Comments on: REVIEW: Darcy’s Story by Janet Aylmer

By: jmc

jmc — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 18:23:41 +0000

I returned this book to the library unfinished. I know, the best part is probably at the end, with Lizzy and Darcy finally on the same page so to speak. But I was bored, bored, bored and didn’t make it that far. So I returned it, then went off to re-read Persuasion. :sigh: Wentworth’s letter to Anne just makes me melt every time I read it.

By: Tara Marie

Tara Marie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 16:29:47 +0000

Oh, I’m sorry, wrong Ja(y)ne and I promise not to nag, but I will add…

All that dialogue taken from P&P just got to me by the end.

She (the author) did this on purpose to give (page 274):

Either Jane Austen’s dialogue had to be changed into description only or there needed to be some form of commentary to show that Darcy had a very different view of the situations and their conversations when he and Elizabeth were both present. I decided that the story would be more enjoyable if I used the second approach, even though that meant repeating some lengthy sections of dialogue which Jane wrote. What I could not do was use different words between them for the conversations which Jane Austen herself had “reported!”

Okay, that’s it, I’m beating the dead horse–LOL.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:07:47 +0000

LOL, noooooo, no nagging. I’m sorry but I just can’t go higher. All that dialogue taken from P&P just got to me by the end. Case in point, when Lady Catherine buttonholes Darcy after her visit to Lizzie.

I did like the bits with Georgiana and would be interested if Aylmer wrote her story or maybe Kitty’s.

By: Tara Marie

Tara Marie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:58:21 +0000

Hi Tara. Just like I thought, Tara read it and liked it very much.

Hi Keishon, I did like it, very much, I’m thinking about nagging Jane into boosting it up to at least B–LOL.

By: Keishon

Keishon — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:20:43 +0000

Glad you read it – I was on the cusp of buying but saw a couple of bad reviews for it with the same general grade of average. Hi Tara. Just like I thought, Tara read it and liked it very much. Still undecided and I have way too many books now to even consider adding one more.

By: Tara Marie

Tara Marie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:26:21 +0000

I liked this much more than you did. I enjoyed seeing his thoughts so much and I do think he’s somewhat of a bore, but even in the original you get this from what he does say about his and others consequence. He comes across as a thinker mulling things over in his head, berating himself when he comes to realize he’s in love with someone of a lower class and then berating himself for not realizing it didn’t matter.