Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Ok, what female doesn’t love this book? All those who have fallen in love with Mr. Darcy say “aye!” I know there are some people out there that aren’t huge fans of Jane Austen, but I am not one of them and I would have to say that Pride and Prejudice is my favourite of them all.
Someone read me a really great summary of this book from this website. It says: (SPOILER ALERT! I try not to post spoilers in these little reviews but I figured that pretty much everybody knows what happens in this book, right?)
Mr. Darcy: Nothing is good enough for me.
Ms. Elizabeth Bennet: I could never marry that proud man.
(They change their minds.)
THE END
Obviously, there is a lot more that goes on in the book, but that is the main idea. I actually really like the way Austen chose to write the novel. Although it’s written in the third person, it doesn’t jump around and follow several characters. Occasionally we are allowed to view the thoughts of other characters, but mainly the book is told from Elizabeth’s point of view. I love how the reader is able to slowly fall in love with Mr. Darcy, just as Elizabeth does (at least I do, over and over, every time).
I love the way Austen satirizes her characters. I sort of imagine that some people who read Austen back in the day, didn’t really realize they were being made fun of. (Sort of like people who read SSB and don’t get it… She was the TAMN of her day!) I reread this book to write this review and I had forgotten how funny it is! The very first line in the book is: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” I’m pretty sure she meant that to be tongue in check. And I laughed out loud in several other places. Austen is really very witty.
I really like her characters, they are so believable even nearly 200 years later! They are people you know. (At least I know some of the characters in this book!) And the story is just so great. Austen sure knew how to tell a good story. I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t already read it, or even hasn’t read it recently. I really like all of Austen’s works but I think my second favourite would have to be Sense and Sensibility.
I also have to mention the different movie adaptation of this novel. I have not seen the BBC version (I’m planning on it very soon though) but I’ve heard it’s very good. I have seen the newest version with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet. I really like this one. I think it’s cast very well and it’s actually pretty true to the book. Another version I like is Bridget Jones’ Diary (the movie and the book.)
