Mike’s Reviews > Pride and Prejudice > Status Update

It is indeed going in a direction that I was hoping it wouldn't go in. Alas. This is still an alright book, it just didn't come together how I hoped it would.

I find it interesting that even when they're written by women, Victorian books have this weird belief that strong emotions are overwhelming for women and cause faintness. At least no women pass out or die of shock (so far).

This book is alright, I guess. I guess I was expecting the themes that Austen began in the early pages to come together more cohesively by now, and that doesn't seem to be happening - the plot is getting more focused, but the themes aren't. This is not a bad book, it just isn't as good as I was expecting.

God, I hope that Elizabeth doesn't end up with Mr. Darcy. Even if most of their animosity stemmed from misunderstanding, he was still pretty rude to her, and they haven't built up much of a dynamic that would lead itself to love. I hope the book doesn't go in that direction.

I'm getting the impression that this book is mainly known for its good moments, rather than being a good cohesive whole. It has good dialogue and writing throughout, but some scenes are distinctly very memorable, in a way that most of the book isn't.

I feel like this plot is perhaps a bit meandering? It's not awful or anything, I just don't sense as much direction from it as I'd like.

I feel like I've been giving the impression that this book is kind of dumb. And it's actually not, it actually has a lot of very complex themes about class and gender - it's way more than just 'you should marry for love not money', which is what I had been told it's about. I think I'm just conditioned not to take soap opera-like drama seriously.

The plot thickens...

(I'm reading way too slowly to have something insightful to say at every update.)

There is definitely a lot of potential for strong themes, which I've heard about in this book. I can't wait.

I might be enjoying this more if I were one for juicy drama. This is good, don't get me wrong, it's definitely well-written, and Elizabeth is a very nice character. It's just... well... I can see why this book in particular captures modern audiences that don't normally read classics.