Pride and Prejudice in read with Marines

Feb 07, 2017 Katie Bananas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What beautiful writing did I come across?? It embellished me in the literal sense, I was happy right after I had read it. This novel, I think was an eye opener without my noticing into the world of nobility and their romances!!

How was it possible to assign this book as required reading so early on in life as high school? I believe this should be read by adults for men to really know the tactics of treating ladies and women not to rush aimlessly for the wrong man. How beautifully these two conce What beautiful writing did I come across?? It embellished me in the literal sense, I was happy right after I had read it. This novel, I think was an eye opener without my noticing into the world of nobility and their romances!!

How was it possible to assign this book as required reading so early on in life as high school? I believe this should be read by adults for men to really know the tactics of treating ladies and women not to rush aimlessly for the wrong man. How beautifully these two concepts were expressed together in the same novel.

This novel has been repeatedly recommended to me by people on GoodReads, and now I completely understand why. It's because it refines you as a person in your manners as you read. I never expected to want to speak like Jane and analyze situations in the way Elizabeth handles them.

When writing reviews, many people rewrite what they just read to emphasize their understanding of what they read; however, I myself express what I read. Mr. Darcy is written as the haughty, proud character I see around me; yet his sensibility and honor of Elizabeth is truly something for most men to learn. Most men nowadays are not able to treat a woman in the way deserving, which is extremely sad.

Who could have thought that my way towards reading will change because of Mr. Darcy in 2017? In 2016, I'd say it was Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, who tickled my senses and so changed my personal choice of genres.

I loved the writing style emphasizing the Bennets' family happenings with beautifully crafted characters with their own individual behaviors and characteristic traits! Moody Mrs. Bennet did it for me. She was worrisome of having all her daughters married at once, fretting over what's petty with Mr. Bennet on her side to soothe crowded situations. The kindness of Jane is extraordinarily touching, while Elizabeth's stubbornness is so evident, especially when first communicating with Mr. Darcy, leading up to his first proposal.

The change in behavior is evident, because they both felt they were wrong by judging each other on first glance. Elizabeth's stubbornness toward him though was heart cracking, when he was almost begging to marry her through proposing multiple times. This part broke my heart, she doubted him loving her and she wasn't in for it.

As I'm writing my thoughts, I'm observing that this book builds a personality in the reader, who is busy picking favorites and making enemies throughout the book. Jane Austen's writing style forces you to do that I believe. It's so evident that the story relates a comedy; however, I know for sure that this is the comedy of it's class! So beautiful, I wanted it to last forever!! :) ...more

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Mar 18, 2015 Bekah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-own-physical, adapted, hauled-in-2015, audiobook-additional

All right, all right! I get it now. I am sorry.

Having been first introduced to Pride & Prejudice through various adaptations, I had no interest in or understanding of how popular and widely loved this story is. Too many of the characters seemed infuriatingly stupid, and the swoon-worthiness of Darcy went completely over my head.

While I still loathe Mrs. Bennet, Lydia & Wickham, I now have a better and deeper understanding of Darcy. I am sorry I ever wrote him off. He is not half as curmudgeonl ...more

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May 26, 2021 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: before-goodreads, i-ship-it, claaaassic, audiobook

This was such a lovely way to experience this story. Rosamund Pike did a really good job with her performance.

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Jan 23, 2016 Zezee rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, did-not-finish

As posted on Zezee with Books.

I thought I would enjoy reading Pride and Prejudice this time. After all, I’m older, wiser, and more mature than the last time I read it. A few years usually make my reading the classics a more positive experience. I hated The Great Gatsby when I read it in high school, but now I like it. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed Jason and the Argonauts as much as I did last year if I’d read it while in high school or college. I wasn’t as patient with stories when As posted on Zezee with Books.

I thought I would enjoy reading Pride and Prejudice this time. After all, I’m older, wiser, and more mature than the last time I read it. A few years usually make my reading the classics a more positive experience. I hated The Great Gatsby when I read it in high school, but now I like it. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed Jason and the Argonauts as much as I did last year if I’d read it while in high school or college. I wasn’t as patient with stories when I was younger.

So I thought the same would be true for Pride and Prejudice: I’d return to it a few years later and love it so much that I’d go out and buy all the copies with pretty covers. But I guess I just don’t vibe well with Jane Austen. And when I tried to figure what exactly I don’t like about the story, I found it hard to come up with an answer. At first I thought it was the story. But I enjoyed the movie adaptations and I still thought the story funny when reading it. Then I suspected the writing. But I enjoyed the prose and sped through parts that contained mostly prose. Then I realized it’s the dialogue. It threw me off and since dialogue makes up a good bit of the story, I ended up not liking the story at all.

I can’t say what exactly I didn’t like about the dialogue except that it confused me and was tedious to read. Often, I had to rephrase the dialogue in a way that I would understand. Even thinking about it makes me what to stop writing this reflection. Ugh! Let’s move on and discuss something else.

It’s the characters that make this story worth reading and I like how Austen introduces them. They all stand out, even the bookish Mary, who isn’t given much voice in the story though she tries. I’m not sure if I would have thought of this prior to listening to a great BBC discussion on Pride and Prejudice, but I began to consider the narrator as a character while I read. In a way, it was as if I was in attendance at one of the many country dances with the narrator and she was whispering conspiratorially in my ear, telling me about all the characters in the story. Only a few characters are able to speak for themselves, otherwise I learn about them through the narrator’s gossip.

The characters who stood out to me this time were Mr. and Mrs. Bennet: Mrs. Bennet because I sympathized with her efforts to marry off her daughters and Mr. Bennet because I didn’t like him. I don’t agree with Mrs. Bennet’s methods and, yes, she is silly, but my heart went out to her because she does the best she can to ensure a comfortable future for her daughters. The only way the girls can have a secure future is if they marry a man with some sort of wealth and since the girls are getting on in years, Mrs. Bennet is, understandably to me though I would be annoyed by her, aggressive in getting them husbands. I thought the narrator was a little too heavy-handed with Mrs. Bennet and other minor characters because we only see one side of them. This works for the story but I guess because I started to like her a little, I wanted to see another aspect of Mrs. Bennet.

As for Mr. Bennet, he’s a good man but a horrible father. He’s lackadaisical and doesn’t take an interest in his daughters’ future. Sure, I understand he’s introverted and enjoys his quiet time and is beyond tired of wife’s and younger daughters’ hysterics, but I still thought him unkind for constantly criticizing them simply because he is more knowledgeable and has a more stable constitution than them. In that way, Elizabeth takes after her father since she takes pride in being better and smarter than her peers. Because Mr. Bennet doesn’t take much initiative in securing a comfortable future for his daughters, the responsibility falls to Mrs. Bennet and I didn’t like that he poked fun at her efforts while he does nothing.

From the reviews I’ve heard and read, everyone who has read this book likes Elizabeth. I can see why. I admire her smarts and that she doesn’t blindly chase after men like some of her sisters and that she has strong morals, which she stands by. But I didn’t like her. I think it’s because of her pride. If I’d continued reading beyond Chapter 18, I probably would have felt differently about her.

“Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object: it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and, however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.”

Overall: ★★☆☆☆

Great story but I didn’t enjoy it or learn anything new from it. I recommend the movies. ...more

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Jun 19, 2014 Olivia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, should-reread-sometime, romance, also-saw-the-movie

I'm sorry, but I'm kind of underwhelmed. It simply did not engage me as much as I hoped, and I suppose a lot of that has to do with the fact that the plot doesn't really interest me in the first place, but I read it to see if I would be surprised. I did enjoy some of the satire and social commentary, and I appreciate that, but as a whole it didn't come together for me. Perhaps if I enjoy one of the many adaptions I will return and find something new to offer. On its own though, it was difficult ...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Claudia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, audible

I genuinely did not believe that I would enjoy this as much as I did, but I'm amazed. Also, I feel that I've now fulfilled the cliche of falling in love with Pride and Prejudice. Although I now feel the need to read, or maybe listen, to more classics. ...more

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Nov 04, 2016 Beck rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, classics

I listened to the Audible version of this book which was narrated brilliantly by Rosamund Pike. I really enjoyed this book, I don't really many classics or romance type books so this was a nice change and I would definitely like to read more of Austen's books. I have already seen and really enjoyed the BBC series of this book so it's quite hard to separate the book and the series and I don't know if I would have enjoyed it more or less if I'd read the book first.
I thought the characters were gre ...more

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Apr 27, 2016 Jessica rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

I'm putting this down for now at 78%. I already can see that this is going to be a 1.5-2 star for me if I ever get around to finishing it (on audio). There were a few good bits, I really liked Elizabeth's wit, but overall I did not enjoy this book. I didn't connect with the characters and I honestly don't care what happens to them, so this is a possible DNF. If I don't pick it up again to finish in May, I doubt I will. ...more

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