Tolerable, I suppose,...

Rating: 5/10 (14 November 2005)

but not good enough to tempt me out of my admiration for the miniseries.
Quite frankly, this is probably a nice primer if you want an overview over the novel without too many details. Knowing book and miniseries almost by heart, you cannot imagine my sufferings when Austen quotations were torn and stretched out of context... The good thing was that some people laughed at actual Austen quotes, even if they were in the wrong place...In some scenes, the rewriting hasn't been done very elegantly - compare the conversation about "accomplished women and their figures" in the book and the movie. And why was the dialog changed so that things Lizzie was to say were said by Darcy?
However, there is one thing I really hated: the portrayal of Georgiana. From the novel, we know that she is exceedingly shy, and even gives Wickham ground for his claims of her arrogance. The way she greeted Elizabeth upon first meeting her was, in my humble opinion, plainly wrong and contradictory to the primary source.
I also resent that almost all of my favourite lines were omitted: Lady Catherine's " I must have my share..", Darcy's "I am in no humour to give consequence to young ladies slighted by other men", Lizzie's " My feelings... my feelings are quite changed..." etc, pp.
I also thought that Elizabeth was, despite being a lively character, sometimes well out of decorum when talking to Darcy, effectively proving his accusations about her family's lack of Decorum right. She was a bit too frank to still be considered charming and accomplished.
Two minor things: Why did it have to rain, when the first proposal took place - why did it have to be delivered on the grounds anyway? The Collinses parlour was quite charming...and a lot warmer! And why is there such a total lack of hairpins? Even though being set in the regency era, people were able to have hairstyles...
An Austen primer, even if with a bit of a Bronte touch, but no serious adaption of the novel.