Day: November 17, 2007

A Create Your Own/Choose Your Own Jane Austen book by Emma Campbell Webster. I had a lot of fun in my first play/ “read” of this book. It really is like a game. You’re Elizabeth Bennet and your goal is to marry prudently and for love. As a game, you have the option of keeping score, but that gets old pretty quickly, and I just went along with the various possible outcomes. The author creates really outlandish scenarios if you choose “wrongly” or fail, but I quite like them. Her snark is great too; she makes you appreciate Austen’s heroines and their many, many failings. It’s very funny and made me laugh a few times. You can definitely tell the author knows her Austen and almost seamlessly connects many of the books together in the Austen universe. Her take on the various Austen men you can end up with is interesting as well. In my first completed mission, I was able to not only marry Mr. Darcy, but also go down separate routes of marrying Mr. Knightley and Capt. Wentworth (and a couple of the Austen scoundrels for curiosity’s sake). I have not been able to find the routes and choices for the other Austen men, but I will do that thenceforth. Webster also has quiz questions concerning the historical time period of the Regency, and quirky illustrations. I quite like the design of the book cover as a whole. All in all, a very fun book for Austen fans, but I do see that the book could lose interest after you’ve managed to marry all the heroes and the scoundrels, and failed in other ways. I think I’ve already covered most of the outcomes in my first reading, and now I’m starting over again to find possibilities for other futures. Still, enjoyable, quick, and funny.