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2.96 AVERAGE
2.96 AVERAGE
Mystery? Jane Austen? Yes, please! My daughters often say that I enjoy three kinds of books: YA, chick lit, and anything remotely related to Jane Austen. This novel more than fulfills the last requirement. Ms. James masterfully adapts Miss Austen's style of writing and recaptures that first bit of love when cracking open Pride and Prejudice.
When I first heard about this novel, I was really quite afraid that she had plans to kill of Mr. Wickham, one of my favorite characters, and I was pleasantly surprised to see where she took this character. A must read book for fans of Jane Austen, P. D. James, mysteries, or quality writing in general
When I first heard about this novel, I was really quite afraid that she had plans to kill of Mr. Wickham, one of my favorite characters, and I was pleasantly surprised to see where she took this character. A must read book for fans of Jane Austen, P. D. James, mysteries, or quality writing in general
I wanted to love this, but it was a bit plodding honestly. Way too much time spent rehashing the plot of Pride & Prejudice. I feel that was unnecessary beyond the prologue. And if you've gotten through life and never even seen one of the adaptations of P&P, there's no hope for your enjoyment of this mystery anyway.
The mystery itself was pretty out there and I just completely lost interest before the end.
Too bad, I had high hopes for this book.
The mystery itself was pretty out there and I just completely lost interest before the end.
Too bad, I had high hopes for this book.
Awkward mystery with too many references to events in the original book to stand on its own. If I’d read Pride and Prejudice enough to remember all the characters well, it might have been more fun.
At the risk of sounding overly intellectual, this book suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked. And sucked hard.
I went in with high hopes, but how could P.D. James manage to combine two of my favorite things--Pride & Prejudice, and murder--and produce something so boring?
I'm so mad. Mostly because the conceit itself is so rich I don't know how anyone could mess it up. If she had just had the Darcys host a dinner party with the original characters, only for Wickham to be poisoned at the table, and have the rest of the book be the ol' "no one can leave this mansion until we find the murderer" bit, this book would have been endlessly entertaining and near impossible to put down.
Instead, we're treated to a slow slog through a parade of uninteresting original characters (and like, at that point, just write a book with entirely original characters) in which the Austen characters do neither anything interesting, nor anything in character, while we solve the murder of the forgettable Captain Denny by someone we do not care about, because P.D. James made the killer up and stuck them clumsily into a book that's supposed to be about established characters.
Shaking. My. Head.
I went in with high hopes, but how could P.D. James manage to combine two of my favorite things--Pride & Prejudice, and murder--and produce something so boring?
I'm so mad. Mostly because the conceit itself is so rich I don't know how anyone could mess it up. If she had just had the Darcys host a dinner party with the original characters, only for Wickham to be poisoned at the table, and have the rest of the book be the ol' "no one can leave this mansion until we find the murderer" bit, this book would have been endlessly entertaining and near impossible to put down.
Instead, we're treated to a slow slog through a parade of uninteresting original characters (and like, at that point, just write a book with entirely original characters) in which the Austen characters do neither anything interesting, nor anything in character, while we solve the murder of the forgettable Captain Denny by someone we do not care about, because P.D. James made the killer up and stuck them clumsily into a book that's supposed to be about established characters.
Shaking. My. Head.
2 and a half stars. I was just rather underwhelmed. I think I had gone in with expectations of a murder mystery as well as experiencing the world of Pride and Prejudice but it wasn't the mystery I was hoping and I did not feel that the characters felt familiar.
I've read and enjoyed some of P.D. James's mysteries and read an interview with her about this book that intrigued me, so I started this book expecting to like it. However, after the first chapter (which amounts largely to a recap of Pride & Prejudice), things went downhill rapidly. Jane Austen's books were all about women's relationships and reputations, and describes seemingly small events with life-and-death consequences for her characters. In contrast, James tells a story of murder and intrigue, mostly from the perspective of the male characters, which might seem as if it should be more exciting but actually got dull pretty fast. I didn't feel like the characters behaved consistently with their original natures (especially Mr. Darcy). Helen Fielding did a much better job capturing the essence of what Jane Austen was about, at least in her first Bridget Jones book.
This book also contains one of my pet peeves--doctor characters in historical novels who behave as if they had the benefit of modern medical training.
This book also contains one of my pet peeves--doctor characters in historical novels who behave as if they had the benefit of modern medical training.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Okay, I think I would have liked this better if I hadn’t listened to Claudia Grey’s The Death of Mr. Wickham earlier this year. The ending just felt…convenient and honestly, highly improbable. There was too much that just didn’t work together for me to truly love this book. But it’s still a good book. I just found Grey’s version better. Just my two cents.
Because the book was written by P. D. James, I was expecting a great mystery. I'm not sure that it was a great mystery, although it was a good one.
Because the book has Pemberley in the title, I should have been known this would be Darcy's book. However, when I read a Pride and Prejudice novel, I expect Elizabeth to be a central character. Although some chapters were from her point of view, she just did not figure that large in the novel.
Because of Lizzie Bennet Diaries, I now expect all PandP revisions to be extremely entertaining and to reveal new insights into the motivations of the characters. James' extension of the characters were entirely consistent with Austen's. I think I liked her approach, because I could see their motivations stemming from what they did in PandP.
The book was different enough from my expectations that I needed to readjust part way through. Once I did that, I found it much more enjoyable.
Although it sounds like I didn't like this novel, I actually did enjoy it. The major drawback for me was the frequent info dumps of plot lines from PandP. Sheesh, if you haven't read it, why would you read this? I did not need the recaps!
Because the book has Pemberley in the title, I should have been known this would be Darcy's book. However, when I read a Pride and Prejudice novel, I expect Elizabeth to be a central character. Although some chapters were from her point of view, she just did not figure that large in the novel.
Because of Lizzie Bennet Diaries, I now expect all PandP revisions to be extremely entertaining and to reveal new insights into the motivations of the characters. James' extension of the characters were entirely consistent with Austen's. I think I liked her approach, because I could see their motivations stemming from what they did in PandP.
The book was different enough from my expectations that I needed to readjust part way through. Once I did that, I found it much more enjoyable.
Although it sounds like I didn't like this novel, I actually did enjoy it. The major drawback for me was the frequent info dumps of plot lines from PandP. Sheesh, if you haven't read it, why would you read this? I did not need the recaps!
Not the greatest book I've ever read, but it kept me entertained this weekend.
I've only ever read one book by PD James - it must have been almost two decades ago. I can't remember the title of the book and I can't have found it a great read since I was never tempted to pick up another PD James novel again. Until Death Comes to Pemberley. Because I LOVE Pride and Prejudice and hoped that this book, like the splendid BBC production of the novel, would allow me to extend the romance.
Alas, Death Comes to Pemberley fell short of what were, admittedly, high expectations (I wonder why PD James, who has a well established reputation, decided to do a sequel to this well-loved tale? It's not as if she needs to ride on Austen's popularity to sell books). Yes, the familiar characters - Elizabeth, Darcy, Col Fitzwilliam (now the Viscount Hartlep), Jane, Bingley, the Gardiners and yes...Wickham and Lydia are here. But part of the magic of the original Pride and Prejudice was how Austen recreated Regency era society with all its codes and strictures through the dialogue of the characters. And the dialogue in Death Comes to Pemberley comes across as stilted and wooden by comparison. PD James' Elizabeth lacks the wit and vitality that made the character in Austen's novel. And so much of the dialogue in the first half of Death Comes to Pemberley, in particular, is purely functional - to get those who are not familiar with Pride and Prejudice up to speed with the developments in the original novel - and lacks the vividness and spark of the original.
I might have liked it better had PD James written a straightforward murder mystery set in the Regency period. But whether out of intellectual conceit or other reasons, she has chosen to centre her novel around Austen's most famous couple (and even tries to weave in some characters from Austen's Persuasion, which also upset me inexplicably). I'm admittedly not a neutral reader but I think her gambit failed and it cheapened the novel somewhat. Read only if you're a non Austen fan. You're better off re-watching the BBC production if you want to recapture some of that Pride and Prejudice magic. Or better yet, read Pride and Prejudice again for the nth time.
Alas, Death Comes to Pemberley fell short of what were, admittedly, high expectations (I wonder why PD James, who has a well established reputation, decided to do a sequel to this well-loved tale? It's not as if she needs to ride on Austen's popularity to sell books). Yes, the familiar characters - Elizabeth, Darcy, Col Fitzwilliam (now the Viscount Hartlep), Jane, Bingley, the Gardiners and yes...Wickham and Lydia are here. But part of the magic of the original Pride and Prejudice was how Austen recreated Regency era society with all its codes and strictures through the dialogue of the characters. And the dialogue in Death Comes to Pemberley comes across as stilted and wooden by comparison. PD James' Elizabeth lacks the wit and vitality that made the character in Austen's novel. And so much of the dialogue in the first half of Death Comes to Pemberley, in particular, is purely functional - to get those who are not familiar with Pride and Prejudice up to speed with the developments in the original novel - and lacks the vividness and spark of the original.
I might have liked it better had PD James written a straightforward murder mystery set in the Regency period. But whether out of intellectual conceit or other reasons, she has chosen to centre her novel around Austen's most famous couple (and even tries to weave in some characters from Austen's Persuasion, which also upset me inexplicably). I'm admittedly not a neutral reader but I think her gambit failed and it cheapened the novel somewhat. Read only if you're a non Austen fan. You're better off re-watching the BBC production if you want to recapture some of that Pride and Prejudice magic. Or better yet, read Pride and Prejudice again for the nth time.