I won
You Say It, I'll Think it by Curtis Sittenfeld from LibraryThing and as I read the first stories I determined to also read her novel
Eligible since it was a modern take on Jane Austen's
Pride and Prejudice.
"Well before his arrival in Cincinnati, everyone knew that Chip Bingley was looking for a wife."
Said Chip had been on the television reality show
Eligible, hoping to find love, and broke all the girls' hearts by marrying none of them. His Hollywood career over, he went back to practice medicine in a new town.
For Mrs. Bennet, Chip's arrival in Cincinnati was perfect timing. The two eldest Bennet daughters, Jane nearly forty and Liz not far behind, were returning home to help out after Mr. Bennet's coronary artery bypass surgery. After all, Mrs. Bennet couldn't handle an invalid AND chair the Women's League fundraising luncheon. As far as Mrs. Bennet was concerned, having a medical man in the family would be a perk.
Only Liz knows that Jane opted for artificial insemination after the break up of her last relationship. Liz writes for a magazine and has no plans for children. But she has been in love with her 'best friend' Jasper Wick for years, although they never became a 'couple' until after Jasper's married. Fourteen years Liz waited for him to realize they were meant for each other. Jasper had no intention of divorcing his wife, so Liz becomes his 'best friend' with benefits.
Liz soon discovers not only mom but dear old dad needs 'handling,' beginning with mom's shopping addiction and the huge medical bills piling up because dad was uninsured. Living at home still are Mary, in graduate school, and freeloaders Kitty and Lydia, in their early twenties.
The Bennet family are invited to the Lucas's house to meet Chip, where, of course, his friend Darcy snubs Liz. Meanwhile, 'cousin Willie' has made millions and shows up looking for a wife, and a snarky Caroline Bingley warns Liz off.
You know the story--just not this version of the story. Everything is updated: the daughter's ages, their sex lives, and the problems they face are very 21st c. Racism, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and the artificial reality of television make appearances.
It is a very funny novel, and overall a very clever updating of Austen. I especially loved Sittenfeld's version of Mr. Bennet.
"I don't suppose that any of you can appreciate the terror a man might feel being so outnumbered," Mr. Bennet said. "I often weep, and there are only six of you."
I thought the updated scene of Liz trying to get to an ailing Jane was handled well; in the original, Liz walks through dirty lanes and fields, arriving in most unfashionable condition. Sittenfeld has Liz jog across town, arriving drenched in sweat. Each version of Liz shows how she places family bonds above social approbation, and in each she proves herself to be healthy, active, fit, and glowing.
Showing my age, and early monogamy, it was discomforting to read about all the premarital sex going on. All the sexual tension between Darcy and Elizabeth? I sure missed that. And where Austen's Liz has her own pride, Sittenfeld's Liz is a terrible drunk. Not my favorite handling of this character.
Eligible also misses the darker side of Austen: the soldier's camp gathered because of the looming war with France, Liz's challenge to the social hierarchy by not kowtowing to her social superiors, the church held in thrall by those who hold the living to the point of the Rev. Mr. Collins being instructed on what to preach. And Wick is an almost comic philanderer, Liz willing to settle for his terms, when Wickham was a seducer of a young heiress, a liar, a gambler, and an gold-digging opportunist--very evil qualities in Austen's day.
But I applaud Sittenfeld's novel for picking up on Austen's witty social jabs and the bright and sparkling aspect of the original.
I obtained a copy of the book through my local public library.
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You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
on my quilt Prince's Feather |
The publisher's letter included with my LibraryThing win copy of Curtis Sittenfeld's
You Think It, I'll Say It notes that the ten stories included "pinpoints the questionable decisions, missed connections, and sometimes extraordinary coincidences that make up a life."
If I could sum up the stories with one word it might be ironic, or perhaps in two words, unsettling insight.
Misunderstandings abound between the sexes, usually rooted in a woman's self-doubt about their lovability, or their passivity in relationships, or the projection of need onto another. A lack of openness, once discovered, closes doors. Women dwell on the past, holding grudges or romantic fantasies. Denial of one's neurosis causes conflict with coworkers. A man's game is misunderstood by a woman who sees it as intimacy.
I felt too old for these stories about young women and forty-year-olds who grew up in a different world than I did. There is a lot of sex going on, and language that was verboten to me.
And yet, some things don't change. Sittenfeld offers insights into the human experience we can all relate to.
"I had no idea, of course, that of all the feelings of youth that would pass, it was this one, of an abundance of time so great as to routinely be unfillable, that would vanish with the least ceremony."
"Presumably, the campus of Dartmouth in the early nineties--like college campuses in every decade, like owns and cities everywhere--was home to many other virgins, afraid that they were too ugly to be loved, convinced that this private shame was theirs alone."
(Vox Clamantis in Deserto)
"You think, Jesus, everyone in the world was once this young, floating on a tide of parental love and hope. That's before they turn into teenage assholes." (Plausible Deniability)
"I had a thing about touching certain people, about dirtiness...Strangely, being groped by the kids didn't bother me; there was a purity to their dirtiness because they were so young." (Volunteers Are Shining Stars)
"I can't help seeing the election as a metaphor. It turns out that democracies aren't that stable, and neither are marriages. And I'm so fucking confused! I didn't think I'd be this confused with I was forty-three (...)I thought I had my act together (...) But something came loose inside me, something got dislodged, and I am still that teenager." (Do-Over)
In the end, I enjoyed these stories and will return to them again. But I am glad to have survived those youthful years of self-doubt and troubled relationships, the nurtured grievances and desired do-overs.
A won a free book from the publisher through LibraryThing.
