Book Review: Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

Title: Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters
Subtitle: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
Author: Meg Meeker, MD.

How I found out about it: Dave Ramsey raves about it on the air
How I obtained it: Courtney gave it to me for my first father's day

First impressions:  It's a really alarmist book, listing all of the horrendous stats about teenage girls in US, such as prevalence of STDs or drug or alcohol abuse.

Lasting impressions:  I'm really left with the impression that I need to protect my daughter.  I need to encourage her, so that she doesn't need to get her self worth from the culture around her.  I think also, as I said the book is alarmist, I think I will be less naive and more aware of all the pitfalls out there for youth.  I don't know if it is good for me to be paranoid, but it may be good to at least be aware of the possibility of the temptations out there.

Aside from cultural types of things, the book also encourages fathers to teach their daughters humility and to "teach her who God is."

Writing style: the entire thing is written in a "spoken" style. It sounds like a motivational speech.

I think it was a good message to hear overall. It may be a decade before I can put the things into practice, but I will be ready!

Restaurant Review: Holy Land Cafe

The Holy Land Cafe (12275 W 87th Street Pkwy, Lenexa KS) is truly authentic Middle Eastern cuisine.

I was always under the impression that it was a place where you walked in and ordered at the counter...kind of fast-foodish.  But maybe that is contrary to being authentic.  We sat down and had a waiter.  He was doing some double duty as waiter and cashier, so he took a little while to get back to us.  I would really like to go back for lunch, because I think it's a popular spot.  The evening that we went, it was not particularly busy.

The prices are good, probably less expensive than other authentic restaurants such as Thai Place.  The food is excellent.  I had Lamb Kabobs.  Really I wasn't sure if I wanted lamb, but I was in the mindset that I only live once, and need to try out different things.

The have a room for hookah, and it seemed like a waste of space with all of the couches, where they could fit in more tables.  But that is a cultural thing as well.  Maybe it's an American thing to squeeze every last penny out of your space.  It made a nice play area for the young children who were with us.  I do not really understand hookah, and I don't feel like reading about it right now.

so in summary, it is authentic, if I haven't said that yet.  And I do recommend it.

I do not recommend eating out more than twice per week, just for budget purposes.  i am thankful that Courtney cooks for our family.But if you choose to eat out sometime, you should try Holy Land Cafe.  It has many gluten-free items, in fact that is most of the menu.  And it is authentic.

Movie Review: Rain Man (1988)

I just received a funny and random comment on my review of On Golden Pond:  "WOW. Way to spoil a movie and not even do a proper review."  That confirms it's a good thing I stopped writing plot lines.  But I wonder how someone reached my review from 2009.  I don't what a "proper review" is - I just write down my thoughts.  I have thought about reading more real reviews, just to get some pointers, but I haven't been too interested.

Anyway, we saw Rain Man, Best Picture Winner 1988.  I think Tom Cruise got gypped, not even nominated for Best Actor for playing Charlie Babbitt..  I think maybe the movie role of an impatient immature jerk doesn't get many nominations.  I am used to seeing Tom Cruise in action movies, so I was impressed at his acting.   But notable is that Dustin Hoffman won Best Actor.  I definitely agree with that, because I actually forgot while watching it that this was an actor - it was just so believable.  He is so consistent while playing the role of Raymond Babbitt.

Rain Man is one of those movies that integrates comedy and drama just so seamlessly, and it is strong in both areas.  Forest Gump would be another example.

There are some movies where the death of a person is the climax of the movie.  Some examples are One Flew and Midnight Cowboy.  However, in Rain Man, a death of a person sets the plot into motion.  Charlie Babbit's father died, and left the money to a mental institution. Without that, the plot would have never gotten started.  Another example of this is the Cinderella Story, or Ever After, which I haven't seen, but I've seen the beginning several times.  Without the father's death, the plot would have never happened.  So it is with our faith -Christ died, so that we could have life.  His death and resurrection set the real plot of mankind into motion - it's kind of the beginning and the end all in one.

My favorite scene is when Charlie Babbitt realizes that his brother was the "Rain Man" who came and sang to him when he was young, and then Raymond sings "Saw Her Standing There".  I would definitely watch the movie again.

Movie Review: Charade (1963)

Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant are the main actors in the movie.  It is a combination of mystery, suspense, action, and romance.  It wasn't until the end that we really knew what was happening, so the movie was successful in tricking us.  Kenny, my dad-in-law, recommended the movie. I recommend it.  I stopped writing the actual plot of movies in my reviews, because it takes a really long time, and then I tend to give up halfway through.

I didn't particularly care for the style of the banter between Hepburn and Grant.  It's kind of the old style.  The music was also old style.  In 1963, the huge shift in movie making had not really happened yet.  However, I miss the innocence of the old style - although there is violence, the romance is really old fashioned.  The movie's conclusion is a marriage proposal, which is the ultimate goal of the romance.  Now in movies, they sleep together nearly before they know each others names, and then that is supposed to be romance.

Restaurant Review: Chez Elle

When my wife told me about Chez Elle, it sounded like a rare and unlikely place.  In fact I loved it before I even went.  First of all, it is a creperie, which hearkens me back to my childhood in Quebec, where crepes were standard fare.  Second, they can make crepes with gluten-free batter for no extra charge.  Third, this is in Kansas City.  It is located at 1713 Summit St. Kansas City, Mo 64108.

The reason we heard about it was that one of our church friends, Lyndsay Heidebrecht, had art on display. Her art was about to be taken down on Sunday Oct 31. So I had taken the day off on Friday and we went on Oct 29.

It terms of our experience with the food, it was beautiful-looking.  And I'm not sure that I loved the taste of the gluten free batter. But as someone with the gluten allergy, often the experience of eating normally restricted foods is more important than the taste.   I had Le Jardin, with some good vegetables in there - mushrooms, artichokes, spinach, onion, and cheese.  The experience was fun and we will be returning for sure.  And I'm sure it will be the location of family Christmas Eve Ladies Brunch, if that tradition goes on.

We brought Annique and she was very cute in her Halloween outfit, and everyone around kept watching her.

Life Update Fall 2010

I haven't posted for several weeks.  We are probably closing one of the most challenging stretches I've had in the past few years. For 6 out of the last 10 weeks, I have been unavailable to be at home on Saturday.   4 of them I have had no control over, and 2 were at my discretion.  5 of them I was physically away, and for this last one I was mentally away, because I was working at home.

This past weekend has felt like a punch in the gut, because I worked around 14 hours on Friday, and got home at 2 AM.  And Saturday, my help was demanded in a high pressure way, but it was on and off throughout the day.  And these activities didn't get on my calendar until 2 weeks ago.  But thankfully things settled down and we went to a piano concert (David Nevue) Saturday night that was just fantastic.  Then daylight savings occurred and I'm super tired now at 8 PM.

Obviously, if there was no child in our house, my absence would be a more minor inconvenience.  However, I'm needed for emotional support.  Plus, I need to get some things done around the house, and the baby pretty much takes up my time that is available to do those things. Right now I'm choosing to blog rather than do those - because this is one of the things I've been wanting to do.  But when she smiles at us, it is just an awesome feeling, and we forget about any troubles we had.

Don't mean this to think I regret any of these activities, but I thought it would be fun to list
Sept 4 - Labor Day trip (don't worry i don't regret it)
Sept 11 - Disaster Recovery Exercise
Oct 2 - SQL Saturday (at my discretion)
Oct 23 - Disaster Recovery Exercise
Oct 30 - KSU vs OSU football game (at my discretion)
Nov 6 - work from home

 

Little 'Nique

Me and football

Football is an interesting subject in America.  Most people follow football, and watch it on a regular basis, and then discuss it with friends and coworkers for at least Monday.  Then there are people like me who "follow" the sport, but don't necessarily watch it, or care to discuss it at length.

I follow football scores for the Chiefs and the Big 12, and care very little outside of that.  I do not actually watch the games.  For the Chiefs, I would rather take a nap on Sunday or get stuff done.  For the Wildcats, most games are on cable, so I would have to go somewhere else to watch them.  I do listen on the radio occasionally, or follow the scores on Yahoo Sports.   I only know the names of 3-4 players on each team (Chiefs and Wildcats, not opposing teams).

I do not really know what it takes athletically, because I've never played football competitively on any level (grew up in Canada).   I can tell if someone makes a good play, but don't have tremendous appreciation for the effort the player made, or how much talent was necessary to make the tackle or the catch.  I just know it's a lot more talent than I have!

I sometimes have some trouble embracing football because it causes injuries often.  It is rare to watch a game without someone laying on the field, being looked over by trainers, recovering from a hit or an awkward landing.  I heard disturbing statistics about how running backs are not expected to live as long, and spend most of their later lives in pain.  When I have a son, I will not forbid him from playing football, but I would also not mind if he preferred something else.  That is because I don't want him to be the 20-something guy who is complaining about his knees.

Finally, I grew up as someone who was really focused on things that I perceived to be permanent or enduring.  And sports never came across to me as being life changing, or really relevant to my life.  That's just me, and maybe that is the thing that keeps me from being a sports nut - it could be totally different for someone else, it's not a right or wrong thing.

So, in summary I feel self-conscious about my lack of enthusiasm for football at times.  I am headed to Manhattan for a big game with 3 big football fans...so I somewhat feel like more of a passive observer among excited fans.  I try not to let a loss of a game affect my emotions, but sometimes it does to be honest.  The Chiefs lost today because of a poor officiating call, and I was very bummed about it, because it's not fair at all.  I think that about sums it up my thoughts about football, let me know if you have any questions!

Movie Review: Pride & Prejudice

I had seen little portions of this movie over and over again, because Courtney used to sometimes watch movies to pass time.  She would complete the movie in 4-5 viewings.  So I would walk by and see certain parts of it, but I had never seen the entire thing . It looked good though.

I decided to read the book and then see the movie.  (Book review here) The movie did not disappoint.  Not only is the story good, but the scenery and camera work are awesome.  There are a couple of long scenes in different rooms, however, the film is never cut.  The camera moves from room to room, and the actors execute in perfect timing.  The scenery not only includes vast plains and perfect sunsets, but also depicts a beautiful mansion/property from the era.

The movie keeps the humor of the book, and adds a lot of its own.  Mr. Collins is a funny little man, just because of how awkward he is.  Mrs. Bennet and her nerves are very entertaining.

The best scene is when Mr. Bennet is speaking with Elizabeth after the proposal of Mr. Darcy.  Donald Sutherland does an amazing work of acting, and it is a touching scene.

Also we must mention the music again. I purchased the piano version of the music to play for Courtney.  It is really beautiful music - all original, but made to sound like it is from that time period.

Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Somehow I had always wanted to see this one, but still knew very little about it.  I guess it's famous.

The characters are immediately interesting and entertaining.  Of course, the most interesting character is the main character - Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn.  She is a chatterbox, and a New York socialite, but deep down is only there to fill some sort of emotional void, and possibly just to survive.  Even when she nearly succeeds at gaining the rich husband, he is ashamed of her, and it's not really ideal.  Her past relationships are not ideal either, since she married an older guy she was incompatible with.  And finally, her last relationship is maybe the best she has had, but it does not seem promising to me.  Hollywood made it into a romantic amazing finish, but I hear that the Truman Capote version was different.  Since neither of them have money or direction, I have doubts about their success together.  But the guy really loves her - Fred, or Paul Varjak - he is a very patient man, and it's not just a flighty love.  I think at the end Holly Golightly realizes the futility of going after the rich men, not sure how much she truly loves Paul, but she could use him in her life.

The story has some strange twists and turns, and pushes the envelope a bit for 1961, but that should be expected for a Truman Capote novel.  The story is overall very good and entertaining.

The signature song, "Moon River" won the Academy Award.  The movie begins and ends with the song.  It's a good song, but is still in the older style.  Movie music didn't get contemporary until the late 60s.

Book Review: Learning ASP.NET 3.5

This book officially has the worst cover of any book I have read.

This publisher chooses a different animal for every book - and chooses a black and white drawing of it - it's kind of geeky.  This particular one is a monkfish - one of the ugliest fish known to man.

This book reminded me of college when I learned/used object-oriented programming.  ASP is much easier now, because you can drag and drop, instead of just typing everything.  Still, it is difficult to learn without real world experience.  Several of the examples in the book didn't work.  Next I want to learn ASP MVC 2.0

Book Review: My Brother's Keeper, Part III - Review

"What the social sciences do (and don't) tell us about masculinity.

I started out ambitiously, but I don't feel like writing a chapter-by-chapter review anymore.

Overall, I was impressed at the author's (Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen) breadth of knowledge.  However, she still seems more interested in women's issues than men's.  This provided a unique perspective for me - one that I haven't necessarily been exposed to.  I am the descendant of two lines where women were housewives and did not work outside the home. Second wave feminism has always been viewed in a very negative light.   (first wave feminism being the right to vote, basically)  And the author, being a feminist, opened my mind a bit about Biblical views (we are all equal in Christ) and cultural history.

Actually, I should mention that I did get a lot out the chapter about the history of men's work.  As a nation we moved from an agrarian society to an industrial society.  Before, communities were tightly knit and work was seasonal. Now, things have changed, and the workplace has become religion for many men.  I would spend more time writing about this, but probably no one is reading this post anyway (other than my lovely wife), and I need to head to bed.

I think the book was stimulating overall.

Book Review: My Brother's Keeper, Part II - Biology

Let's jump right into the Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen book again...fast forward to chapter 5, "What Can We Learn from Biology?"

This chapter has some interesting anomalies of biology which causes us to redefine what is male.  A track athlete, Maria Patino, failed a microscopic test because the results showed the chromosomal XY pattern for males rather than the XX pattern for females.  However, after disqualifying and embarassing her, after further research down the road, it was found that the testosterone did not have any effect on her bone growth or anything else, and did not give her any advantage.

Then there is the case of a very young boy whose genitals were destroyed during a circumcision.  So the parents consulted a psychologist, and "after much heart-searching chose surgical reconstruction for Bruce as a passable girl".  The "experiment" was of special interest to social scientists, because Bruce also had a identical twin.   It turns out that even though he thought he was a girl, and everyone treated him like one, he preferred to do male things, and eventually his parents had to tell him what happened.  And he was not too happy about it, and changed his name to David Reimer.  The point is that social conditioning didn't change who he was, and neither did his lack of male genitals.

Unfortunately, I do not know if this has a point for our lives.  I think I have more sympathy for people who seem to have an ambiguous gender.  People may have a biological setup that does not set them apart as much.  Although, those people, if they do not want to look ambiguous should make efforts to wear the right hairstyles and clothing.

Book Review: My Brother's Keeper: What the Social Sciences Do & Don't Tell Us About Masculinity, by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen

An intellectual yet readable book about what social sciences have gleaned about masculinity.  And of course it was written from a Christian world view, because it is published by Intervarsity Press.  I bought it at Urbana Missions Conference back in December 2003. 

I feel that I want to write an extended review.  Because I think it is unlikely that anyone else will read this book.  I'm not slamming it.  I just don't think you will find it in your bookstore or hear about it from anyone else.  So I shall summarize it for thee.  So I will write just a little at a time.

Chapter 2 - The Biblical Drama and the Gendered Powers

Van Leeuwen touched upon the issue of interpretation of the Bible - how some fundamentalists take things all too literally.  In this discussion, she is concerned about the Biblical teaching about gender of course.  

"In its extreme form, this approach turns the Bible into something like a dictionary or encyclopedia, where almost any reference to men and women is grist for a fixed set of gendered behaviors.  This tendency to treat the Bible as a "flat book" owes much to the legacy of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy that arose in North America early in the twentieth century.  While claiming to challenge 'godless science' with a high view of Scripture, fundamentalists still let the positivest norms of modern science dictate the terms of the debate.  That is, they uncritically bought the notion that truth could be packaged only in scientifically or historically literal form, though they included in the latter category statements inspired by God and recorded in Scripture."

On the other side, the liberal theologians and some scientists also erred in their beliefs by incorrectly assuming that science is completely free of bias.  "To do effective science....you need to have some prior idea of what it is you are looking for and what it means"

The following excerpt is a slam dunk in favor of science from a Christian world view:

"...Other things being equal (such as native ability and good training) scholars in any discipline who view their subject through the lens of Christian faith are no less 'biased' or 'unscholarly' than ones who do so through the lens of a naturalistic or Marxist or any other worldview.  In fact, it is more honest and fruitful to do scholarship from the standpoint of an acknowledged worldview that can be candidly analyzed and discussed than to presume one is working from a position of impossible neutrality behind which a worldview will be operating anyway" 

Besides this discussion being interesting by itself, Van Leeuwen goes on to explain that the gospel message is that there is now equality between men and women, and all people.  And this is not promoting hegemony (I learned new words, by the way), which means men and women are the same, but just promoting equality.  Paul's statements in the New Testament that command women to keep quiet and in the background must be explained in the context of the Greco-Roman, which was very male dominated.  Van Leeuwen quotes from another book:

"Paul hoped to earn Christians protection from outside hostility by advising them to conform to the public honor codes of the Greco-Roman world.  At the same time he subverted this very world by developing ideas that led Christians to contradict this code in their private lives"

I was actually excited when I read this, because I feel that Scripture is sometimes hard to understand.  And when something is explained in the historical context in a way that makes sense, it kind of lifts a burden off of my shoulders.  So this was just the beginning, I will keep going later!

God's view of me

"Trusting God's view of me has been the most intense, most difficult, and most comprehensive maturing and releasing process I have ever experienced" -TrueFaced

Movie Review: The Last Emperor

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1987

Main characters:
Pu Yi - the last emperor,  played by 4 actors, covering the stages of his childhood.
Pu Yi's wife in an arranged marriage
Pu Yi's second consort
Pu Yi's British tutor, Reginald Johnston - played by Peter O'Toole of Lawrence of Arabia fame.

I don't really have time to give this a thorough review.  Even as I write this I'm pretty exhausted, but this must be done!  Sorry I don't read anyone else's blog, or any of my usual web sites, until I can catch up. I don't have access to anything at work, which if you think about it, is a good thing, because work is for work anyway.

This movie covered the life of the last emperor of China.  The movie opens up as a 30-40 something person is a prisoner and is trying to kill himself.  Then we go back to a young boy who is crowned emperor at the age of 3.  He is immediately given authority and told that he can get anything he wants.  So he's a spoiled person, and is shocked to find out that outside the walls of the Forbidden City, there is actually someone else ruling, the President of the Republic.  Meanwhile, Pu Yi is a prison of the Forbidden City and is not allowed to leave.  Just for tradition, I guess, or for political reasons..I wasn't clear on that.

Since the "West" is more and more important, he gets a British tutor and is exposed more to the outside world, and has to get spectacles. He reforms the Forbidden City by expelling the thousands of eunuchs. 

Anyway, the world wars go on, and the Russians and Japanese invade China, and Pu Yi is finally expelled from the Forbidden City. And his wives have a difficult time with being exposed to other ideas and the loss of Pu Yi's power, and are unhappy, especially the second wife at first.

I don't really feel like writing the entire plot, so it's review time now.

I thought it had good use of color and costumes - those also won awards.  The story was long but interesting. Courtney really liked it and wanted it to keep going. 

I think it's just amazing that China went through such drastic changes in a short time.  The old system of emperor was torn down, and it went to a Republic, and then to Communism.  So of course it was interesting to follow said emperor.

Book Review: Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas

On page 238 of 270, I begged this book "PLEASE END!". And then I turned to Courtney and said, "You know I don't have to finish it. I'm done."

We received this as a wedding gift from my sister (thanks), who told us to wait a few years before reading. Then we started reading it when our small group decided to read it.  And then our baby was born, and we quit reading it.  So I've been trying to complete it.

For most of the time, I thought the author was Gary Chapman, the guy with the Southern accent and huge glasses who wrote The Five Love Languages.  But then only recently did I realize that was not the same person - this was written by Gary Thomas.   It is a strange mix of theology, opinion, church history, personal anecdotes, already accepted  ideas, and outlandish ideas.

I thought it was very difficult to care about what the author was saying, because it was so drawn out and dry.  The various attempts at humor did not pull me back in.  It turns out Gary Chapman is easier to follow.  I am not doing too well on enjoying marriage books.  Is there a John Eldredge book on this subject?  Now that would be great. (Yes, it's called Love and War!)

Two Views of Hell

My acquaintance with a Jehovah's Witness has rekindled my interest in the two views of hell.  I found that my friend and I agree on one thing, that we don't believe in eternal torment.  Death is the punishment for sins  - not eternal torment. A second death in the "Lake of Fire", which is eternally final, will take place "at the end of the age".

My own debate on this subject began when I read the Intervarsity Press book Two Views of Hell, which I purchased at Urbana Missions Conference, which I think was in 2003.

But mostly, I haven't emotionally grasped why a loving God would torment his Creation in Hell.  Especially if you believe in predestination, which I tend to not believe in, then it is especially disturbing to think that God predestined people to be tortured.

My friend Jeremy wrote an article on the subject, which is very long, but I plan on reading sometime  http://www.jeremyandchristine.com/articles/eternal.php.

However, the Jehovah's Witness does not believe in eternal life either, and I have definitely disagreed with him strongly on that.  The Bible is clear that all who believe in the Son go to heaven, not just the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation. But it has been busy lately at work, so I haven't had time to pursue these subjects with him.

Movie Review: Children of a Lesser God (1986)

I'm enjoying using my blog to be more personal, or to reveal my inner soul a bit more. But more on that later...movie review first.

This movie lost out to Platoon for Best Picture, but was nominated in 1986.

I feel like my reviews need to do a better job of introducing the characters.  I'm usually doing too much at once, naming the actor, describing the character, etc.  So if I describe them at the beginning, I can use their names in the remainder of the review.

Setting - a deaf boarding school in a maritime setting (Northeast)
James Leeds - a teacher who arrives from somewhere. He is hearing, and has a passion for helping deaf kids to speak.   Acted by William Hurt
Sarah Norman - a deaf former student who refuses to speak, and is an angry person, and is the school janitor.  Enjoys swimming naked in the school pool, for unexplained reasons.  Acted by Marlee Matlin.  Winner of Academy Award for Best Actress.

Plot synopsis:
James is attracted to Sarah.  He tries to help her to speak.  She does not want to speak.  He won't stop bugging her, and asks her to dinner.  She dances sensually to the music that she can feel, but not hear. She gets mad at him.  He keeps prying, and she tells him that as a youth she had sex better than hearing girls, and she was sexually abused by the neighborhood boys, somewhat willingly since she found some identity in it.   He intrudes on her when she's swimming naked, and has sex with her.  (Did he not just hear that part about how men used her? But I think it's supposed to be romantic maybe?)  Then she lives with him, and they are incompatible, and fight a lot because he keeps wanting her to talk (give it up already, she doesn't want to).  Then they separate.  Then they get back together, and will doubtless continue to have problems.  She does not speak.

Review:
I like seeing sign language.  Thankfully, James repeated everything Sarah said out loud. That is probably not normal, but just for the benefit of most viewers.  I think Marlee Matlin did a great job of acting.  I think even for a non-religious person though, it would be strange to live with someone, having never been on the same page about basic beliefs, and having never resolved anger issues.  So the whole thing seemed just hypothetical to me, not real at all.  The music was weird.  And the movie did not offer much in terms of scenery or effects - it was just dramatic acting, which is probably my least favorite type of movie.  But the sign language/deaf/HOH topic is still interesting to me.

New Work

New Work is a good thing.

I started working at a "large financial institution" on Monday.  I am still a consultant, so I am basically a guest at the company, a 6-month-at-least guest. I have tried to never put company names in my blog posts because that compromises my ability to be honest.

My job is to be there just in case someone leaves.  That is because this financial institution fell on hard times and everything is on pause, including bonuses, pay raises, 401K, you know the works.  I went through that at my previous company until I was let go.  One reason I was let go, I am just inferring, was to allow those benefits to continue for remaining talent.  The benefits freeze has been a lot longer for this particular institution, so many people are leaving this company.

And...it so happens that on my 4th day there, the person whom I am supposed to shadow and follow announced that he found work elsewhere and just put in his 2 weeks notice.  so I will be learning a ton in the next two weeks, and will be the Database Administrator for this company.  I will have some backup and support.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice

I have seen the end of this 2005 film about 5 times.  Courtney is a big fan.  I thought it would be fun if I read the book before finally seeing the entire movie.  Interestingly, some of the most memorable parts of the movie actually were not in the book.  The general location and purpose of the scenes were the same, but not the words.  That is forgivable of course.  It's not like Count of Monte Cristo from 2002 where the characters and half of the plot were different.

I thought this was a lot funnier than Count of Monte Cristo (talking about the books now).  And it was more manageable (approx 300 pages vs. 1200).  Most of the suspense in Pride and Predudice is around relationships, misunderstandings, and personality analysis.  I like the character of Elizabeth, because she reminds me of myself.  She does not divulge all of her information until it is safe.  At the end everyone is surprised that she loves Mr. Darcy, because she hasn't told anyone.  I also like to really be sure of things before I tell people about them.  The desired end of P&P is marriage to eligible bachelors.  The desired end of "Count" is revenge.

So even though the desired end of P&P is marriage to eligible bachelors, I still found it interesting and suspenseful.  The emotion of wanting someone to like you, it goes beyond that time period and whatever gender we are speaking of.  But that time period makes in more suspenseful in that women were more dependent on men, legally and financially.  So there is a lot on the line with these romances.

I thought the book an excellent description of various personalities and motives.  It is just excellent!

I'm not a huge fan of literary critiques, they are often too academic and ruin the story for me. So I skipped the introduction that was written by a scholar.  But I'm sure they wrote that the book and author, Jane Austen, were remarkable.