A book that I thought that I should start reading some clasical litrature. A sharp and witty comedy...more

A book that I thought that I should start reading some clasical litrature. A sharp and witty comedy of manners played out in early 19th Century English society, a world in which men held virtually all the power and women were required to negotiate mine-fields of social status, respectability, wealth, love, and sex in order to marry both to their own liking and to the advantage of their family. Flawless prose, crackling wit, good drama, fully developed characters and a perfect plotline make this the best novel in the English language.   hide

It's the best ever adaptation of Jane Austen P&P.

Pride and Prejudice, my favorite Jane Austen novel, follows the life of Elizabeth Bennet, a...more

Pride and Prejudice, my favorite Jane Austen novel, follows the life of Elizabeth Bennet, a headstrong, intelligent woman who thinks she has the arrogant Mr. Darcy's character down to a tee, and she despises him. " The book begins as the main character Elizabeth Bennet and her family have just heard of the arrival of a very rich man named Charles Bingley. The Bennet family is completely made up of girls the oldest being Jane, then Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and then Lydia. Because there are no men in the family, after the father passes away his entire estate passes on to their cousin Mr. Collins. Mrs. Bennet is very aware that if her husband was ever to pass that her and her daughters would be left homeless, so she has taken it upon herself to get her daughters not only married, but married to more wealthy men, even though they are in the lower ranks of society. So upon hearing Charles Bingley was coming Hertfordshire where they lived, Mrs. Bennet insists her daughters are introduced. Along with Mr. Bingley came his sisters Caroline and Luisa, Luisa's husband Mr. Hurst and Mr. Bingley's friend Fitzwilliam Darcy. The Bennet girls and Mr. Bingley were introduced at a dance and right away Mr. Bingley took a liking to Jane. His sister invites her to dine with her soon after the dance and Jane goes. Her mother tells her she must walk to their house and on her way there is begins to rain. Jane gets very sick and Elizabeth goes to stay with her until she gets better. While she is there Mr. Darcy begins to like Elizabeth although Elizabeth detests him. When Jane regains her health they return home only to find that Mr Collins has come for a visit hoping to find one of the daughters to marry so that the estate could stay in the family. At first he pursues Jane until Mrs. Bennet informs him she is soon to be engaged to Mr. Bingley. He then swtiches his interests to Elizabeth, Elizabeth however has absolutely no interest in Mr. Collins. He asks her to marry him and she rejects him, which results in a big fuss coming from her mother as well as his proposing to her good friend Charlotte Lucas who accepts. Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet fall in love, but Mr. Darcy who is thought by many to be a very proud man decides he must tear them apart, because he does not believe that Jane is really in love with him and that she only wants his money. So the whole company leaves Hertfordshire and Jane is heartbroken. Jane goes to her aunt and uncle who live in London where Mr. Bingley has gone hoping that he will come to see her, but Mr. Darcy kept her presence there a secret. While Jane is in London Elizabeth has been invited by Charlotte to visit her and Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins is always talking about his patron Lady Catherine De Bourgh and Elizabeth finally gets to meat her. During her visit, Mr. Darcy also shows up at Lady de Bourgh's, he is the her nephew and she wishes Darcy to marry her daughter, however that is not in Darcy's plan, for he proposes to Elizabeth. She is disgusted by the proposal because he is proud, separated her sister and Mr. Bingley and had ruined the happiness of her friend Mr. Wickam back home who claims that Mr. Darcy had cheated him out of a fortune left to him by Mr. Darcy's father. Mr. Darcy leaves dejected and sad, but returns later with a letter explaining his reasons for all he has done, his suspicions of Jane only using Mr. Bingley for money, as well as explaining that all that Mr. Wickham has told her was a lie that he had given him his inheritance and he had swindled it away. Elizabeth feels a little bad about how harsh she was to Mr. Darcy, but still does not want to marry him. Elizabeth returns home and leaves on trip to tour the lakes with her aunt and uncle. On the trip they decide to go tour Pemberley which is where Mr. Darcy lives. At first she says no, but upon being reassured that he is not at home she agrees. They go on the tour and Mr. Darcy returns unexpectedly. This brings about many other meetings between the two during their trip. Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle receive a letter from Elizabeth's family saying that her sister Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham whom the family had trusted, but after the letter Elizabeth received from Mr. Darcy she now knows otherwise and fears that Mr. Wickham does not plan to marry Lydia at all, but only wants to take advantage of her. Elizabeth informs Mr. Darcy of the circumstances and immediately returns home. Her father and uncle leave in search of Lydia, and return with the news that Lydia is married. Although Mr. Darcy had sworn Wickham and Lydia to secrecy that he was the one who had paid Wickham's debts so that he would marry Lydia the secret was spilled to Elizabeth and her feelings towards him begin to change drastically. News comes that Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are again in town, and they pay the Bennets a visit. Mr. Bingley proposes to Jane and she accepts. Elizabeth realizes that she loves Mr. Darcy and while they are on a walk one evening the subject comes up again and they decide to get married. Mr. Darcy speaks with Mr. Bennet and he agrees to the marriage. So the story ends happily with Lydia marrying Mr. Wickham, Jane marrying Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth Marrying Mr. Darcy. "    hide

I liked this book in general, but I didn't include it in my favorites. For one thing, some parts of...more

I liked this book in general, but I didn't include it in my favorites. For one thing, some parts of the story are difficult to be understood in our time, at least how Jane Austen intended them to be understood, such as the big concern of the Bennet family for Lydia, who would ruin herself and the others by running away with Wickham unmarried. I know how things were in the 19th century in terms of marriage; still, I wasn't moved by the affair. But leaving that aside, I just thought the whole narrative lacked some interest for me. It went on slowly, and sometimes I was impatient and skipped some chapters to see what happened next. Maybe the writing wasn't enthralling enough. Austen was a good writer, don't throw stones at me! but I can't help thinking that Jane Eyre was so much better than Pride and Prejudice.    hide

This is easily one of my favorite books ever. Calling this book a romance tale doesn't do it...more

This is easily one of my favorite books ever. Calling this book a romance tale doesn't do it justice. Austen fills "Pride and Prejudice" with interesting characters, all of them flawed, with some more than others. The book has marvelous wit and social commentary on class and marriage. The romance in it works because the characters overcome their flaws to become better people, and slowly grow to love each other. The love between Darcy and Elizabeth never feels false because it's allowed to grow over time. Highly recommenced for anyone who loves classics or good love stories.   hide