I am not in the habit of perusing lists of forthcoming books, but one particular book recently caught my eye: Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James. James, looking to do something a little different after all these years, I suppose, has written a murder-mystery ‘sequel’ to Pride and Prejudice, with my beloved Elizabeth Bennet — or, should I say, Elizabeth Darcy — in the role of sleuth.
Is it a silly idea? Sure, sort of. Is it presumptuous to trespass in this way on sacred literary ground? We’ll see. James is a good enough writer that she just might — might — be able to pull it off.
Anyway, my eyebrows have gone up. The book is to be published next week, on November 3.
October 25, 2011 at 8:03 pm
There are sooooo many sequels to Pride and Prejudice out there and this is the first one that looks like it just might be good.
AMDG
October 25, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Agreed.
October 26, 2011 at 7:47 am
I predict that it will at least be better than was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
October 26, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Wow, Craig, what a gutsy prediction!
AMDG
October 26, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Today I was completing a ‘risk tolerance’ survey for a friend’s research project, and I was discovering that I don’t take many risks — unless you count things like “Trying to get on the elevator even when the doors have started to close”, or “Going out without an umbrella”. I guess I can now add another item to my list.
October 26, 2011 at 10:32 pm
I only do one of those things.
AMDG
October 27, 2011 at 5:14 pm
It’s going into my amazon cart.
I enjoyed the Bollywood version of P&P
October 27, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Lord help me, so did I.
AMDG
October 28, 2011 at 6:56 pm
The Bollywood version? Was that Bride and Prejudice? I saw it, but — well, it was not for me.
October 31, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I know. I hate myself for liking it, but it made me laugh, and I don’t really think of it as P&P.
AMDG
October 31, 2011 at 2:42 pm
The unabashed corniness of Bollywood inspires a forgiving spirit in me.
October 31, 2011 at 4:44 pm
I feel so much better now.
AMDG
January 21, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I now have Death at Pemberley. Did you ever read it? I am reading something else at the moment, but hope to get to it soon.
AMDG
January 22, 2012 at 9:36 am
I haven’t read it yet. I’ve requested it from the library, but last I checked there were 973 people in line ahead of me. I hope you’ll let me know what you think of it.
January 22, 2012 at 12:15 pm
I didn’t really enjoy it – sorry to be a kill joy. One factor was that I was on a plane, and first I read a novel by Alexander McCall Smith that was really good. ’44 Scotland Street’ beautifully evokes the atmosphere of Edinburgh, *and* its a page turner! Then I turned to Death in Pemberley. It was simply less good by comparison. I am not, or I really hope I am not
an anti-anachronism bore, but I just didn’t like the way it simply transported the 21st century into the 18th century, down to the use of phrases like ‘life style.’ That’s as much about me as the novel, because clearly it wasn’t even trying to capture the 18th century. In my opinion, there are good things in it, but it is far from PD James’ best. For me, the great thing about James is that she can really make us empathize with the criminal, and understand why they did it, without conveying moral relativism.
January 22, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Yours is the first opinion I have heard about the book (from someone who has read it). How disappointing. I am afraid that I am an anti-anachronism bore too. I don’t particularly care about the murder mystery side of things; I just really want to meet Elizabeth and Darcy again, to see how they are getting on.
January 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm
I, too, am anti-anachronism, but we shall see what we shall see.
AMDG
February 27, 2012 at 1:47 pm
Did we talk about this on lodw after I read it?
AMDG
February 27, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Not that I remember. Did you like it?
February 27, 2012 at 2:45 pm
I really disliked it. REALLY. My favorite part was when my kindle told me I was more than 50% finished.
One thing I figured out about halfway through is that part of the problem is that Austen and James are a bad match. Austen is light and funny, and James has no sense of humor whatsoever. DaP is very heavy and solemn. Can you imagine Lizzy being always solemn?
And Col. Fitzwilliam is unpleasant. This is rank calumny.
AMDG
February 27, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Oh dear. That is really disappointing. Perhaps it’s a good thing that I’m getting it from the library (someday): I probably won’t be able to read the whole thing during the loan period. You could not be more right: Lizzy should not be solemn. Oh dear.