Book review

200th Anniversary of Pride and Prejudice By SCOTT D. SOUTHARD (AUG 29, 2013)

Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. _____ ________, once wrote, “Every time I read Pride and Prejudice, I ________ to dig her up
and ________ her over the _______ with her own shin-bone.” The her in that sentence is, of course, author Jane
Austen.

This ___________ the only time Twain complained about Miss Austen. Here is another gem: “It seems a great pity that
they ______________ her to die a natural __________.”

Now, I don’t normally _______________ with Mr. Clemens, but here, I have to take an _________________.

This year Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice celebrates its _______ anniversary and it’s almost strange to think of it
_________ that old since it is a book that has never left us. Her characters, the __________ Liz Bennet, the ________
Mr. Darcy, have never even been given a chance to collect __________. We won’t let them rest. Some of us are not
even _________ with just the tale given to us as author after author tries to re-imagine the story; maybe create a
sequel, have her heroes solve a murder mystery, or even battle zombies.

The ________ said about the zombies the ____________.

Jane Austen’s ____________________ has conquered stage, __________, and television. But in the world of literature,
Pride and Prejudice is our Mona Lisa, our statue of David, so when I’m __________ with another reinvention of the
classic or continuation, it honestly always feels a little like drawing Mickey Mouse __________ on a Picasso.

I understand the desire to want to keep the characters alive, the story fresh and _________________. Ending a great
book like this can be as difficult as saying goodbye to an _____________ friend. But all good things have an ending and
Jane never saw _____ to continue the adventure, what right do we have? Other than our ________ desire to keep them
close?

I discovered Jane Austen’s writing _________ at Aquinas College thanks to an English class masterfully run by Doctor
Brent Chesley. He is passionate about Pride and Prejudice and he wanted every English student to understand without a
___________ why he considered it the greatest novel ____________ in English. That class inspired me not only to read
her other books and research her life, but also to write a novel. My book, titled, A Jane Austen Daydream, was my
____________ to re-create her life as a work of fiction, something more like her books, giving her maybe the adventure
she wished for as compared to just rehashing the sad reality that she died _____________without her own Mr. Darcy.

Pride and Prejudice in my opinion is one of the few perfect works in literature. From its _______________ character
development and descriptions, witty and playful dialogue and wonderfully-paced ________, it is a book to be treasured
and analyzed carefully by ____________ and writers.

For those new to this classic, the Bennet family is in a _______________ situation. Mr. Bennet has only had daughters
and based on the ________ of that time if he were to die his estate would go to a male cousin, not to his wife and
children. So for the _______ of his daughters and their future, husbands have to be found and his wife will do anything
to make that happen. With the arrival of a ______________ bachelor in the region, Mr. Bingley, it is there that the story
begins. Yes, even after all of these years and adaptations I still hesitate to ____________the rest of story here.

So on this anniversary, I have one suggestion for readers. Turn off the TV, put down the Bridget Jones books and
_____________ novels, maybe even put down my A Jane Austen Daydream for a few hours, and pick up the original, the
one Jane __________ us with 200 years ago.

Oh, and one last thing. I am a little ________________ of Mark Twain’s ________________ for this classic. Most of
these gleefully evil quotes were in letters to writers, which makes me wonder if this was part of a ________________ he
used when in a room with fellow authors to stir a deliciously scandalous debate. It sounds like something Sam Clemens
would derive great _________________ from. Yet, when I look at that first quote above, two words stick out. “Every
__________ I read Pride and Prejudice...”

“Every time.”

Exactly how many times have you____________ Pride and Prejudice, Sam?