Review: Elizabeth meets Darcy, so to speak
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 6, 2013
The title, "First Impressions," should have given me a clue.  That is the title under which Jane Austen first submitted the book [it was rejected] that was later published as "Pride and Prejudice."  The plot line and cast from Austen's masterpiece are here, updated from Regency England to 21st century California, much as the people who put together the movie "Clueless" updated her book "Emma" to 1990's Los Angeles.  And I thought, despite some of the other reviews, that Koehler did a pretty good job of it.  He did add a bit more humor and some slapstick not quite so readily apparent in Austen's work, but between Mr. Collins [not sure he's even in this book} and Mrs. Bennet and Lady Catherine de Bourgh [who definitely ARE in this book!}, I'd have to say that Austen added her own dose of caricature to the original work.  Most of the major scenes and themes from Austen's work are carried over here, though Mr. Bennet is only referred to and if Mr. Collins is in this book I have yet to figure out who he is.  A number of less critical figures in Austen's work are also left out.  Both major characters, Henry and Cameron, had huge doses of pride to work through, as well as a horrible "first impression" in both cases.  It was lots of fun to read, especially when, a little over half way through the book, I saw the correlation with "Pride and Prejudice."  It's certainly a LOT better than most of the Jane Austen spinoffs currently coating the paperback shelves in large book stores and worth a few hours of reading time.