Monday, August 30, 2010

Abandoned by Shellie ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

  7819667

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.

***********************************************************************

Beyond this book abandonment, for this week we have:

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!

9 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Lol, sometimes I give up on page 10! I am so bad

Unknown said...

Blodeuedd -
lol... I have 124 reviews for it on good reads in my friend's list and most are 5 and 4 stars. I felt like the odd ball so I gave it a triple go.

And no your not bad - life is short and there are so many books... :)

I have given up on page 10 before too...

Alexia561 said...

So sorry that you didn't enjoy this one and couldn't finish. But I totally agree with Nancy that life is too short to read books we're not enjoying! I really like her formula!

Maybe try the movie version? The one with Colin Firth seems to be the most popular one. Enjoy!terocla

Rose said...

Completely, 100% couldn't agree with you more. Jane Austen is just a bore to me. However, I did love your mom's Victorian sense of style, and I do love Collins and Dickens, however, not this gal.

Honestly, I did enjoy P&P Kiera Knightly. The movie seems to play better than the books in this case.
:)

Unknown said...

Alexia -
Colin Firth apparently plays in several of the Mr Darcy parts? One on BBC, a movie and Bridgett Jones... did I get that right? Yes I have the BBC dvd on my shelf here from the library. Now to watch it with out falling asleep.

Nancy Pearl is amazing. I am a big fan. I have just finished her 3 books (on books) and will have a review coming up for them soon.
I will be adding a bunch of her book suggestions on goodreads soon.

Rose -
My mom is an amazing artist and a wonderful person. I totally loved growing up with her.

I just remember hour after hour of antiques and wall paper and gosh... It gets boring for a kid. I bet you I was the only kid you know that at 8 who could tell you the difference between mahogany, oak, and veneer...lol.

I was annoyed with the book. Life is just too short.

My next attempt will be the Brontes. Which are from North Yorkshire where John's from. I am thinking they will be a little more my style. I will be able to relate since I have visited the area extensively.

We shall see. :)

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I read this one as a teenager, and I think I liked it...but I only vaguely recall the story!

But I'm with you...in my "old" age, I have less patience, and I'm guessing that I would probably abandon it as well.

Definitely enjoy the rule of pages, based on age.

I would NEVER enjoy an audio...I hate listening to narrations. And if the voice is weird, I'd be so frustrated.

Unknown said...

Laurel -
I am surprised. I would have thought you would have enjoyed P&P from what I do know about you.

I love Nancy Pearl's rule - its like a get out of guilt free card.

As for myself I like the audio format for classic and more - especially while I exercise or when my eyes are tired.

However, this woman's voice was very annoying. I am not big on the upper class English stuff either so perhaps that's part of it.

Its the movie for me :)

Linda said...

Agreed. Life is too short to suffer through books you don't enjoy! On to something you enjoy!

Unknown said...

Linda -
Exactly! :) And I have... thanks for the support.

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