From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Start date: March 27, 2016

Why we're reading this: I've always meant to read this book!…more
[close] I've always meant to read this book!

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Oct 20, 2008 Lydia Presley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012, classics, favorites, 2011, fiction

I was recently "attacked" on a review I posted on a well-known site for criticizing a classic that I just didn't enjoy. In the attack, this person accused me of having never read another classic and, as such, the reason I didn't enjoy said novel was because of lack of education in the classics. (I worded it much more nicely than she did).

I read Pride and Prejudice before I was a teenager. This book spawned my love of classics. I went on to read everything provided to me by my book-loving Aunt an I was recently "attacked" on a review I posted on a well-known site for criticizing a classic that I just didn't enjoy. In the attack, this person accused me of having never read another classic and, as such, the reason I didn't enjoy said novel was because of lack of education in the classics. (I worded it much more nicely than she did).

I read Pride and Prejudice before I was a teenager. This book spawned my love of classics. I went on to read everything provided to me by my book-loving Aunt and then I raided my father's study bookshelves for Jules Verne, Alexander Dumas and even a little Milton. I've been reading classics for over 20 years and I think at this point I know what stories I enjoy and which I don't - and I can accept the fact that not all classics do it for all people. Dickens, I'm looking at you.

But with Pride and Prejudice I get everything I love in a classic. Romance, a dashing lead man (with just enough mystery and intrigue), a strong-willed leading woman in Elizabeth. I get silly giggles over subtle interactions that bring out that "uncomfortable" feeling in the characters, I feel the rage of Elizabeth with Darcy's first proposal and I also feel the softening of the heart beginning with that fateful letter.

I also grew up in a family filled with girls. I am the eldest of 6 girls (all from the same two parents, yes) ((and three brothers too)). Jane Austen does a fantastic job of capturing the different personalities that emerge with sisters. There's the responsible, stoic eldest, the strong-willed, the mundane, the follower and the flighty. I focused quite a bit on the sisters relationship with this read-through and enjoyed catching even now a few things that had before escaped my attention.

Pride and Prejudice is a classic. It's a fantastic movie (both of them, but Colin Firth edges it out for Mr. Darcy for me!). It's a story that grew gracefully with me as I aged and a story I can look forward to enjoying for hopefully many years to come. And one day, I plan to be that Aunt the provides this book to my own nieces and to experience through their eyes the first thrill that famous opening line brings. ...more

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