From the Bookshelf of 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]…

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Discussion: . Week 2: Romance

Why we're reading this: Weeks 2, 3, 9, 23 25, 35, 42
[close] Weeks 2, 3, 9, 23 25, 35, 42

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. Week 2: Romance

* Week 2: Introduction
By Jessica · 43 posts · 618 views

last updated Feb 03, 2015 01:13PM

* Week 2: Progress Post
By Jessica · 54 posts · 221 views

last updated Dec 30, 2015 12:26PM

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What Members Thought

Feb 03, 2015 Adam Smith rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-challenge-2015

When an eligible bachelor purchases a property in Netherfield, the Bennet family dreams of seeing at least one of their daughters married off as soon as possible. Mr. Bingley is everything that could be wanted in a husband while his friend Mr. Darcy arises nothing but contempt. From the moment she meets him young Elizabeth Bennet feels nothing but dislike for Mr. Darcy and his arrogant pride, but sometimes prejudices prove unfounded.

I WISH TO BURN VICTORIAN ENGLAND TO THE GROUND.

There is somethi When an eligible bachelor purchases a property in Netherfield, the Bennet family dreams of seeing at least one of their daughters married off as soon as possible. Mr. Bingley is everything that could be wanted in a husband while his friend Mr. Darcy arises nothing but contempt. From the moment she meets him young Elizabeth Bennet feels nothing but dislike for Mr. Darcy and his arrogant pride, but sometimes prejudices prove unfounded.

I WISH TO BURN VICTORIAN ENGLAND TO THE GROUND.

There is something about the era that just rubs me the wrong way. My hatred for the period came as a complete surprise within the first few pages of reading. The air of idleness and petty arrogance somehow manages to offend me on a primal spiritual level. My dislike of the characters and the setting was so much that I had to go and learn a new word simply to express my contempt for them. Otiose. I really struggled to get through this. Large portions of the book had me close to screaming and only sheer stubbornness saw me through to the end. Maybe I should have gone for the one with the zombies.

Aside from my passionate hatred for the characters and everything they represent, this book was fairly dull. Not a whole lot happened and when it did it all felt a bit contrived. Elizabeth doesn’t do anything for the majority of the book and her character seems to flip-flop from scene to scene. One second she is a strong minded independent woman refusing social norms, the next she’s girlish and concerned with how people see her. Her scenes with Mr. Darcy were the only parts of interest. Despite wanting to torch the place, I actually got pulled into their story. Even felt a little moved by the end.

This is one of those books that could do with abridging. It reads like mad-libs half the time, and I honestly couldn’t tell you who half the characters were thanks to the inconsistent naming and lack of development. I actually forgot there was meant to be another sister until she abruptly resurfaced at the end. If all the irrelevant scenes were cut, this would make for a much more interesting story. It would probably only be an eighth the length, but it would be an eighth worth reading. Skip all the droll day to day idleness and the B-plot about Elizabeth’s trollop of a sister, and just cut it down to Darcy is a jerk, Elizabeth yells at him, he gets better, happily ever after. Even the ending continued on well past where it should have finished.

I honestly despised this book. The only reason I didn’t give it one star was that I found myself liking Elizabeth and Darcy as a couple towards the end. I can kind of see how this would appeal to those with a less visceral reaction to the setting. The fact that I was pulled into the story despite myself, goes to show how well it was written. Any other setting and I might have become a fan. As it stands, that’s not likely to happen.

This book did teach me a valuable lesson about myself. Nothing about overcoming pride and/or prejudice, but at least I now know which era I would firebomb out of existence if I had access to a time machine, so it can’t all be bad.

***Reading Challenge 2015: A book by a female author*** ...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Louise rated it really liked it

I hadn’t realised what a clever author Jane Austen is. I had resisted reading her for years, but have just started. I found pride and prejudice a slow read, partly because there is so much to get from her writing.

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