In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. - Mr. Darcy, taken from Pride & Prejudice

I am currently reading all of Jane Austen's novels. Have you ever read them? Maybe you were forced to by an English teacher in high school or college and hated it. The funny thing about that is sometimes, those novels you hated in school turn out to be absolute masterpieces when read just for fun. When you don't have to figure out the symbolism, the story comes to life and you find yourself lost in it.

For why I'm reading them, it happened when I watched a movie last fall called "The Jane Austen Book Club". Have you ever heard of it? The book club would meet after reading a particular book of Jane's and their witty banter about these characters made me want to know them in the same way. It spurred me on to purchasing all of Jane's novels so I could find out what I did not know and really be able to enjoy the book club discussion even more. I began with Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, and now I'm halfway through Mansfield Park. At first, the writing style is so strange, chock full of details (which is a tad boring at times) but once I overlooked all that, I find the characters extremely amusing. The entire setting of time that Jane lived, from the late 1700s to her death in 1817 reveal to me a period I'm not very familiar with but the time seems quite pleasant and very polite.

It's difficult to experience moments of happiness if we are not aware of what it is we genuinely love - Sarah Ban Breathnach

On Christmas, my children gave me a DVD of Pride & Prejudice with Keira Knightley. I watched it over this weekend - twice - and let me tell you something; the novel and this movie are quite possibly the best romantic pieces of work I've ever seen!
One look at Mr. Darcy striding across the field in the early morning light to come and propose again to Elizabeth Bennet is enough to make you believe in love all over again. Yes, there are certain liberties taken with the film, a few things are missing but it was magnificent and I highly recommend it. It made me think that this year I will purchase all the adaptations of Jane's books on DVD for myself. I get a catalog with all of them including another version of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy - a must see because he is so charming and handsome.

My review is over and I hope you will consider looking into a classic literary work yourself this year. You never know what you might find and it may inspire you in ways you never imagined.