“How despicably have I acted!” she cried; “I who have prided myself on my discernment! I, who have valued myself on my abilities! who have often disdained the generous candor of my sister, and gratified my vanity in useless or blameable distrust. How humiliating in this discovery! yet, how just a humiliation! Had I been in love, I could not have been more wretchedly blind. But vanity, not love, has been my folly. Pleased with the preference of one, and offended by the neglect of the other, on the very beginning of our acquaintance, I have courted prepossession and ignorance, and driven reason away, where either were concerned. Till this moment I never knew myself.” (from Pride and Prejudice, page 279)
I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time about a decade ago, and I just finished re-reading it. My first thought after finishing it for the second time was, “Gosh, I love that book!” Followed by a jumble of thoughts that included something like “Jane Austen is a genius,” “Mr. Darcy is so hot,” and “Does it mean I’m crazy if I have such a huge crush on a character in a book?” (We won’t even discuss my love for Captain Wentworth.) Now I know why over the weekend I was inspired to arrange all of Jane Austen’s novels, minor works, and letters in a decorative tin on my bureau. When I don’t know what to read before going to bed, I can reach for Austen, which is comfort reading for me. And no matter how much I enjoy all the sequels and re-tellings, there’s nothing better than reading the originals.
I’m sure you all know the plot by now, but since I’m recording my thoughts for posterity, I hope you will humor me for a moment. And if you’re someone who hasn’t yet read Pride and Prejudice, I want you to turn off the computer, get your hands on a copy, and lock yourself in a quiet room for a few hours. Seriously, you just need to read it. But I digress.
Pride and Prejudice is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a young woman with four sisters and a mother obsessed with marrying her daughters off to avoid the indignity of being thrown out of Longbourn when their father dies. Mr. Bingley rents Netherfield and becomes Hertfordshire’s most eligible bachelor, and Elizabeth’s older sister catches his eye at the Meryton Assembly. However, Elizabeth doesn’t catch the fancy of Bingley’s haughty friend, Mr. Darcy, and when she overhears him say something not so nice about her, she’s already determined to dislike him.
When the militia comes to town and the handsome, charming George Wickham befriends Elizabeth, she believes the things he has to say about Darcy doing him wrong. Meanwhile, there is the matter of her ridiculous cousin Mr. Collins coming for a visit with the intention of marrying one of the Bennet girls, Elizabeth’s best friend, Charlotte, willing to marry pretty much anyone just to get herself settled, and Elizabeth’s parents and siblings, except Jane, going all out to embarrass themselves in public every chance they get. Then, Bingley and his entourage quit Netherfield with no intention of returning, but Elizabeth learns the reason for Jane’s heartache when she crosses paths with Darcy during a visit with Charlotte and her cousin. Elizabeth thinks she has it all figured out, and she has no qualms about putting Darcy in his place. But is she too quick to judge? Is there more to Darcy than meets the eye?
Even though I knew everything that was going to happen, it felt like I was reading the book for the first time. I found myself cringing when Mrs. Bennet and Elizabeth’s younger sister, Lydia, behave badly, I shuddered when Mr. Collins sets his sights on Elizabeth, and I wanted to cry out “No!” when Mr. Bennet decides it was okay for Lydia to travel with Colonel Forster’s wife and the militia to Brighton. I wanted to slap my forehead when Darcy tells Elizabeth how he feels about her against his better judgment, and I felt embarrassed right along with Elizabeth when she encounters Darcy unexpectedly at Pemberley.
I could go on for hours about how much I love this book. There’s humor, with Mrs. Bennet being the most outlandish of them all; social commentary, with plenty of instances of unhappy marriages and how Elizabeth is determined to marry for love; life lessons, when you learn to accept your failings and try to change; and a cast of captivating characters, with those who grow over the course of the book, those who you can’t help but fall in love with, and even a few you love to hate. I hope I’ve given those of you who haven’t read Austen yet a reason to give her novels a try.
Unfortunately, I’ve decided that it’s time to retire my old copy of Pride and Prejudice. The book means a lot to me, having acquired it through “borrowing” money from my late father’s change dish. Well, the front and back covers are starting to detach, and I managed to rip one of the pages when I stuck my bookmark in it. Although I love the old book smell when I flip through it, I’m going to have to get a new copy.
Check out my reviews of other Jane Austen works:
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Lady Susan
The Watsons
Sanditon
Love and Freindship
Pride and Prejudice is my 14th book for both the Jane Austen Challenge hosted by The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object and the Jane Austen Reading Challenge hosted by A Faithful Journey. I also read it for the Jane in June read-along hosted by Book Rat.
Disclosure: I bought my copy of Pride and Prejudice many years ago, and I’m sure you can tell by looking at the picture that it’s been much loved. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2011 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I adore this novel and its characters. What a glowing “review”
And I could have kept gushing, too, but luckily I was able to stop myself.
I need to try some Jane Austen again, as I must have missed it power 35-40 years ago. You sound so passionate about her.
Well, I know not everyone is going to love Austen, but I do think you should give her at least one more try.
One of my favorites! And the book pictured is the exact copy I read when I first read the book over ten years ago. I now have a big compilation book of all the Austen works, so I think I gave away (or boxed up) my little copy of P&P some time ago. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
That is too cool! I think I got that book when I was in 7th or 8th grade, maybe younger. I have all of Austen’s works, but not in a single collection. I even have multiple copies of some, but not P&P.
Believe it or not, but I read this book for the first time ever just a couple of years ago. I actually listened to it on audio. I thought it was amazing. So much that I went out and bought two hardbound books that contained everything she wrote. I am slowly making my way through them. She is to be savored!
I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to buy her complete works! I’m savoring Emma right now because it’s the last of Austen’s novels I have to read. Then I guess I start all over again!
This is not my favorite Austen novel, but that’s only because I’m such an 18th-centuryist I have to love the parody of the gothic in Northanger Abbey best.
We just watched the Bollywood movie Bride and Prejudice. I thought it was a good updating of the characters from the novel. And it was absolutely wonderful to see a gospel choir as the back-up for Elizabeth and Darcy’s falling-in-love montage!
I haven’t seen Bride and Prejudice and wasn’t sure I wanted to, but now I’m curious. I do love the parody in Northanger Abbey, too, but I think I need to re-read the book to fully appreciate it.
Lol, I know the feeling
I can read it or watch a tons of times but I will always cringe and shake my head at certain things
Glad to know I’m not alone!
P&P is the only Austen book that I’ve read and I did really enjoy it. I don’t know what I’ve been waiting for when it comes to her other books, but it is nice to know I have some good books to look forward to reading.
Oh, yes, you have lots of great reading ahead of you!
I read this forthe first time only a few years ago and already look forward to a reread. Although I’m also a fan on Captain Wentworth
I don’t see how one can read Persuasion and not love Wentworth.
When my hubby and I first saw the BBC version years ago, he was the one who read the book right after. (And he is a sci-fi, history kind of guy…that’s how impressed he was with the movie!) He confirmed that the movie was true to the book and he liked reading the book. But I did not end up reading the book. I don’t know why. Your review makes me want to read it now!
That’s awesome! My husband did watch the newest movie version with me but can’t say he was impressed. I’m trying to get him to watch the Colin Firth version, but he thinks it’s too long. LOL
I really do hope you read the book! Nothing compares to the original.
After reading your post you’ve made me want to read this during the holiday!! I just got down reading Harry Potter 1 and 2 today…what a great way to spend another day or two!!!
I loved the Harry Potter books and will definitely have to re-read them at some point. I hope you had a chance to read at least a little P&P during the holiday.
[...] new friend Marsha, who took pity on my tattered copy of Pride and Prejudice after reading my recent review — Thank you so much!! How did you know I’d been coveting this exact version of the [...]
[...] by Steve Hockensmith is the last book in the zombie mash-up trilogy based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It is also my favorite of the three, and I must admit that both of the “zombiefied” [...]
I know I’m several weeks late commenting here but I missed your review of Pride and Prejudice so whn I came upon it, I had to read it! I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice in years – far too long for sure. Your fantastic review has me anxious to read it as soon as I can. It always amazes me how talenetd Jabe Austen was. Pride and Prejudice has everything you want in a great book_ humor, intrigue, conflict, poor manners, despicable behavior, confusion, romance etc. and wonderful writing.
Thank you for a wonderful post, Anna!
You’re right that P&P has everything, which is probably why readers love it so much even today. Thanks for taking time to read the review, even if you stopped by late. I don’t always get to read blogs in a timely manner myself.
[...] Pride and Prejudice Persuasion Northanger Abbey Lady Susan The Watsons Sanditon Love and Freindship [...]
[...] “The Love Letter” by Brenna Aubrey, the winner of the Jane Austen Made Me Do It short story contest, is a beautiful retelling of Persuasion in which a medical student faces the woman who rejected his marriage proposal six years ago. And finally, “Intolerable Stupidity” by Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, puts the Austenesque authors and filmmakers on trial…with Lady Catherine de Bourgh as judge and the opposing attorneys acting out their own version of Pride and Prejudice. [...]
[...] of Becoming a Gentleman by Maria Hamilton 13. Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard by Belinda Roberts 14. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 15. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith 16. [...]
[...] even covers the novels of my favorite author, Jane Austen. She gives perfect 10s to Pride and Prejudice, but that’s not what pleased me most about this section. I loved how Newman makes the case [...]
[...] Austen-inspired novels. Patrice Sarath’s novel is a sequel of sorts to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and this time, the focus is on the middle Bennet daughter, Mary. Mary is not the most exciting [...]
[...] Prejudice, and Curling Rocks is a modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for the high school crowd, but adult fans of the classic novel also will enjoy Andrea [...]
[...] Lydon Simonsen once again puts a creative spin on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In Mr. Darcy’s Angel of Mercy, set in 1920, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy each [...]
[...] one, I’d say Jane Austen’s Persuasion, especially if the person has read and enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. I loved Persuasion even [...]
[...] Mr. Darcy is a hilarious modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in which Nina Benneton exaggerates the personality traits of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet that [...]