Comments | gioiamia: Pride & Prejudice "pro-fics"

gioiamia

Pride & Prejudice "pro-fics"

Jan 17, 2009 02:29

I've just finished reading my 5th book for this year's 50books1year commitment: Pride & Prejudice. After watching the 2005 movie a few times recently and then reading the book this week, I realize I've been on a bit of a P&P kick lately. But really, it's so easy to become immersed in this story.

harmony_bites and I recently gabbed via LJ about "pro-fics," as she termed ( Read more... )

books, 50books, pride & prejudice

Comments 36

jlrpuck January 17 2009, 15:06:28 UTC

If you're willing to give Austen fanfic a shot, um, I might know of a place or two which posts quality stuff more often than not.

*looks shifty*

Austen.com is a place not only for fanfic ("Derbyshire Writers Guild), but also for Austen-philes to chat.

The Republic of Pemberley, as well, is a place for lovers of Austen to get together and discuss all things Austen; it, too, has a fic component ("Bits of Ivory", or BoI). This was the first place I ever read fanfic, and it's the site I largely blame for getting me addicted to the genre.

gioiamia January 17 2009, 21:27:25 UTC

Oooh! Fantastic links, thanks! I saw The Republic of Pemberley when I was looking up details from the books, but didn't realize there was fanfic on the site. Very cool!

*looks shifty*

Oh, REALLY?? Might I find anything listed by a certain jlrpuck...or by a pseudonym of said author???

jlrpuck January 18 2009, 03:35:44 UTC

Oooh! Fantastic links, thanks

You're very welcome. My addiction to Austen fanfic is a bit of a quasi-open dirty secret ;)

Might I find anything listed

Oh, no. No way--I meant it when I said that I'd never written any fic prior to "The Way of Things"; and I'm nowhere near brave or bold enough to try my hand at writing in the style of Austen, or even trying to take her things and re-imagine them. I'm quite content to simply sit back and read the offerings of those who are.

gioiamia January 18 2009, 04:33:32 UTC

I would be terrified of attempting to write in Austen's style!

I found myself reading aloud a few times during my latest journey through P&P, and it's just impossible to imagine writing that way. The sentence structure, the lingo - it's amazing how very, very foreign it feels! I could no more write Austen-esque than I could write in Latin.

Thread 7

alliebean02 January 17 2009, 15:29:01 UTC

Was Kath dissing Mr. Darcy's Daughters?! Because I actually love that series (Elizabeth Aston has since written four more books in the same post-P&P universe.) I do have a few problems with them, but if you go back and look at my post on 50 Books about The Darcy Connection, it weighs the pros and cons! ;)

Another one I would recommend is New Friends and Old Fancies by Sybil Brinton. It was actually written in 1913, but recently re-printed. It's fun, and what it does that is really cool, is that it uses the P&P characters as a base, but then has them interact with characters from the other Austen books as well. So, as you can imagine, Lizzie and Anne Elliot become total BFF!

gioiamia January 17 2009, 21:30:48 UTC

Kath's claiming innocence on dissing Mr. Darcy's Daughters, so I suspect I'm confusing two separate posts. ;-) I'm glad to know that one is rec-able, because it's the one title I've managed to keep in my head, lol!

Your description of Sybil Brinton's book sounds similar to the way Harmony and Kath are describing the Carrie Bebris books. Have you read those to be able to make a comparison? The idea of crossover Austen stories is certainly appealing!

emluv January 17 2009, 15:49:49 UTC

I read The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street last year. It's P&P from Darcy's POV. I found some of it interesting and some of it rather lazy and redundant and not as interesting as it could have been. I did like that she included more about Darcy's relationship with his sister etc.

I know there's tons more in this genre, but I really haven't read many of them. I will confess that I have a client coming out with something on the fringe of all this though in October: According to Jane: A Novel about Pride, Prejudice, and the Pursuit of the Perfect Guy by Marilyn Brant. It's a present day novel, but the heroine gets romantic (and other) advice from the ghost of Jane Austen.

Yeah. Pardon the plug, but it's such a fun book I can't help myself.

gioiamia January 17 2009, 21:33:08 UTC

Sounds like The Confessions of Fitzwilliam Darcy isn't one you'd necessarily recommend then? Or is it one you think is worth reading, just not anything brilliantly spectacular?

And thanks for mentioning Marilyn Brant's book! It's not coming out till OCTOBER, though? Crap! I need to remember to look that one up when the time comes!

emluv January 17 2009, 22:13:31 UTC

Well, I wouldn't say Confessions is bad, I just wouldn't rush right out and spend good money on it. Worth reading, not top of the list.

Oh, and I'm sure there will be reminders aplenty re: Marilyn's book. ;-)

gioiamia January 17 2009, 22:51:00 UTC

Cool beans. I'll add "Confessions' to my library list, but not my "to buy" list. ;-) And I'll watch for those reminders re: Marilyn's book!

Btw, did all your furniture arrive yet? Or is some of it still back-ordered?

Thread 7

harmony_bites January 17 2009, 16:31:29 UTC

The books I really enjoyed were Carrie Bebris series of "Darcy Mysteries"

http://www.carriebebris.com/Darcy_mysteries.html

Well-written, engaging, but above all, the characters feel like themselves. It's the guilty pleasure of good fanfic, being able to spend some time with characters that you feel towards like friends.

And then there is the first Pride and Prejudice "pro-fic" I ever encountered which made me cringe--Linda Berdoll's Mr Darcy Takes a Wife. Ugh. Awful.

muffinkath7 January 17 2009, 18:48:53 UTC

harmony_bites, we seem to have the same taste...lol ( ... )

gioiamia January 17 2009, 21:48:10 UTC

I totally confused Mr. Darcy's Daughters with Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife - which you, Harmony, and...someone else??...have all said you didn't care for. My bad!

Thanks for these plugs! I've already ordered the first of the Carrie Bebris books from my library, and I'm doing a better job this time of saving my notes from this post on my "To Be Read" list! ;-)

"Lost in Austen" is on my "To Watch" list, btw. I had hesitated because I didn't know anyone who had watched it and wasn't sure if it was going to be any good. I'm glad you seem to have liked it overall! I'll definitely tell you when I watch it so we can compare notes on the ending. I was thinking it was a miniseries, though. Am I confusing it with something else again?

It occurs to me that you should be very used to me getting titles/authors, etc., mixed up after 5-6 years history of doing this repeatedly with you! Have I recommended "Born of The Stars" to you lately?

emluv January 17 2009, 22:17:52 UTC

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife is complete and total garbage. And I don't say that about much. It's trashy porn. Jane Austen is rolling in her grave. I'm sorry if anyone likes it, but I just found it fell into the category of badly structured fanfic.

Thread 12

tiemeinbows January 17 2009, 18:56:14 UTC

I've yet to read any of these (though I have Mr. Darcy's Daughters). But just thought I'd share a fun link.

Pride & Prejudice via faceook feed.

gioiamia January 17 2009, 21:53:09 UTC

What'd you think of "Mr. Darcy's Daughters"? I've realized I was confusing it with "Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife," which nobody seems to like, lol. But I gather that "Mr. Darcy's Daughters is actually a decent book?

And - Oh. My. GAWD. I LOVE that "Facebook" feed! I've been dying laughing over it! BRILLIANT!!!!!!

ETA: Okay, I'm a complete dingbat - for some reason I read your reply as being from Anne/Cookie! Doh!!!

I'm still pimping the Facebook feed all over, though!