Has it already been almost a week since I posted? How time flies! I’m taking an English class over at the Harvard Extension School called Major British Writers II (I missed part I). We meet each Thursday night for two hours and the syllabus is a little intense. Last week we read selections from William Blake’s Songs of Innocence & Experience and The Marriage of Heaven & Hell. I’ve never read any Blake before and was surprised to learn what a radical he was. This week we’re discussing Pride & Prejudice, which I last read years ago. I reread it over the weekend—it’s still a great book! I’m eager to see how the discussion will go. My memory of the story is mainly from all the movies. I’ve seen them all, even went as far as renting the latest version on Sunday to watch again. The book adds so much nuance that the movie’s can never muster. The extra stuff on the Kiera Knightly version had the actors commenting on the various characters and stories and Blenda Blethyn said that Mrs. Bennet was a hero. That her main concern was getting her five daughters married and that she would walk through fire for them. Reading the book at the same time, I found it hard to agree with her assessment of the character. Perhaps in that movie version, but in the book, Mrs. Bennet seems silly and airheaded. We’ll see what my class has to say.