Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Hmmmm...

I'm not sure what to think about this novel by Amanda Grange. In general, continuation of Jane Austen's novels leaves me cold - no one can write like Jane. The best of the lot is a pallid imitation of Jane's work. This is no exception. Lots of folks are mad for this book and I fail to see why. Maybe because I didn't finish it. I don't know. The novel begins on the wedding day of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, plus Lizzie's sister Jane and Mr. Bingley. Something is amiss. On the night of their wedding Darcy decides they should go to Europe for their honeymoon rather than go to the Lake District. There they meet Darcy's "other" family, who live in Germany - and what a family it is. They even meet up with Lady Catherine who has been pursuing them since the wedding. The "mystery" is why Darcy hasn't consummated his marriage to Lizzie. She's confused and frustrated, and rightly so. And then the novel gets mysteriouser and mysteriouser.

I get what Grange wants to do. She's placed this story in line with the Gothic romance novels of the period (Ann Radcliffe mainly) and that Jane made fun of in Northanger Abbey. It's a bodice-ripper - literally (got to get to those throats somehow!).

My problem is that these characterizations are nothing like Jane's characterizations. Elizabeth, so lively with fine eyes, is depressed, unhappy, and about as fascinating as a turnip. At one point Grange has Lizzie faint! Lizzie?! Darcy seems closer to the original in that he is aloof, morose, and mysterious. But other characterizations are pretty much over the top - especially Lady Catherine who was someone Jane satirized and made fun of. Here she is frightening and evil - she's out to get Elizabeth and no mistake.

Grange is doing - or trying to do - to P&P what Jane did to thrillers and those who read them in Northanger Abbey. In my view, she didn't succeed. Perhaps if the writing was better or tighter - it seemed to drag on and on - I would have "got" it. But I didn't.

However, I'm in favor of anything that gets people to read Jane - even if vampires are involved (don't get me wrong - I LOVE vampire novels). And if this and other new pastiches on the best seller lists - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - can create more fans, then okay. I wish it were a better read.

Hmmm...

Twilight

I'm reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, the super sensational vampire romance novel for teens. I can understand why girls would love this book - a mysterious gorgeous boy for whom all the girls are beside themselves and a shy girl who's different, how and why the two connect, and the undercurrent of sexual tension between them. I realize that it's written for the young adult audience and not for a middle aged adult like me, therefore, I shouldn't judge too harshly. The writing is okay but there's not much there to keep me interested. It's too slow (like the movie, which is, uh, deliberately paced) and wordy. It takes a lot of patience to stick with it.

I do like the atmosphere Meyer creates - she knows how to write about the Pacific Northwest and its gothic elements (dark clouds, rain, fog, deep dark forests, a chill - i.e., creepy. Throw in a remote Italian castle and Ann Radcliffe would feel at home). I also like the lead characters, Bella and Edward. Particularly Bella - Meyer really understands her and her "otherness," and treats her sympathetically. She kept my interest throughout. Edward, the man/boy of mystery, is more difficult. He's uber-complex and introspective. Bella has a hard time figuring out what makes him tick - me, too. Sometimes he is too deep, especially for a teenage girl to comprehend. And that is the big problem for me. Edward is "17 years old"; however, he's existed 100 years. He may look like a teenager, but he's not - he has decades of world experience. Bella is mature and very smart but she is only 17 with a certain degree of innocence. He has all the experience that comes with age and using it on Bella. Plus he displays a lot of traits of a stalker - watches her while she sleeps, etc. Creeped me out a bit.

I wanted to like it because of my interest in vampire literature and film and that the story is based, sort of, on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. But Meyer is no Austen and the novel is too long.