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There are superficial attempts to demonstrate that Darcy had a life before meeting The Bennett family. The reader learns that he was raised by a cold, undemonstrative mother, a father who was rarely home, and a series of nannies, tutors, etc. We get a few entries on school experiences at Harrow and Cambridge. But the characters are cardboard, the relationships hollow, and the life experience of this man, which is what he supposedly is when he meets Elizabeth Bennett, is very limited. I believe most of Mr. Darcy's peers, men of station, character, potential and wealth are usually more worldly. Certainly Ms. Austen's Darcy would have taken the Grand Tour. Though he would have been exempt from military service, as the oldest son & heir, I cannot imagine Darcy not writing about the Napoleonic Wars, & perhaps his feelings about not participating in the military adventure of his time. Certainly he would have done some minor carousing or rebelling, (he Is human & did experience an adolescence). Where is his first love interest or infatuation? Is Darcy interested in politics, societal reform...something besides Pemberly? He comes to his meeting with Lizzy, almost her equal in life experience, in many ways, almost as innocent, but much more prideful. I do not see this man as a match for our Elizabeth. I expect the REAL Mr. Darcy is a more worldly, though a restrained & perhaps a repressed man. Ms. Austen's protagonist is a man who has a bit more of a handle on the world he lives in, a more experienced & knowledgeable man than this one.
I also want to comment on the stilted language that so negatively impacts the believability of the storyline. An example: "I stole a glance at the maiden expecting to find her undone and sobbing..." Did people speak like this in Mr. Darcy's 19th century society? Ms. Austen's never gave her readers reason to think so. Ms. Bennett may be a maiden, although she would probably be called a young woman. However she is too strong a figure, too intelligent & active, to be a mate for the Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy portrayed in this diary.
JANA
I found that it was quite childish in some ways. There was a lot of sadness in this book as a child as he wanted his parents love and attention but this was not given. Because of this he became very close to his nurse Mrs Reynolds (before she was made the housekeeper) once Georgiana was born Mrs Reynolds became her nurse and an horrible man servant was given to darcy who bullied him terribly. As he grew up in the book many of his entries did not seem to grow with him until the death of his father, and the Georgiana and Wickham affair which seemed to make him grow up quickly. Due to his childhood, he had learned to hide his emotions this made him in to the Brooding man we see at the Assembley when Elizabeth and family first encounter him
The best bits in the book to me was the swimming in the lake scene from p&p2 (colin firth & jenifer elhie edition) it also carries on for the first year of their mariage and I loved the bit where Mrs Reynolds after a week of mariage says to Mrs Darcy welcome to the first floor. It gives a good insight into his childhood, Eton and university years also the grand tour he went on. The only thing I disliked about this book was the cover it is horrible.
Alright, the concept is interesting enough: a semi-retelling of P&P through the eyes of Mr. Darcy. The problem with this book, at least to me, was not that it went beyond the scope of the original novel (I actually don't mind that at all). My problem was that its portrayal of these previously unexplored events was unconvincing.
Like other reviewers, I found this book's depiction of Darcy's parents as cold and unfeeling people to be inconsistent with Darcy's regard for them (as evidenced by Darcy's willingness to honor his father's wishes for Wickham). I also had problems with the punctuation used throughout this book. Punctuation, you ask? Yes. Darcy writes repeatedly with the use of exclamation points, and comes off more like an excited schoolboy than the mature, reserved person we know him to be. Although this is to be expected early on (his first journal entry is when he is only 10), I'd expect his reserved character to come through at least in his later years. No such luck. The writing never progresses beyond the 10 year-old-boy level. Even as an adult, his journal entries continue to be repeatedly filled with statements like, "I love her! She's beautiful! How happy I am!" Enough already! :-) I expect Darcy's writing to be moving and elegant, not excitable and childish.
The book also goes beyond the P&P timeframe by covering events past the wedding. Again, I don't have a problem with that per se. I like to see what happens to the Darcys afterwards. They are portrayed here as happy, passionate people, which is great. However, the repeated use of exclamation points continued to annoy me and I found myself rushing through this last part of the book just to finish up the darn thing. If you don't want to expand on the P&P timeframe, this might be another annoying thing about this book. If you do want to know what happens to Darcy and Lizzy afterwards, I suggest reading the Bar Sinister. It's risque to be sure, but it's also fun and amusing--definitely a much better continuation of the Darcys' love affair than this excitable schoolboy version.
I've been told a much better version of Darcy's story exists. It is called "The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy" by Mary Street. Unfortunately, it's out of print and hard to get your hands on a copy. However, if you really want to read something that's actually good, I suggest holding out until you do find a copy. If however, you just can't get enough of P&P spinoffs, I'd suggest reading the Bar Sinister first (assuming you're not a purist--if you are, then read Letters from Pemberley). If you've read both and are desparate to get more (as I was), I suppose this will do (just don't expect anything). However, no matter how desperate you get, avoid at all costs anything by Emma Tennant, or you'll just end up being resentful (I think she's universally hated by P&P loyalists). Have fun reading, but consider yourself warned...
