end of the spectrum. I found this interesting when considering his lack of social skills exhibited in the beginning of the novel.

In summary, I now can watch the movie, since I generally will not read a book after watching the movie. However, I have been informed that the movie has left some key bits out (thanks to Logan). We shall see if I make it through one of the movie or TV versions.

This book will be included in the challenge Fill in the Gaps as part of its 25% forgiveness element.

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Beyond this book abandonment, for this week we have:

• a giveaway - Hothouse Flower by Margot Berwin
• a ton of previews (very behind on them)
• a couple of reviews (behind on these too)

Goodness knows what else will manifest as the week progresses.

I am working on the England trip post for all our anglophile friends, residents, and vicarious travelers, as well as a software preview to help one write a novel. Where the last one sounds very intriguing.

Happy Monday!