P&P Challenge: Two Guys Read Jane Austen

This month for the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge, I read Two Guys Read Jane Austen by Steve Chandler and Terrence N. Hill. This book is composed of e-mails and letters exchanged between Chandler and Hill while reading Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, both by Jane Austen. They discuss their thoughts on the novels, what is happening in their own lives, and how everything we read and do affects us.

(cover designed by Cleone Lyvonne;

cover photos by Kathy Eimers and Jon Helgason)

First Impression: This is such a fun book! Chandler and Hill approach Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park with commentary rather than criticism. Their analyses are mingled with the application of ideas to their own lives and general thoughts on seemingly unrelated topics. I like the comfortable, laid-back feel of this book--just two long-time friends e-mailing and writing each other with discussions of the books they're both reading. Also, I find that I agree with a lot of their thoughts and ideas, probably more than I do with most women and people closer to me in age--what does that mean?

Conclusion: I love Two Guys Read Jane Austen! In college, I read quite a bit of literary criticism. This book has just as much value with a much more casual approach. Throughout the book, Chandler and Hill refer to experiences from their own lives and thoughts on other things they were reading at the time. They relate reality to the novels without pining after Elizabeth Bennet or Fanny Price, which I appreciate. (That's not to say they don't reflect on the romantic value of the characters, because they do.) And I love my fellow Austen readers, but let's face it, most of us are women, right? It's nice to get a different perspective on Austen from a man's eyes--and two men reading it for fun, nonetheless.

Steve Chandler and Terrence N. Hill provide a fresh and exciting perspective on an old favorite. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Jane Austen and even to anyone who has their doubts about her--maybe it will change your mind!