If you know me, you know my obsession with all things “Pride & Prejudice,” whether it is the book, the movie adaptations or the BBC mini-series.
So, for my last book review, what better way to end the semester than revisiting the old classic and tried and true favorite in modern form?
Curtis Sittenfeld’s “Eligible” transports the Bennet family from the English countryside to Cincinnati, gives Mr. Darcy a Harvard medical degree and throws in a healthy dose of reality TV.
This was my first foray into the world of modern retellings, and to say I was wary would be an understatement.
But from the first few pages, Sittenfeld won me over by reimagining the character Elizabeth as Liz, a magazine journalist living in New York City who returns home to care for her family in the aftermath of her father’s heart attack.
Her mother is just as meddling in Liz and her sister’s lives as ever, and true to form, angles to marry them off at every turn.
Her older sister, Jane, and Chip Bingley muddle their way through romance 21st-century style, with artificial insemination and reality dating competitions coming into play in what are the furthest deviations from the original plot.
Of course, Sittenfeld didn’t leave out the fan favorite: Fitzwilliam Darcy.
And yes, his name is still Fitzwilliam.
Liz and Darcy dance around each other throughout the first half of the novel in the way Austen-lovers crave and bemoan each time they read or watch “Pride & Prejudice.”
Sittenfeld even retains some of the original language Austen used in 1813, and the close reader can pick up on it during many of Liz and Darcy’s interactions.
Warning to any die-hard P&P fan: This book can be a little jarring.
I think I felt Jane Austen turning over in her grave when Liz suggested hate sex to Darcy at a point in the book when the original characters probably had only engaged in illicit hand touches.
Nevertheless, the more outlandish adaptations of the story only served to make it more entertaining.
Where Sittenfeld held true to the original characters was genius. The awkward Mr. Collins is now Cousin Willie, a self-centered Silicon Valley success.
Wickham is now Jasper, Liz’s longtime best friend-turned-lover, who was enemies with Darcy at Stanford.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a renowned feminist who aids instead of abets Liz’s relationship with Darcy.
“Eligible” certainly wasn’t the most thought-provoking read I’ve picked up this semester, but it definitely was the most fun.
I sped through the 500 plus pages in just a few days and was disappointed as I reached the end.
I would certainly recommend either reading the original work or watching a movie adaptation of “Pride & Prejudice” before picking up “Eligible,” or you won’t appreciate the transformation Sittenfeld puts these beloved characters through.
This adaptation just proves that Austen’s story can bear the test of time with grace and is here to stay in the modern age.
rarosens@indiana.edu @rachrosenstock
