Pride and Prometheus
by John Kessel
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Gothic, Romance
Release Date: January 1, 2008
Pages: 384
Get from: Library | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
My Rating: ★★⯪☆☆
Review
NOTE: This review is based on an eBook I purchased from Amazon.
There are minor **SPOILERS** in this review.
There is SO MUCH I could say about this book, but let’s start with the title and synopsis. The title leads one to believe that this book will lean towards Pride & Prejudice, or at least be evenly balanced between it and Frankenstein. The synopsis points to more of a 50/50 split. The truth is that Pride and Prometheus is really just a retelling — or perhaps more of a sequel, I haven’t read the original, so I’m not sure — of Frankenstein. While you could not replace Frankenstein or his creature and have the same story, any female main character would do. Mr. Kessel could have invented a new character and it would have worked just as well. This made it feel as though Mr. Kessel was just trying to capitalize on the Pride and Prejudice variations audience. After all, once you buy the ebook and start reading, you can’t return it.
Perhaps it was this incorrect expectation of a true meld of the two classics that left me feeling so dissatisfied. I didn’t particularly enjoy Pride and Prometheus, although I didn’t exactly dislike it either. Perhaps the best I can say is that it was not to my taste. I kept reading with a sense of expectation that the Pride and Prejudice bits would become more important. But they never did. Instead, we’re treated to a ghastly ending unlike anything I want from a Pride and Prejudice variation. But enough about my dashed expectations.
What troubled me the most about Pride and Prometheus was the historical inaccuracies. We find out early on that Pride and Prometheus takes place 13 years after Pride and Prejudice, but then we learn that it is between February 26 and June 18, 1815. This places the events of Pride and Prejudice in 1802-1803. While earlier than typically placed, on this surface, this doesn’t present a problem, since Jan Austen is a master of concealing the setting year.
However, 1802 is the one year where Pride and Prejudice COULDN’T have taken place. The militia was disembodied (disbanded) after the Treaty of Amiens was signed on March 27, 1802 and wasn’t recalled until early 1803. This means that there would not be a regiment of the militia quartered in Meryton the winter of 1802-1803, and the entire story falls apart. Mr. Kessel goes so far as to specifically reference the men going off to war — Kitty reminisces about chasing officers with Lydia — but in mid-late 1802, England was at peace. No one was overtly preparing for war, and the average teenage girl certainly wasn’t thinking about war.
I excuse many historical inaccuracies while reading, especially related to dress and etiquette. But military history is incredibly easy to find. It took me all of 10 minutes and a handful of Google searches to find the information.
Granted, Mr. Kessel acknowledges that he “rearranged a few genuine historical events,” but even moving the story forward by one year would have fixed this. Not to mention he could have easily left out specific mention of dates and it would have been a non-issue.
Mr. Kessel also includes some potential references to homosexuality, but veiled enough that it’s hard to say if he meant them that way, or if I’m reading into them too much.
Adam’s — Frankenstein’s monster — spends most of Pride and Prometheus complaining about how he deserves a female companion and Frankenstein had to keep his promise to give him a female companion so he could experience physical pleasures. I was tired of it by chapter two, adding a note: Why is there a sense that he has a right to a woman? Is it purposefully written with an incel perspective? It’s not something I got an answer to, obviously, but the feeling didn’t go away as I continued reading.
Pride and Prometheus isn’t, technically, badly written, so perhaps if you know what you’re getting yourself into, it would be a better read. But it wasn’t for me, especially with the expectations I had going in.
Notable Quotes
Chapter 3: The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
Chapter 6: Whenever I come here,” Mary said, “I realize how small I am, and how great time is. These rocks, this river, will long survive us. We are here for a breath, and then we are gone. And through it all we are alone.
Chapter 7: Men don’t weep over the graves of the women they have dishonored,” Kitty said, “else every graveyard would be full of weeping men. That only happens in novels.
Chapter 10: I do not think it is in the power of any other person to make one happy.
Chapter 20: …that was the nature of love: one did not offer it with any assurance that it would change the world, even if in the end it was the only thing that could.
Have you read Pride and Prometheus? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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