Pride and Prejudice

I finished reading Pride and Prejudice this week. Over the last few months since the book has been with me, I confess to have experienced swarming Victorian delirium so much so that one morning at the shower all I could think was in Victorian English, or "Austenian" English if you will. The lives of the Bennets, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley have nearly consumed all my little breaks from work and worry. The edition itself was a priced glossy red hardcover with golden edges and a satin cloth-strip as bookmark. The only vexation was the unnecessary illustrations of characters which I could excuse assuming that the target was a younger audience and not the sheepish-looking, pink-faced adults that had never read it in their years of grooming. My next engagement is (Lord) Conrad Black's Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom. I chose this biography of Roosevelt's unashamedly because of the British origins of its author having so thoroughly enjoyed my last biography -- Roy Jenkins' Churchill. This large project is also being interspersed with Helene Hanff's 84, Charing Cross Road which serves as a nice crossover (pun intended) buffer between Austen's England and Roosevelt's America.

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Exit Ivanisevic

Goran Ivanisevic played his last match in Wimbledon, losing to Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. To Ivanisevic, do I owe my love for the sport and my tendencies to root for the underdog. On two occasions did the Croatian lose to Sampras at Wimbledon and if Sampras were himself not the greater player, I should have definitely mourned both losses. But who can forget the rain-affected semifinal of 2001 when Ivanisevic duelled Henman and bested him and who would have thought that the very next day he would trounce Rafter in an even more exciting and nail-biting contest? This entry is a tribute to the player who came so close to being the greatest one never to win the Wimbledon, who endeared himself to all of us that cherished his stilted delivery of witty repartees at the referee and his effortless blend of serve-and-volley and baseline tennis.

The works of Jane Austen

The Republic of Pemberley

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom

84 Charing Cross Road

Ivanisevic vs. Henman

Ivanisevic vs. Rafter

Magic farewell for Ivanisevic

BBC Photo Gallery of Ivanisevic's career

April 2004

January 2004 - March 2004

October 2003 - January 2004

July 2003 - October 2003