Review of "Pride and Prejudice" {by Jane Austen}

(source)

Pride and Prejudice


Author: Jane Austen

# of Pages: 435

Year Published: 1813

Publisher: Many publishers

Genre: Classic

Summary:

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships,gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

Our Star Rating...

4.2 Stars

Our book club for this book was an enchanting tea party with quaint little bite-sized foods, whimsy decor, and amazingly costumed characters. I still can't get over how book club member, Brooke, looked like she stepped right out from the pages of our book! Thank you for all that played the part.

Overall, we loved the book. The only complaint that was given was that there were some slow parts and it did take some time to get used to the language and writing style. Though we all have our opinions on Mr. Darcy (and which version of him we like from the movies), most of us admitted to being in love with him by the end of the book. One member put it well when she said the novel was "witty and clever and celebrated strong women who know the value of true love; yet it's totally unpredictable and it matches your heart ache, and hope, and cheer!"

Matthew Macfadyen

Colin Firth

We all liked the part in the book where Darcy tries to awkwardly say how he feels about Elizabeth during his first proposal and both of their reactions to this scene in the book.

 (I especially loved how Elizabeth pointed out to Darcy that it might have made it harder to refuse him if he had behaved "in a more gentleman-like manner").

Watch this "classic" train wreck again and again

Surprisingly, no one had the same favorite quote, so I am going to include some of our favorites here:

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment."
"She hardly knew how to suppose that she could be an object of admiration to so great a man."
"Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with is the one person you can't be without."

"But that was only when I first knew her, for it is many months since I have considered her as one of the handsomest women of my acquaintance." 

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

I hope Kelly doesn't mind, but I love the synopsis she gives of the book on Good Reads:

"Pride and Prejudice is simply one of the most delightful and funniest novels ever written. With memorable characters brought vividly to life as they both succeed and fail at the game of life according to the manners of their era, this book is a classic among classics and for good reason. As long as men and women continue to fall in love it will never be out of style, it will always be meaningful, and always be funny."