Customer Reviews

The Bar Sinister: Pride and Prejudice Continues...

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Grrr.. Most of the reviewers are right. If you are fond of Jane Austin and expecting a happy continuation, disregard this book. The only similarity with "Pride and Prejudice" is in names of people and locations.

Well... I should let you decide yourself. In the beginning of the book Lydia finds out that EliSabeth and Jane are engaged to be married. She returns home to educate her elder sisters on the particulars of the life they are about to face. At this point I am getting scared to follow the story line..., however.. I continue..

It goes much deeper right after Mr. Darcy's and Elizabeth's wedding. Here is a quote for you:

"Impatient that he did not follow her reasoning, she explained to her exceedingly satisfied husband, thusly, "My body obviously cannot meet your needs. I thought it was only at first, but you see now, it is not. I am stunted and cannot perform satisfactory as your wife."
"Lizzy, that is absurd!"
"'Tis not absurd! You yourself said, "This will not do.' Indeed, last night you said again and again that I was too small."
"I said you were small, meaning..." he searched for an explanation.
"Paltry," she answered for him.
"No. I meant, small ... diminutive ... petite. Lush and tight."
At that unprecedented explicitness, he well-night blushed.
Then, hastily, he continued, "It was a compliment, Lizzy, not a complaint. As for my saying 'it will not do,' I only meant it would not do for me to continue to hurt you. That is my failing, not yours. I must rein myself in, for you are not too small, I am ..."
He flailed about for a delicate way to put it. " ... rather large."
"Oh"
This was an interesting turn of events. This entire conundrum was the fault of his body, not hers.
She bid, "Do you mean too large?"
"I mean to say, you are small, but not too small."
"You mean to say, you are not large, but too large?"
"I am not all that large ..." he made a frustrated little half-snort, obviously unhappy at the direction the conversation was taking, but that did not deter her curiosity."

... And so on... the rest of the page is covered with a very entertaining debate about the difference between "not too small" and "too large". I finished at about this point. I hope this reference is helpful and gives you a good idea of the book you are about to purchase.

I liked it but since I had bought before " Darcy takes a Wife " I was deceived because they are word for word the same thing.

On the back cover of the book you'll find the most telling statement of all: "Hang on to your bonnets, this isn't Jane Austen...". No, this story is definetly more sensational than anything Jane Austen would ever think of writing.

First the bad stuff:
The author has a habit of using nonsensical language. Beyond the fact that the characters often quote Latin, which the author does not bother to translate for us non-Latin speakers, she also uses words which I'm sure are just products of her imagination instead of the common vernacular at that time. I leave it up to you to figure out what body parts she is speaking of when she uses the words: collywobble, whinneymegs, (and my personal favorite) larrydoodle.

As you can probably tell from above I doubt the author spent very much time researching her material before writing this book. From the way it is written it appears that the author didn't even bother to read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and probably got the basic storyline from watching the BBC movie. The most obvious example of this is in her description of Mr. Collins. First off she makes his first name Thaddeus, which if you are an adept P&P fan you will realize is a big mistake, because Jane Austen says his first name is William. Her descriptions of Mr. Collins and his behavior you can tell she got straight out of the movie and at times they are contradictory to Austen's descriptions of him. The most notable one being that Berdoll describes Mr. Collins as being rather short while Austen writes that he is tall.

Now for the good stuff:
Berdoll was able to do something that Jane Austen would have never been able to do during her lifetime--be able to explore the intimate side of Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship (i.e. SEX). Jane Austen probably didn't write a P&P 2 because she knew that without the sex the book would be quite boring. Berdoll makes the relationship mature in ways that would be quite scandalous in Austen's time. She also talks about issues, which we know occured during that time, but which women of that day weren't allowed to discuss (at least openly) such as infidelity, infertility, illegitimate children, etc. I think adding these elements helps one to understand each character's persona a bit more.

While the book is a bit lengthy, I will admit that it is an ok read. When you get bored you can easily skip to the juicy parts--and boy are they juicy !!! However, if you are a die-hard Austen fan or think you will be offended by the intense sexual relationships between characters then I will say this book is not for you !!!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The first half is true to Austen's original characters, with bawdiness and humor to boot. Unfortunately, the second half kind of drags. But well worth a read for obsessed P&P fans like me.

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite novels. I love the characters, the plot, and the writing. In this book we have the same characters, the plot is okay, if a little too complicated, but the writing leaves me cold. What this book needs is a better editor.

I would just like to say that this book is an absolute favourite of mine. As an avid reader and a Jane Austen fan, I was thrilled to find a suitable sequel. The command of the language and endearing style in which the book is written is to be commended. Furthermore, it's a superbe luxury read for a hopeless romantic. However, this is definitely not Austen and those that are perturbed with the idea of Elizabeth showing an ankle should perhaps consider looking for entertainment elsewhere.

This book, over all, gave the impression of being written by a 15 year old. A talented, fledgling, writer, but someone who has not yet mastered the craft. The narrative was a times very childish. Also, while the writer made an attempt at using classic language, failed utterly. Words were used incorrectly and far too often. In an attempt to sound like Jane Austen, this author instead gave an air of a poor actor.
This being said, I enjoyed the book, on its own merits. I found the situations interesting and engaging and the characters heart warming and passionate. While at times the whole thing became, perhaps, a little too unbelievable, it was still a very enjoyable read.
Overall, if you like authors such as Debbie Macomber you will most likely enjoy this book. It is a fun and easy read and, thus far, the best Pride and Prejudice sequel I have read.

I was very disappointed in this book. I didn't even bother to finish it and will be giving my copy away. I tired very quickly of the sexual aspects of the novel...if I wanted that I would have gotten a Harlequin romance instead. I prefer the way Jane Austen built up gradually to the romance... I do not think that Jane Austen would have written like this if she were a contemporary novelist. A much better choice for those who can't get enough of Darcy is An Assembly Such as This: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman by Pamela Aidan.

Many P&P sequels have fallen short of where I hoped they would continue the lives of the wondersul characters Miss Austen created in Pride and Prejudice. However, this one shocked me in a good way. I was very suprised by the issues and the language used to cover and describe certain situations. Most of these situations are and were true to life, even in the gentle English countryside of Miss Austen's time. If a reader looks deeper in her own works they can discern that these very issues, though not sugary sweet or ladylike topics, are tackled discreetly by Austen herself. Fianlly someone has take on issues such as marital passion and bastardry in a way that would have been delighful and scandalous enough to make Jane Austen blush, but continue reading.

While the topic and story plot is the best sqequel I have read up to this point, I have to point out that misspelling of hte main character's name is quite annoying. Shouldn't a good editor have picked that up? The language tends to be in line with Austen's time and work, but is at times repetive and overly done.

Excepting those minor flaws this is still a book I would recoomend to anyone that has read and enjoyed P&P. Ms. Bedroll has taken a masterpeice work and managed to create and intriguing look into the masterpiece that we may not have ever had otherwise.

This was truly an amazing book. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and simply could not put it down! I loved it because it centered around the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy and showed that their lives were not perfect. It was very realistic and was packed with tragedy and despair but at the same time, showed how their love overcame all the obstacles. The only storyline I didn't particuarly care for was the Bingley storyline but everything else I enjoyed reading. The book is sufficiently packed with romance, drama, tragedy, suspense, and is complete with a happy ending.

Lastly, I want to mention that if you're already infauated with Mr. Darcy, you will be even more so after you read this book! The only thing I really hated about the book was the fact that it ended!