Ok, to be completely honest, I was expecting to absolutely hate this book! I know, it sounds terrible, not to mention super 'Judging book by cover', but I only knew a few things about it. 1 - it was written very long ago, I'm not the biggest fan of older books, so this wasn't a good sign for me. 2 - it was solely a romance. I enjoy romantic comedies, I enjoy romantic mysteries, but I've never been the biggest fan of straight romances before. And 3 - there was a six hour movie based on this book. SIX HOURS! I'm sorry, but I couldn't imagine how long and tedious a book had to be to have a six hour movie based off of it!
I was quickly shown that all of these facts, though they seemed terrible, weren't as bad as they seemed and that the 3rd fact wasn't true at all! The first thing I noticed about Pride and Prejudice was the ease with which I read it. Jane Austen has a way of writing that just lets everything flow. Another plus to this book:: Short Chapters! I love when I always have an easy stopping point, because then I could read the book in times where I don't have too much time.
I think that this book is hilarious. You have the couple that basically experience hate at first sight. You also have the couple who experience love at first sight. You have the man desperate to marry, and also the woman desperate to marry. I believe that Jane Austen did an excellent job of expressing how each gender would approach this sort of situation. Provided, this book was written a while ago, so the manner of dating is slightly different. Well, I suppose dating isn't even the correct term, courting... or just straight engagement, would be the more appropriate term.
Of course, in the end, everyone is happy.... sort of. But there is just a magnificent road to happiness. I love how Jane Austen really allowed some people to be so obviously pompous, or such a terrible brat! The significantly unique personalities of each character made the novel even more enjoyable! At first it was hard to keep the characters straight, but after you get into the book, you begin to distinguish which Miss Bennet is being referred to.
Time for the grading! This book was just magnificent. And my friends told me it wasn't even one of Jane Austen's best! The characters are unique, the plot is entertaining, and the ending ties the entire book together! Obviously a 5 OUT OF 5 STARS!
Reading Next:: Tales of the South Pacific by James A Michener
IDK, P&P is my favorite Austen so far (I haven't read Persuasion yet). Jane Austen is excellent at writing dialogue, and she's pretty witty (Northanger Abbey is a parody of those gothic novels like Wuthering Heights and whatnot)
ReplyDeleteThere's been lots of movie adaptions of Pride and Prejudice- I absolutely love the 2005 Keira Knightley version's soundtrack. There's also a funny moment in the movie at the first ball I think when the Bennet family arrives at Netherfield where they announce "A Miss Bennet, Miss Bennet, Miss Bennet, and Miss Bennet" or something like that... it's also considerably shorter than the 6 hour BBC version (which while excellent, is rather exhausting to get through)
There's also a mormon film version of Pride and Prejudice which is cheesy but somewhat entertaining- I know the IFPL has a copy.