Tag: literature
Review: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
June 12, 2020 December 15, 2020 bookspoils1 Comment
I realized while scrolling through my extensive ravings for Rainbow Rowell's books, I've failed to include Attachments in the excitement. We're gathered here today to mend that mistake.
"Or maybe he was just afraid to do something real."
Funny to consider that Attachments used to be my least favorite Rowell book, maybe a bit above Landline, simply because I could not be bothered to even think about the adult world when I first read those books. And now, Attachments is like my second favorite book of hers right after Fangirl. You know what that is?
Who knew I'd become an adult so soon? They grow up so fast.
If you asked in short, why I love this book, I'd say it's because of the characters. With Lincoln's fear of moving forward in life, yet afraid of standing still. Plus, the moms in this book are something to behold. Attachments is full of Rainbow Rowell's excellent dialogue, thanks to Beth and Jennifer's email exchanges. Also, it's an obvious biased reason to love a character, but Lincoln is such a Cath (Fangirl).
"If he didn't look, he didn't risk accidental eye contact."
I guess I really love my introverted representation. For a minute there, I let myself wonder how Cath and Lincoln would get along. But given that they're both main characters taken from Rainbow's mind, it feels taboo crossing them over, as if they're related or something because they were created by the same person.
Okay, that's it in short. But you know we don't do short around here, so let me rave extensively about the beauty of this storyline:
I think I secretly love Attachments so much, mainly for the fact that all I ever wanted is a guy to interpret my telepathic gestures at him. So of course, I secretly took joy in Lincoln's adjusted behavior upon reading Beth's thoughts on him. It's like he has insider info. I mean not like – he actually does, but still… It's kind of a dream not having to actually approach the guy. He knows your opinion, feels the same, and is secretly reciprocating your thoughts to show 'I'm here. I like you too.' Mr. Darcy would approve.
"If this were a Jane Austen novel, it wouldn't be so bad—if you were intercepting my letters, and I was peeking over your garden hedge …Computers make everything worse."
You know it's a lot to take in the invasion of privacy that happens so I felt a tiny bit relieved when Beth would do the same to him, like trying to follow him home, and planning an imaginative life with him and feeling betrayed when she thinks he's already settled down
"Wondering what his name is. And whether he's as nice as he seems. And whether he likes piña coladas and getting caught in the rain …"
Would you believe it if I said that song was stuck in my head for hours after…
Also, funny that this isn't her first rodeo of creeping on a guy. See below how she met Chris, her douche boyfriend, who we all, including Beth, ignore (does it still count as ignoring if he ignores you first?):
"One Tuesday night in November, I saw him at the library. I spent the next four Tuesday nights there, hoping it was a pattern. It wasn't. Sometimes I'd allow myself to follow him to his 11:30 class in Andrews Hall, and then I'd have to run across campus to make it to my class in the Temple Building.
By the end of the semester, I was long past the point of starting a natural, casual conversation with him. I stopped trying to make eye contact."
I admire her sheer power of will to see something through.
The humor in Rainbow's books remains impeccable. The amount of times I simply wrote "lol" in my notes (the quickest way to keep reading but pinning what made me laugh) is astronomical. Just to state a few examples:
"> Hmmm …I think I'd like to be a stay-at-home mom with no kids."
Seriously, where does she come up with these gold one-liners?
"Like Lincoln, most of the girls had eyes only for the guitarist."
Just the wording of that phrase alone is hilarious.
Oh, any and all conversations with any and all of the moms in this book receives an instant five-star rating. Just read this:
"You came to kindergarten with me for the first month."
"You asked me to."
"I was five," Eve said. "You should have told me no."
"You were scared."
"I was five."
"I didn't send Lincoln until he was seven, and I'm so glad. He was so much more prepared."
Lincoln had been prepared for kindergarten. He could already read and do some addition and subtraction."
What a mom gem.
Another one: "I think they were happier about my breakup than Kiley's wedding. "I knew it was a mistake to let him be in the family picture," my mother said.
They don't make them like this in other books. I want more!
But the thing that hit me most was Lincoln's mom words on seeing your baby grow up:
"Why do you think I can remember that," she asked, "when you can't? Why does nature do that to us? How does that serve evolution? Those were the most important years of my life, and you can't even remember them."
On a more upbeat point, the humor remains impeccable:
"Doris clucked and choked on her cake. She put her hand on his shoulder. Lincoln hoped that Beth wasn't about to walk in."
Ha! So she won't write about it the next day accusing her Cute Guy of cheating (with an elderly woman)? It's like he hears Beth's voice narrating his life. I love it.
I also adore this book so much for giving us that "Falling …Was he falling? Or was he just bored?" This hits the spot! Both Lincoln and Beth are on standstill in their personal lives with no way out so they use each other as this safe haven in their head… I want more.
I can't give him up. What would I have to look forward to?"
Above all, these two represented the way we can let our fantasies take over so we'll never have to do anything real.
"No, he was just going to kiss her. He wasn't going to wait. She'd kiss him back. He was absolutely certain that she would kiss him back.
And then he'd tell her that he loved her.
And then he'd tell her his name.
And then and then and then … what?"
Me creating scenarios in my head be like…
Reading the email with the phrase "trying not to bite his shoulder."
There's so much longing present in this book that it only hit me toward the end when they finally kiss that it is the only kiss in the book. They live so vicariously in their head, I almost forgot no one actually instigates anything in their real-life until they do. What a shock that was. I WANT MORE! It was like hitting the play button after being stuck on rewind for so long.
"because I'm not 16 anymore. That's when it hit me— I'm not 16 anymore.
And I don't mean that in an offhand "well, obviously" way. I mean it like "Jack and Diane." Like, "Oh, yeah, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone."
This made me hit the same realization. Help. Oh, to be young and… and what? I love the idea of reverting to my younger self but there's also so much pain that accompanies those teen years that it's honestly not worth it. But oh, to think of all the books that await to be read for the first time…
Lastly, I'll indulge in sharing random moments of resemblance to Fangirl because it's my favorite book and I look for it in everything:
"> Really. I think you're pathetic. It's almost painfully embarrassing to read your messages when you're like this."
Reagan before Reagan existed.
"> How did he win you over?
> He just wouldn't leave me alone. He kept sitting behind me in our poetry- writing class and asking me if I had plans for lunch. Like I wanted this muscle-bound blond guy to watch me eat.
> I can just see him. A farm boy with sexy sousaphone shoulders …"
(Puts on best Jeopardy game-voice) What is Levi for 100 points
Also, Lincoln kissing Christine in their college days while studying for a final? What is Cath and Levi for 200 points.
Okay, thank you for letting me indulge in that. I'll leave at that, since I don't want Jennifer calling me pathetic.
This review has been a long time coming. So I'm glad to have it up to revisit time and again, as I commonly do with my reviews for Rainbow Rowell books.
Please indulge in a copy for yourself or your loved ones. Choose your pick of the litter:
Why I Fangirl over Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl
The Perfect Fall Read: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, Faith Erin Hicks
Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell, or Fate, Time, Television and True Love
Review: Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Review: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell
Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Can we take a moment to admire the beauty of all these books put together:
Posted in Adult, FictionTagged Adult, adult fiction, books, emails, emotional intimacy, family, Fiction, funny, humor, literature, office, rainbow rowell, realistic fiction, reread, review, reviews, Writing, Young Adult
Review: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
May 30, 2020 June 29, 2020 bookspoils1 Comment
If you needed any convincing to read this book, take this next passage as your sign:
(it's a bit long but so worth the read)
"Mothers were the measure of safety, which meant that I was safer than Maeve. After our mother left, Maeve took up the job on my behalf but no one did the same for her. Of course Sandy and Jocelyn mothered us. They made sure we were washed and fed and that our lunches were packed and our scouting dues paid. They loved us, I know they did, but they went home at the end of the day. There was no crawling into bed with Sandy or Jocelyn when I had a bad dream in the middle of the night, and it never once occurred to me to knock on my father's door. I went to Maeve. She taught me the proper way to hold a fork. She attended my basketball games and knew all my friends and oversaw my homework and kissed me every morning before we went our separate ways to school and again at night before I went to bed regardless of whether or not I wanted to be kissed. She told me repeatedly, relentlessly, that I was kind and smart and fast, that I could be as great a man as I made up my mind to be. She was so good at all that, despite the fact that no one had done it for her."
This rings so true.
The feelings evoked in me while reading The Dutch House were reminiscent of my reading experience with books like The Great Alone, Little Fires Everywhere, and A Spool of Blue Thread (they even have the similar "Oh, Danny"). That is to say, what a journey would await. Maeve was someone to behold.
"Five whole days with you at home," she said, blowing smoke out the open window. "The best five days of the year."
On another note, we're diving right into spoilers from here, it showcases the author's talents that within one page I can hate a character and yet know nothing substantial about them. Ahem, Andrea. You can just tell, like with real people, who spells trouble. Translating that feeling on paper? That's a magical writer right there.
But back to reasons why I love Maeve:
"Maeve was pretty enough and popular enough that she would never have had to stay home on Saturday nights, but for the most part she did, and for the first time I realized it was because of me. She would never have left me alone in the house."
Big sisters. That's it.
"and the way the last bit of light fell over her, she looked like a painting."
She looked like a … painting!! She has long black hair! The painting of the girl on the cover is MAEVE. I knew it held something more about it.
I couldn't stop staring at the cover when I first got my hands on the book. And so I kept feeling drawn like a magnet to it until I finally caved in and picked the book up. Like, it wouldn't leave my head until I had it in my hands. This book was calling to me. Or rather, Maeve was calling to me. I was intrigued.
"Now that she wasn't around to help me with my homework, I wondered for the first time who had ever helped her when she was young."
I never realized just how much my soul needed to read a book about appreciating older sisters as stand-in mothers until I stumbled upon The Dutch House. This is healing. It's the little things no one notices when it comes to taking care of younger siblings, like helping them out with their homework, or those simple moments that arise to remind them of how good they are so those values are instilled from a young age.
"You only think you want to get rid of your sister," Jocelyn said, clapping her hand on my shoulder in a firm manner so as not to embarrass me. "Then when she's gone it turns out you miss her."
I wonder if this feeling has a name. It evokes the most acute emotion.
Not only does this book represent the part of an older sister fully committed to her younger sibling, it's the loss of a childhood home that cannot go by unnoticed. It reverberates throughout your life. The hurt these next passages encompass cannot be overstated:
"The idiocy of what we took and what we left cannot be overstated. We packed up clothes and shoes I would outgrow in six months, and left behind the blanket at the foot of my bed my mother had pieced together out of her dresses."
"and there were some other things—yearbooks, a couple boxes of novels she'd already read, some dolls she was saving for the daughter she was sure she would have one day, all in the attic under the eaves and behind the tiny door in the back of the third-floor bedroom closet. Did Andrea even know about that space? Maeve had shown it to the girls the night of the house tour, but would they remember or ever think to look in there again? Or would those boxes just belong to the house now, sealed into the wall like a time capsule from her youth?"
You'll forever think about the things you didn't take.
"I always imagined the house would die without us. I don't know, I thought it would crumple up. Do houses ever die of grief?"
The longwinded realization that at the end of the day a house is just that, a house, came to me after years and years. The house stays the same for the most part. You're the one who changes through the years.
What a powerful story.
Like I said earlier, The Dutch House reminds me distinctly of The Great Alone. It's that sense of togetherness and loyalty you feel as the reader to these book characters. Maeve was the star of this book for me. The quiet star that shines the brightest but is set aside too often. She never got quite what she deserved. She worked the hardest of them all and was never fully redeemed, especially with a character like Celeste to remind her of that. And who is Celeste to say those things? Her name says all you need to know about her character.
Celeste wasn't listening. Where Maeve was concerned she didn't listen. "At what point do you say to her, Okay, it was an awful childhood, it's a terrible thing to be rich and then not be rich, but now everybody has to grow up?"
People like her are why people like Andrea exist.
Celeste never fully understands the sacrifice Maeve had to make to ensure Danny's well being. Celeste never thinks about why Maeve took on that job she thinks is beneath her (to stay closer to Danny) or why she lives where she does (to stay closer to Danny). Maeve served everyone but herself, and it upsets me to think someone so privileged – so entitled to their privilege they aren't even aware of it – has the audacity to judge Maeve. It reminded me of this brilliant line in the poem, To this day:
When a kid who could still go home to mom and dad
Had the audacity to tell him "get over it"
Though my hatred wasn't Andrea-level, it felt pretty close. Why? This passage hits it right on:
"Those are my two choices? I love her or I hate her?"
"Well," my sister said, "you're telling me you didn't hate her, so I just want to know what the parameters are. I think it's a ridiculous conversation to be having in the first place, if you want my opinion. Say there's a kid who lives next door, a kid you have no particular friendship with but no problems with either. Then one day he walks into your house and kills your sister with a baseball bat."
"Maeve, for the love of God."
She held up her hand. "Hear me out. Does that present fact obliterate the past? Maybe not if you loved the kid. Maybe if you loved the kid you'd dig in and try to find out what had happened, see things from his perspective, wonder what his parents had done to him, wonder if there wasn't some chemical imbalance. You might even consider that your sister could have played a role in the outcome—did she torment this boy? Was she cruel to him? But you'd only wonder about that if you loved him. If you only liked the kid, if he was never anything more to you than an okay neighbor, I don't see the point in scratching around for good memories. He's gone to prison. You're never going to see the son-of-a-bitch again."
I love her.
I was so attached to Maeve that seeing her receive the bare minimum was beyond painful to read. Give her a break! Not only did Maeve have to deal with someone like Andrea in her youth, on top of taking care of her younger sibling, she now receives someone like Celeste in her adulthood to battle with. Needless to say she did not receive the ending I thought she deserved. This book is depressing, too much like reality. I'm already hurt in real life. Give me at least some semblance of a happy ending for characters that deserve it the most in books. This, too, reminds me of my experience with The Great Alone.
Join me and read the opening chapter for yourself. You'll be hooked.
Similar books to check out:
Posted in FictionTagged Adult, adult fiction, book review, books, family, Fiction, Literary Fiction, literature, may, may 2020, new release, new review, personal, realistic fiction
Cynical Hopeless Romantic Reads Pride and Prejudice
May 15, 2020 November 29, 2020 bookspoils2 Comments
I'm escaping reality to read Pride and Prejudice. I need a substantial feel-good book. It's what she deserves
(Scroll down for spoilery commentary as I go along)
First and foremost, the ultimate way to enjoy Pride and Prejudice: Jennifer Ehle reading it to you. Just close your eyes and let her serene voice guide your imagination. You can't go wrong with her accessible bite-sized readings of two-three chapters per video. These sittings brought me that same nostalgic comfort of being read to by your favorite teacher in third-grade.
"She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men."
oof, that never stops hurting.
"He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!"
I wonder why it is that even with someone as kind as Mr. Bingley around, I still choose to favor Mr. Darcy. . .
"Mrs. Long told me last night that he sat close to her for half-an-hour without once opening his lips."
Darcy is me at public gatherings
"Miss Bingley told me," said Jane, "that he never speaks much, unless among his intimate acquaintances. With them he is remarkably agreeable."
Darcy, representing introverts everywhere
"That is very true," replied Elizabeth, "and I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine."
This line flows so nicely that I have to utter it along with the narrator
"Occupied in observing Mr. Bingley's attentions to her sister, Elizabeth was far from suspecting that she was herself becoming an object of some interest in the eyes of his friend."
Oh! It's happening!
"But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying."
Crushes develop slowly and then all at once. It's like the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon of becoming ultra-aware of something/someone. You start seeing them in everything
"He began to wish to know more of her, and as a step towards conversing with her himself, attended to her conversation with others."
In the movie, Darcy asking Elizabeth to dance seems to drop out nowhere, but now I see the attention to detail, like him slowly creeping near her to catch her eye
"Indeed, sir, I have not the least intention of dancing. I entreat you not to suppose that I moved this way in order to beg for a partner."
Oh, I like this
"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment."
Only when it comes to Darcy
"If I wished to think slightingly of anybody's children, it should not be of my own, however."
Mrs. Bennet can be named a lot of things, but she's a fierce mother, first and foremost.
"The former was divided between admiration of the brilliancy which exercise had given to her complexion, and doubt as to the occasion's justifying her coming so far alone."
Oh, finally! I was in dire need to know what was circling through Darcy's mind upon Elizabeth's arrival
"I am afraid, Mr. Darcy," observed Miss Bingley in a half whisper, "that this adventure has rather affected your admiration of her fine eyes."
"Not at all," he replied; "they were brightened by the exercise." "
hmm, really. . . .
"He immediately offered to fetch her others—all that his library afforded.
"And I wish my collection were larger for your benefit and my own credit"
Bingley is the only respite in this room of elites
"What a delightful library you have at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy!"
"It ought to be good," he replied, "it has been the work of many generations."
"And then you have added so much to it yourself, you are always buying books."
Ha! Is bingley playing matchmaker for Darcy and Elizabeth?
"Is Miss Darcy much grown since the spring?" said Miss Bingley; "will she be as tall as I am?"
"I think she will. She is now about Miss Elizabeth Bennet's height, or rather taller."
I see you, Mr. Darcy, dropping Elizabeth's name in any conversation to catch her attention
"All this she must possess," added Darcy, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."
closes book
"she had no wish of her recovering immediately, as her restoration to health would probably remove her from Netherfield."
Interesting that this scene with Mrs. Bennet appears so soon after Darcy's remark: "Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable."
"I did not know before," continued Bingley immediately, "that you were a studier of character. It must be an amusing study."
"Yes, but intricate characters are the most amusing. They have at least that advantage."
Cue Darcy walking in
"But if it be only a slight, thin sort of inclination, I am convinced that one good sonnet will starve it entirely away."
Darcy only smiled; and the general pause which ensued made Elizabeth tremble lest her mother should be exposing herself again."
he. . . smiled!
"But do you always write such charming long letters to her, Mr. Darcy?"
"They are generally long; but whether always charming it is not for me to determine."
men who actually care for their younger siblings>>>
"Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."
The page that follows is the most Darcy has ever said
I was reading some chapters by myself utterly lost in the text. So I ran back to Jennifer Ehle's narration and suddenly all confusion was cleared up. She's p&p magic. She makes the text sound like a movie, never like a classic book that you were required to read. She even has a voice for each character so subtly done that you don't even feel it till you pay notice. (I love her Lady Catherine voice.)
"Elizabeth could not help observing, as she turned over some music-books that lay on the instrument, how frequently Mr. Darcy's eyes were fixed on her."
Oh, we know. Let me refer you to:
https://bookspoils.tumblr.com/post/617722705185292288/darcy-looking-at-elizabeth
"and Darcy had never been so bewitched by any woman as he was by her. He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger."
You start the sentence with a smile and then end with one of these:
"As for your Elizabeth's picture, you must not have it taken, for what painter could do justice to those beautiful eyes?"
"It would not be easy, indeed, to catch their expression, but their colour and shape, and the eyelashes, so remarkably fine, might be copied."
I feel this most acutely in this scene:
And can we talk a minute about how Miss Bingley is such a Regina George here, thinking that teasing Darcy about Elizabeth will reduce his interest. Mentioning Elizabeth just makes him think about her more. And referring to Elizabeth jokingly as "your lady" will just make him think about her more in that way, Einstein.
Mr. Darcy felt their rudeness, and immediately said:
"This walk is not wide enough for our party. We had better go into the avenue."
He likes arguing with Elizabeth but also sticks up for her? Get you a man that can do both
"and she removed at his desire to the other side of the fireplace, that she might be further from the door. He then sat down by her, and talked scarcely to anyone else."
Jane and Bingley are unparalleled
"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library."
I can't believe this brilliant piece was delivered by Miss Bingley, of all people, in an attempt to impress a clueless Darcy. I do feel rather impartial to her in those moments when she's trying so hard to be in his favor and he pays her no mind. I guess that's one theme that survives the ages.
"Miss Bingley succeeded no less in the real object of her civility; Mr. Darcy looked up. He was as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself could be, and unconsciously closed his book."
when closes book makes a comeback… it's serious
"if the first, I would be completely in your way, and if the second, I can admire you much better as I sit by the fire."
I can just imagine his smug smile…
"My good opinion once lost is lost forever."
I can hear the echo of Matthew Macfadyen's voice in P&P 2005
"He began to feel the danger of paying Elizabeth too much attention."
"Mr. Darcy looked a little ashamed of his aunt's ill-breeding, and made no answer."
I have to laugh at that line! This mirrors the very image of Lizzy's reaction at the ball when her mother, sitting right across from Darcy, was boasting of the advantageous marriage pertaining to Jane and Mr. Bingley.
"she thought he looked a little confused as he answered that he had never been so fortunate as to meet Miss Bennet."
and yet you appear to have separated them. In truth, I didn't realize how much we could circle back to that conversation on humility and friendship. Bingley is influenced easily this way or that. It was foreshadowing! Like Darcy said, if someone told him to stay a week he would do so readily without inquiring the reasons for and against! So the same with the Jane situation. Darcy advised against Jane and Bingley didn't think twice about it and was easily persuaded against her. Darcy simply mentioned that he has an inkling that Jane wasn't as fully invested as he seems to be in her. Bingley didn't inquire further, he just cut his losses then and there without offering a pensive thought into it.
here is the original passage: "Allowing the case, however, to stand according to your representation, you must remember, Miss Bennet, that the friend who is supposed to desire his return to the house, and the delay of his plan, has merely desired it, asked it without offering one argument in favour of its propriety."
I didn't realize then that Darcy speaking at length for the first time would lead to being such a substantial moment that reverberates along the novel. Of course, it would.
"She had once or twice suggested to Elizabeth the possibility of his being partial to her, but Elizabeth always laughed at the idea;"
Twice now that Charlotte – who I now have to refer to as Mrs. Collins, what a shock -has been dismissed when her observations are utterly right. First, how jane's impassiveness might work against her with Mr Bingley. And now, how Darcy is partial to Elizabeth. Charlotte is very aware of her surroundings. She's no fool.
The Big Scene™ arrives, finally. All I've been waiting for since the start of the book. It's my aesthetic:
i think about this every day pic.twitter.com/U9O6VyxYml
— Nat (@bookspoils) May 14, 2020
If anything, I like seeing this first proposal, which is pompous and all about how he has struggled "in vain," if only to know what the second proposal awaits. He will be much kinder. The second proposal will be about doing him the honor of becoming his wife. Instead of this moment where he's like, it'll be your honor not mine. He's quite full of himself. Neither I nor Elizabeth appreciate it.
"I have been walking in the grove some time in the hope of meeting you. Will you do me the honour of reading that letter?"
I'm glad he didn't wait too long to deliver his letter of explanation. It's better to give it before she's simmering in her disdain of him. Also, him thinking over their argument enough to write a letter is already a change for the better. Warning: An important distinction to make here is that Elizabeth doesn't go into a relationship with Darcy hoping to change his bitter ways. He changes himself for the better first and then presents himself to her in the hopes of being accepted.
I can't decide what's sweeter: Mr. Wicked– ahem, I mean, Mr. Wickham getting exposed by Darcy. Or that fiery back-and-forth that Elizabeth spewed at Darcy… We've already discussed the latter. So let's focus on the fall of Mr. Wicked Wickham.
"She tried to recollect some instance of goodness, some distinguished trait of integrity or benevolence, that might rescue him from the attacks of Mr. Darcy; or at least, by the predominance of virtue, atone for those casual errors under which she would endeavour to class what Mr. Darcy had described as the idleness and vice of many years' continuance. But no such recollection befriended her."
And this right here illustrates why it's important when you "love" someone to know exactly the reasons behind it. So that when you're offered a sudden twist to their character, you are able to recall those moments of kindness or goodness that made you fall in "love." Otherwise, you were simply deceived by your feelings into thinking him the same man you made up in your head. Thank you, Jane Austen, for explaining it so fully.
"She perfectly remembered everything that had passed in conversation between Wickham and herself, in their first evening at Mr. Phillips's. Many of his expressions were still fresh in her memory. She was now struck with the impropriety of such communications to a stranger, and wondered it had escaped her before."
This says it all!! However exciting it may be to be approached so suddenly by a handsome man, the fact is that Mr. Wickham is a stranger to Elizabeth at that moment. If he's so eager and willing to approach her, a stranger, then he might feel safe to do the same to another stranger even when they're together.
This moment of discovery might be more worthwhile than reading Darcy's professions of love. To suddenly look at someone without those rose-colored glasses creates a full 180 effect. I live for rare moments like these.
And this is how her good opinion on Darcy starts: with his love letter. Rereading it over and over. Imagining him speculating over what to write. Feeling his feelings.
"She studied every sentence; and her feelings towards its writer were at times widely different."
If we're being frank, I relied heavily on Darcy's back-and-forth with Elizabeth, and of course, Bingley's kindness with Jane. Without it, the book went by excruciatingly slow. I don't care for Mr. Collins or Mrs. Bennet, or the extravagant house tours, dinner parties, and garden walks. Really, all I was seeking was more Darcy. Unfortunately, he was given to us only near the end.
Coming into this after reading New Moon (we all remember the pain with that one, my review title gives it all away: New Moon Gave Me Trust Issues), I was just done with having to wait for the love interest to grace us with his appearance. I didn't have any patience left. However, unlike the Twilight book, Pride and Prejudice made the wait feel worthwhile. Seeing Darcy's change of character was everything I needed.
I just have to say, it is so wonderful reading Pride and Prejudice when I'm simply basking in the glory that the hardships between Darcy and Elizabeth are left behind us. They're actually enjoying each other's company now! and they're talking and blushing! blushing! ! !
"Of the lady's sensations they remained a little in doubt; but that the gentleman was overflowing with admiration was evident enough."
Oh, you can tell by that loving smile.
Let's roll with the momentum so that I can share some of my favorite Darcy moments:
"They were confined for the evening at different tables, and she had nothing to hope, but that his eyes were so often turned towards her side of the room, as to make him play as unsuccessfully as herself."
The tension! ! ! This is felt throughout the book. We're so close yet so far away. . . .
It's never about the grand proclamations of love for me, rather the subtle moments that lead to those big moments, like Darcy staying with Elizabeth when she's distressed over family news, or keeping his promise of taking her uncle fishing, and of course, wanting to introduce his two favorite women to each other: his sister, Miss Darcy, and Elizabeth. And the simple fact of him awaiting to accompany her on her walks just to spent time aimlessly wandering together.
But the most romantic scene of all lives in this moment:
"If you will thank me," he replied, "let it be for yourself alone. That the wish of giving happiness to you might add force to the other inducements which led me on, I shall not attempt to deny. But your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you."
He did it… for her! And then all it took for him to propose a second time is for her to just talk to him after all this time spent staring from afar. And I'm glad for it. We don't have time to waste when it comes to these two. Oh, help, I sound like Mrs. Bennet.
Hearing this all play out with Your Hands Are Cold in the background is all I need.
To add to that, the true hilarity of what finally brings them together doesn't escape me: Lady Catherine, of all people. She riled up Elizabeth. The two unite at last to ridicule her ladyship.
"Lady Catherine has been of infinite use, which ought to make her happy, for she loves to be of use. "
It's interesting that with these two introverts in love there must always be one to speak up to break their introverted ways. In our case it's Elizabeth. Thankfully.
"You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner."
"A man who had felt less, might."
"How unlucky that you should have a reasonable answer to give, and that I should be so reasonable as to admit it! But I wonder how long you would have gone on, if you had been left to yourself. I wonder when you would have spoken, if I had not asked you!"
Also, the elephant in the room: Lydia Bennet, or rather Mrs. Wickham, is something else entirely. I feel like Lizzy's speech for Darcy's "selfish disdain of the feelings of others" is better reserved for Lydia. You can tell her age by her ideas of marriage. She sees it as nothing more than a game!
"She longed to see Mrs. Phillips, the Lucases, and all their other neighbours, and to hear herself called "Mrs. Wickham" by each of them; and in the mean time, she went after dinner to show her ring, and boast of being married, to Mrs. Hill and the two housemaids."
She has no implication of what marriage entails and what it possesses other than showing off your ring, which won't be so shiny in a year's time.
"I am sure my sisters must all envy me. I only hope they may have half my good luck. "
This says it all. Lydia wanted to win the game of "Who will marry first?" Wait and see the glorious men your sisters will marry… Her adoration for Wickham won't last long in comparison.
"But you know married women have never much time for writing. My sisters may write to 𝘮𝘦. They will have nothing else to do."
um, chile… anyways
Let us end on a good note in praise of a most beloved family member: Mrs. Gardiner.
"It originated in Mrs. Gardiner, who, fatigued by the exercise of the morning, found Elizabeth's arm inadequate to her support, and consequently preferred her husband's. Mr. Darcy took her place by her niece, and they walked on together."
Meet the original wing-woman of the 1800s:
Ah! Speaking of the movie, I did post my immediate thoughts upon first viewing the 2005 adaptation. I titled it appropriately: You Have Bewitched Me Body and Soul, Mr. Darcy.
In need of more Jane Austen love? Scroll through my twitter thread below for more in-detail live-tweets as I was reading:
escaping reality to read pride and prejudice. i need a substantial feel-good book. it's what she deserves
(scroll down for spoilery commentary as I go along) pic.twitter.com/1iqBf8nNck
— Nat (@bookspoils) May 6, 2020
Thankfully, there are many gorgeous Pride and Prejudice editions to peruse. Choose your fighter:
Let me know if I did anyone's English homework with this thread. Ha!
Posted in FictionTagged 2020, classic, classics, family, historical, history, humor, jane austen, literature, may, may 2020, new review, pride and prejudice, review, romance