Jane Austen

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So. your first impressions are probably dead-on.

A writer in possession of a good romance column, who has the cheek to review a revered classic, must be in want of readers.

Universal truths, and all.

But this week's column is more than just a shameless grab at co-promotion with a hot new film.

You see, to lit fans like myself, Knightly is the dashing, chivalrous hero of a novel called "Emma."

Not the fresh-faced star of a flick whose trailer is incongruously accompanied by a treacly pop song.

If you're not aware -- and trust me, you wouldn't be the only one -- I want you to know that before there was a movie called "Pride and Prejudice," there was a novel titled thusly, part of a body of work written by one of literature's most beloved authors, Jane Austen.

Austen was a keen observer of human nature with uncanny insight into its best, as well as most vexing, facets.

As she shared her often cynical impressions, she created some of the most elegant prose and evocative dialogue in the history of English letters.

"Pride and Prejudice" is a well-loved example of Austen's talent for conjuring magic from the tedium and mundanity of life among 18th century English gentry.

Like other gently-bred women of her day, our heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, must make a good marriage to secure her future.

But the vivacious and unfashionably quick-witted Lizzy determines to remain unwed, rather than marry a man she can neither respect nor love.

Enter Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Handsome, brooding, and vainglorious, Darcy seems determined to debase Elizabeth and her inferior connections; her father's lack of funds is exceeded only by her mother's surfeit of inanity.

But while he protests he cannot be attracted to Elizabeth, he fails to convince even himself that he has no interest in her lively mind and open personality.

Lizzy is disconcerted by Darcy's turnabout, but is certain of one thing: If he can't accept her family as he would herself, she can never accept his esteem.

While Jane Austen is considered the "grand auntie" of the modern romance, "Pride and Prejudice" is not considered a romance novel, happy ending notwithstanding.

Perish the thought.

No, Miss Jane once wrote of the prospect of writing love stories, "I could not sit seriously down to write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life."

Do you see why reading Austen is like sitting seriously down to dish with your best nerdy girlfriend?

Her extraordinary, lucid prose demonstrates wit and wicked sensibility. It's pure, often ironic, and at times, deliciously catty.

But one only gains an organic Austen experience when one cracks open the novels, breathing, tasting, and feeling the sublimity of mind synthesizing written word.

In other words, don't just see the movie.

Buy the book.

For info about Jane Austen and her writing, visit Republic of Pemberly, and Jane Austen Society of North America

And check out Michelle's review of the classic anti-classic, 'Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues.'

Finally, see our @ The Movies review of the new film version of "Pride and Prejudice"

Next Week's Review and AuthorView: "Close Up," by Virginia Kantra