I love this book. I have it in at least 3 different forms and always have it loaded on my table and/or phone. It’s one of the rare books I keep around to pick up and put down regularly.
It isn’t a great love story. Damn, I get mad about the women in the book and their manipulation and the toxic society they lived in that led to those machinations. But it it is one my favorites nonetheless. I love Jane, the sister who loves everyone and lives in her own idealized version of the world. I love Charlotte, the ultimate pragmatist. I even love Lydia, the sister who you love and dread. And of course I love Elizabeth. The woman who doesn’t want to compromise her ideals for pragmatism. She wants love; even at the cost of fortune. She isn’t willing to give into her society that says material wealth is the only option for her.
I would love to see the book where she never met (or at least never married) Darcy. Maybe Darcy didn’t come with Bingley. Maybe he went to his aunt’s and ended up getting married to Ms. DeBourgh. Either way, Jane ends up with Bingley and Elizabeth ends up without Darcy. What would she have become?
Anyway. That’s a different story (pun!). What I want to discuss is actually the different TV & Movie versions. I rewatched the Kiera Knighly (2005) recently and it just made me want to want the 1995 version (Jennifer Ehle & Colin Firth). I don’t think I will ever watch the 1940 version (Greer Garson) again but… “never say never.” It might make a good girl’s night of drinking and roasting sometime.
The biggest reason I like the 1995 version best is the time they give to developing the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy. In both of the theater-length versions it’s very forced when he proposes. It feels out of the blue. It feels weird and unnatural. I don’t think it’s just that Colin Firth is a good actor, but it’s also because he and Elizabeth had some good scenes where it was clear his attraction was building and she was missing all the clues.
It is rare a book modifies well to the big screen (adult books, kid books are easier) simply because of length. Much less first-person-perspective books. Thankfully, P&P isn’t first-person, BUT… it is dense. The book is dense. There is little description. There is a lot of assumption about scene. Almost everything is done through conversation. It’s hard to condense that into a 2-ish-hour box.
The Ehle/Firth version is six hours and they still had to condense a few scenes from the book.
Hell, Lord of the Rings was over 9 hours long and still cut a LOT of shit out – and anyone who has READ LOTR knows it’s like 1/3 scene description. Tolkien happily spent pages on trees. Not even the talking/walking trees.
Just my opinion, but can we officially stop trying to turn books into crappy short versions? We see tv series is a better medium. Let’s do it right.
Dream by Day 