Pride and Prejudice in Classics Without All the Class

Jun 17, 2012 ♥♡¢σσкιє♥♡ (Krystle) rated it really liked it

Shelves: cute-like-a-bunny, favorites

I want to start this off by saying that I HATED Pride and Prejudice while I was reading it. The characters frustrated me, the descriptions bored me, and the dialogue confused me. When I finished I couldn't understand why everyone said that it was such a great romance because I felt like Mr. Darcy was anything but romantic.
Fast forward a few months and I LOVE Pride and Prejudice and think that it's one of the most romantic pieces of literature that I have ever read.
You may be wondering what chan ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2011 Jeane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books

I actually, surprisingly, enjoyed this book! I am not going to make any misconceptions that I read this souly for the sake of entertainment, but only to have read the source materials before I could read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" which is what I really wanted to read, but since I am a big believer in studying source material first, so to find out I actually enjoyed a book all about women being disadvantaged and forced to marry in society is rather surprising. I would have detested this b ...more

Like · see review

Feb 03, 2012 Audrey rated it liked it

Shelves: listens, england, classics, 1810s, regency

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So here's the thing with me and Jane Austen. I've seen quite a few BBC and miniseries adaptations of her works, and I generally enjoy them, although I never considered myself a huge Austenite. In any case, I figured it was high time I actually read some of her works, so I started with the best known--Pride & Prejudice. I am glad I read this and I did enjoy it, but I didn't feel the deep connection to the place and characters that it seems to evoke in many readers. There are books that, after clo So here's the thing with me and Jane Austen. I've seen quite a few BBC and miniseries adaptations of her works, and I generally enjoy them, although I never considered myself a huge Austenite. In any case, I figured it was high time I actually read some of her works, so I started with the best known--Pride & Prejudice. I am glad I read this and I did enjoy it, but I didn't feel the deep connection to the place and characters that it seems to evoke in many readers. There are books that, after closing the covers, make me sigh with their perfection. This wasn't one of them. (I didn't actually 'read' this, by the way; I listened to it on audio book). It was really just okay. Perhaps I would have been more swept away if I didn't already know the story. I did appreciate reading the actual work instead of just someone's interpretation of it, and I found the audio book rather relaxing to listen to. I also liked the humor, aphorisms, and deeper insight into characters.

There were a few parts, mostly due to the fact that this is an older book and the language was different back then, that I found a little hard to follow. But overall, the language was somewhat less intimidating than I expected. I also liked noticing things that I hadn't in the screen adaptations. For example, I thought Caroline's crush on Darcy was much more obvious (and pathetically humorous) in the book, and I was surprised to hear Mr. Collins described as tall (if I remember correctly). Screen adaptations usually cast him as rather short. There was a language thing that bothered me. Often "farther" is used when I think it should be "further." For example, take the phrase “…prevented farther inquiry.” I thought "farther" referred to physical distance and "further" meant "too a greater extent." Maybe the word "further" wasn't around back then? My own grammar is far from perfect, but this is just something that I kept noticing throughout the book. I also thought it was odd how Jane and Elizabeth would say “my father” or “my mother” when talking to each other. Shouldn’t it be “our father” and “our mother”? This must have just been another example of how language has changed since then. I also dislike the fact that they take the Lord’s name in vain a few times in this.

I am not much like Elizabeth, so perhaps that is why I couldn't relate completely to her. She was likeable enough ~~"…but not handsome enough to tempt me"~~ but not a heroine that thoroughly captured my imagination. I also--and I welcome any argument to the contrary--don't really get why Mr. Darcy is considered the ideal man (with all the shirts and slogans and things saying things like, "Keep calm and wait for Mr. Darcy" it seems that many consider him to be one of the seminal romantic heroes in literature). Even once his good qualities were revealed he just seems a little too moody and quiet and grumpy. Although I don't dislike him, I can think of books I've read where I liked the male lead a lot more. Even though Darcy isn't really my type, I enjoyed getting caught up in the romantic tension between Elizabeth and him. For some reason I felt a bit of a let-down when they finally are engaged on that long walk. Perhaps it's because Austen chooses to narrate about what they said instead of actually writing down the conversation. It just seems there is such a build-up, and then…what? It picks back up again a bit after that, but for some reason that important moment just felt a little weak.

My brother said (and I have heard others argue this as well) that reading this type of books sets women up for overly romantic and unrealistic expectations in men. I don't really see what is unrealistic, unless you expect to a man to wear breeches and save your family's reputation. Most of the characters in this have flaws, some more or less significant than others, and Mr. Darcy himself is far from a perfect character. Maybe people think the ending is too perfect, or they take issue with the fact that Elizabeth falls into both love and wealth? I don't know. It didn't leave me really expecting any of those things, but perhaps I am the atypical reader. If anything, I think it might cause one to think about how perceptions of people change. The whole theme of the story, among other things, is basically that first impressions can be deceiving (First Impressions was actually Austen's original title for the novel!). So wouldn't that force readers to be a bit more realistic in assessing their own lives? Hmm. I guess I'm just rambling here!

I liked how the ending describes what happens to the characters down the road. It fills in some interesting detail and gives a nice finished feeling to the book that I wasn't expecting. So overall, yes, I enjoyed this. Like I said, I'm glad I read it. It was pretty much what I was expecting, but it still didn't make me a P&P fanatic. I would certainly consider reading her other books in the future, though.

{Listened on audio book narrated by Irene Sutcliffe.} ...more

Like · see review