Mr. Darcy Came to Dinner in Austen Variations

Jul 26, 2017 wosedwew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, book-reviews, 2017

Titles are important; I have them before I have books that belong to them. I have last chapters in my mind before I see first chapters, too. I usually begin with endings, with a sense of aftermath, of dust settling, of epilogue.
-- John Irving

Titles are Important: This one is a homage to a classic film!

Endings are Important: This story has the absolute BEST EPILOGUE ever! It’s worth reading the book to get to the end (but the whole story is great).

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May 12, 2013 Sophie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-favourites, favourites, jane-austen-related

This is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time! If you want a book which will make you laugh, read this!

Warning: This book is not to be taken seriously, hence this is a Pride and Prejudice farce, not a variation.

To start off, Mr Darcy on laudanum is the funniest thing: his treatment of Mr Collins and also Lady Catherine de Bourgh who turns up is wonderful.
You know in situations with Mr Collins and Lady Catherine there are times when you know exactly what characters are thinking This is one of the funniest books I have read in a long time! If you want a book which will make you laugh, read this!

Warning: This book is not to be taken seriously, hence this is a Pride and Prejudice farce, not a variation.

To start off, Mr Darcy on laudanum is the funniest thing: his treatment of Mr Collins and also Lady Catherine de Bourgh who turns up is wonderful.
You know in situations with Mr Collins and Lady Catherine there are times when you know exactly what characters are thinking but they just can't say it, however much you want them to? Well, Darcy on laudanum does say the things he is thinking! (As well as sings a rather interesting song for the ladies of Longbourn...)

It was extremely clever with conversations we know from the original slotted in here and there, often spoken by different people to different people and about a different subject!

Mr Darcy is so wonderful in this version. He is the knight in shinning armour (even though he did fall off his horse) and eventually, one by one, he makes all the Bennet ladies fall under his spell. Seeing Mr Darcy's relationships with all the different members of the household change was really interesting - Mr Bennet in particular - it was a great way for Lizzy and the reader to be shown Darcy's true character, through his actions towards others.

Ok so I would have liked more time between Darcy and Lizzy, but that isn't really the focus of this story as it is through his actions with the rest of her household that Lizzy too falls under his spell (but there are some sweet moments (and funny moments!) between them.)

The relationships between the Bennet sisters themselves and how they change through the story was also nice to see. I really enjoyed the further exploration of the characters of Mary, Kitty and Lydia, Mary and Kitty in particular who are very untouched in the original.

The ending few chapters were a lot of fun! They show what happens to all the characters in the future (which I always like to read about) - a few characters from her other novels make some very interesting appearances! I particularly liked Col. Fitzwilliam's and Charlotte Lucas' fate! (But I won't give it away!)

As humour is the main objective of this Pride and Prejudice farce, a final epilogue with Mr Wickham and Mr Collins really finishes the book with a bang - it was brilliantly funny!

This is a wonderfully clever, witty and laugh-out-loud book! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh - I was laughing from start to finish!
...more

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Mar 24, 2015 Sheila Majczan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having read all the reviews on Amazon, I find that the first reviewer reflects my viewpoint about this book best in her first two and last paragraphs. I actually liked how Mr. Caldwell used JA's lines by placing them in other characters' mouths. I found very satisfactory how he developed each character and the fate in store for them. I think my favorite was that reserved for Mr. Collins. The dialogue and thought processes fleshed out an understanding of each character. I am not sure I agreed wit ...more

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Jan 30, 2015 Kirk rated it it was amazing

Shelves: jane-austen, austenesque-lovers-tbr-pile-2015, 2015, cats

What fun!! The author calls it a "farce"...purists beware...lol. Love the cat on the cover too. ...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Nicole Barton Sasser rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: review-on-amazon, p-and-p, jaff, online

Read Mr. Darcy Came to Dinner when it was previously posted online.

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Dec 21, 2019 Barb rated it it was amazing

Shelves: austen-fan-fiction-read, books-i-own-e-book, books-i-own-audio, audio-book-listened, audible-jaff

This is one of my most favorite fan fiction variations of Pride and Prejudice. A 1942 film entitled The Man Who Came to Dinner starring Bette Davis and Monty Woolley is one of my all time favorite films, and it obviously is the inspiration for this variation.

In the film, a very famous NY theater critic is in town to give a talk to a ladies group, has dinner with the Stanley family, whom he disdains, slips on ice outside of the house and breaks his hip. He and his entourage take over the house i This is one of my most favorite fan fiction variations of Pride and Prejudice. A 1942 film entitled The Man Who Came to Dinner starring Bette Davis and Monty Woolley is one of my all time favorite films, and it obviously is the inspiration for this variation.

In the film, a very famous NY theater critic is in town to give a talk to a ladies group, has dinner with the Stanley family, whom he disdains, slips on ice outside of the house and breaks his hip. He and his entourage take over the house indefinitely causing all kinds of chaos. The critic, Sheridan Whiteside, is crabby, nasty and manipulative, and becomes a little tyrant, but we soon discover he has a soft heart underneath it all. Take this, replace the household with the Bennets and the unwanted house guest with Mr. Darcy and you have Mr. Darcy Came to Dinner.

Darcy falls off his horse when he and the horse startle Miss Elizabeth Bennet and the family cat, Cassandra outside Longbourn prior to a dinner party. The horse is startled, in turn, by the cat, and Mr. Darcy is thrown. He has broken a leg and both the apothecary and Mr. Darcy's personal physician believe his leg and life would be threatened were he to be moved. His valet sets up the Bennet parlor as Mr. Darcy's bedroom.

Mr. Bennet is highly amused and sits back to take in the action, leaving an un-amused Mr. Darcy to take charge in place of the ineffective master. This sets up an antagonism between the two men. Of course, we know Elizabeth dislikes Mr. Darcy, but he finds out only through an overheard conversation. However, Darcy is kind to the servants, takes Elizabeth's side in defending against Mr. Collins advances, arranges to have Mr. Bennet take credit for alerting the community to Mr. Wickham's faults, etc. thus causing Elizabeth to begin to reevaluate her feelings about the man.

In the meantime, Darcy, believing he needs to win Elizabeth's heart, begins to get to know the rest of the family. He finds ways to help out Mary with her music, Kitty with her drawing and Lydia with her heart's desire. Mrs. Bennet becomes charmed and sets out to feed him all of his favorites, to Mr. Bennet's consternation. Colonel Fitzwilliam chides him for his need to "fix the world" and his manipulative ways. But all in the family are beginning to see the warm, sweet and kind man behind the mask. Will Elizabeth?

I love so many aspects of this story. Darcy is seriously a kind man. As he speaks to each sister, he listens to them and appreciates what each needs to develop their own accomplishments. He encourages them and helps them to improve themselves and their confidence. Georgiana joins him and becomes just one of the sisters. We see the best of each family member being brought out through their interactions with the Darcys. The author takes the words of Austen and has them reutilized by other characters, making for some very amusing conversations. Colonel Fitzwilliam can't help himself from jumping into the world fixing process himself. There is just such a lot here to amuse the reader of JAFF. And, I think, if you were familiar with the film, there is just that extra little twist of fun as you see the similarities. Finally, the scenes of Darcy with the enamored cat Cassandra are just too cute for words. We all know the purring cat is the best judge.

I have read the book several times, but this last time I listened to the audio version. I will leave my rating of 5 stars for the book, but there are some issues with the reader for the audio version. First off, there are several mispronounced words that drive me crazy. De Bourgh is not pronounced De Burr, and this starts to drive me mad. Then, reading the book with an English accent, but then not pronouncing valet, lieutenant, phaeton, etc. with an English pronunciation sounds very grating to my ears. However, the character voices, and the ability to tell the story are excellent.

I love this variation and I know I will go back and read it over and over. If you have a chance, see the movie The Man Who Came to Dinner. It just adds to the fun. Highly, highly recommended. I love Jack Caldwell's writing and humor. ...more

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Jan 09, 2018 Elin Eriksen rated it liked it

I laughed out loud a couple of times but that is not enough for me.
After reading "Pemberley ranch" of the same author I was a bit disappointed by this book.
I felt it lacked romance, passion and a bit more angst.
The plot was a new one. Darcy brakes his leg and is forced to stay at Longbourne. Overhearing Elizabeth making some unflattering remarks about him to Charlotte he tries to better her opinion of him.
Then he leaves for a rather ununderstandable time in London. The HEA at the end feels rushe ...more

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