Pride and Prejudice

So. I read P&P years and years ago, mainly because my mum had this really natty copy with leather and gold leaf and other shiny things. And I didn't like it. I remember thinking that all the characters were silly and obsessed with marriage and that I didn't really like any of them because they were all so bloody brainless.

But. I know that Lizzie Bennett is rather beloved of the smart-girl-romantics set, of which I am most definitely a member. Witness the absolute obsession with Jane Eyre. And y'all have good taste, and I'm doing all this travelling and need reading material.

Well. I watched the BBC film last night, having come into ownership of it for very little money indeed, and enjoyed it. Especially Colin Firth. I enjoyed him very much indeed. And I have the book packed along with me for train reading on Tuesday.

I think that part of what bothered me so much about it as a girl was that I was feminist enough to object to Mrs. Bennett and the whole socio-political mess, but not enough to understand that it wasn't Lizzie's fault that her world was like that. And now I see her subversivness, see that while she must marry and live in the real world she is very much aware of its shortcomings. The problem isn't with Austen, it's with the world.

Running off to Ann Arbor now--my baby cousin broke her arm, and needs a consolatory visit before I am back to school.