Pride and Prejudice obsession

Many years ago, I begged my mom to buy me this really big and heavy Jane Austen book. In my memory, this took place in the National Book Store at SM, but I don't know that for sure. My mom had hesitations about making the purchase since it was expensive, but when I explained to her that it was really a collection of 3 Austen novels (Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion) and therefore worth the money, she acceeded to my demand request.

So that night, I set to work trying to read the famed Pride and Prejudice. I was not a reader of classics, so I really wanted my first to be special. I affixed small, neon strips of paper next to sentences that I liked. Whenever I encountered an unfamiliar word, I looked it up in our big dictionary (yes, the old-fashioned way; hindi pa uso ang Internet noon) and wrote it down on a Post-It. Needless to say, it was the most effort I had ever put into reading a work of fiction.

Alas, my young and feeble mind could not keep up with the long-winded sentences and old-fashioned style of writing. I realized that I was 15 pages in and I still had no inkling of what was going on in the story. So I gave up and returned to old habits, picking up where I left off in the pocketbook section at Booksale. Who doesn't love a good Koontz novel?

Then a couple of years ago, my sister told me that she had picked up my old copy of Pride and Prej and actually finished it. She even laughed at my little old notes and remarked at how easy it was to tell where I had stopped reading (the first 15 pages were heavily annotated and the rest of the book was practically immaculate). Bummer.

When my first year of med school ended and I found myself with four months to kill before the reopening of school in August, I vowed to read as many (non-medical) books as I possibly could (you know, to last me the year). So, last month, I started re-reading the Austen novel I had so cruelly abandoned years ago.

Getting through the first few pages was still not easy. But I am a smarter girl and a better reader than I was before. I had long dropped the stupid Post-it notes act (Who was I kidding, anyway? I never highlight or annotate unless school-related). I did find my old dictionary notes to be helpful. E.g. I was wondering what the word felicity meant until I came upon a note explaining just that (it means "a state of happiness"). Thank you, former self! Your silly note-taking paid off after all. Well, at least for the first few pages.

Anyway, about the novel. What I really love about reading this story is discovering the similarities between the people of England in the 1800s and the people of the world in 2015. When you strip away the poofy dresses, shotgun weddings, and dated diction, what you're left with could easily be a true story that happened today. Austen takes such pains to describe the twists and turns of a conversation, letting us in on every awkward pause and cheeky joke, that the characters (and Austen's world) feel oddly real and immediate. I guess I always assumed that as the human species grew older, our social habits and patterns would evolve as well. And of course they have, in many wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) ways. But reading this novel, however fictional it may be, is still a reminder that there are some things that remain constant about us humans. That we can seek comfort in other people. That we have the capacity to love and to unlove, to hurt and to be hurt.

Sigh. After powering through the first few pages, it soon became an easy read. And once I was done with the novel, I knew I had to have more, so I watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on YouTube. It's a modern-day adaptation of the Austen novel told in a video blog format. My friend Cheryl long ago recommended the series to me (in addition to recommending that I finish the book), and last night, my sister Caitlin said I should watch it as well. So I started the series around 12 AM, paused to get some sleep, and then, upon waking up, spent the entire day marathoning it.

I am very satisfied. The series does the novel justice and adds so much more to it, making the characters' struggles and triumphs more relatable. And it's a joy for me to see such a wonderful ensemble of strong, relatable female characters. Caroline Darcy is a favorite. And Jane Bennet, of course.

Now that I'm finished with both the novel and the video adaptation, I am considering watching the Colin Firth movie version but I shall wait. I've had too much Pride and Prejudice too soon, and I'm worried that when I'm through with the movie, I will have nothing left to fuel my P&P obsession. Just now, after finishing the web series, I delved into the second installment in the Bridget Jones' Diary series (Edge of Reason). I'm only on the first few pages but it is surprisingly comforting to be in Bridget's world again right after being in Elizabeth's. Come to think of it, Bridget Jones is quite similar to Lizzie Bennet. They are both outspoken and driven young women whose moms are hell-bent on finding them a good husband. Heck, they're even both involved with a Mr. Darcy (in Bridget's case, she actually acknowledges Mark Darcy's similarity to the Darcy from the Austen novel). I wish Bridget and Lizzie could exist in the same world as me. I think the three of us would get along swimmingly.

I gotta go. It's almost 10 o'clock and I have only a few hours left until Mom makes me go to bed. Tschus!