i'm writing a masterpiece (yeah, wright) on Mansfield Park read from a postcolonial point of view. researching Jane Austen is fun, except for the inevitable hash-ups of the opening line from "Pride & Prejudice" that will keep appearing again and again. it's unbelievable how bad this elegant sentence can become in the hands of copywriting philistines:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a visitor to Hampshire must be in search of an appreciation of Jane Austen." (janetour)

...err, is it, now?

luckily, there are places where it is put to rather more witty use:

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of a large book collection must be in want of a life." (katherine's diary)

speaking of which, there is this large pile of books which i fear i will have to read now...