A New Way to Tell it

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

I don't know about anyone else, but that line just fills me with glee. It is the first line of the famous book Pride and Prejudice. When I was thinking about what I was going to write this week, I also happened to be watching the most recent episode of an excellent little web show called the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Several very talented actors portray the well-loved characters of the Bennet sisters and their adventures in love in a modern telling of the book. Anyway, this episode was particularly wonderful, and so I was really excited and decided that I wanted to share this goodness. This is a little different than some of my other topics I've written about, but this just kept coming up in my head. To give you an idea, here is the first episode, but I will warn you- it is super addictive.

I just find this so incredibly creative. In my creative nonfiction writing class, we've said that there are no new stories, just new ways of telling them. Well, granted this is a little more literal than I was thinking, but that's exactly what this is! It is the same beloved story that millions of people have read over the years, but in a very modern way- video blogging!

 It is a mix of excellent acting, clever and funny dialogue, and just a smart way of modernization;there are things that, in the original, are very 1800s and just don't happen today, and the writers had to figure out how to transition that without making it sound silly. I was impressed, as a viewer and as a writer, by all of it. Plus, a big part, was that they managed to take this really famous and well-loved story, a classic that I personally adore, and not ruin it in any way. 

I found it fascinating, too, because I have read this book and watched movie versions of this I don't even know how many times, and I was still eagerly awaiting each new episode on Mondays and Thursdays. Even though I knew what was going to happen, I still felt suspense and anticipation. 

Anyway, I was pretty excited about the particular , and thought I'd share it. I very much recommend it. Another excellent aspect to it is that, if you don't particularly enjoy Jane Austin- a trait I personally can't understand, but apparently exists- you can still get the masterpiece of her most famous work without actually having to read it. Don't get me wrong, read the book; there's no real equivalent to reading, and everyone knows that a book is always better than the movie. But this really is an exquisite retelling. 

Anyhow, I really like it, and I hope you try it and enjoy it, too.