Pride and Prejudice

rating: 5 of 5 stars

I L.O.V.E.D this book. I see what all the Austen hype is about!

This is my first Austen book. I am glad that I had seen the movie so many times first because I was able to just focus on enjoying Austen's great usage of language and didn't need to worry about following the story line. The down side however, is I wasn't able to create my own characters in my head because I could only see the people and scenery the way it was portrayed in the movie.

In the book I read it had a lot of explanatory notes and one I found very interesting. It talked about a popular article written in the day that stated that women fell in love based on feelings of gratitude, which is exactly what Elizabeth always said when thinking about Mr. Darcy, she was so grateful for what he did for her family. I wonder how much truth their is to that?

I really liked Mr. Bennett in the movie, but I was very disappointed in the book. I felt like he was rather mean. I know his wife is very silly and he has to do something to stay sane, but I was not impressed. And on finding out that Mr. Darcy, not Mr. Gardiner, was the one who fronted the money to get Mr. Wickman to marry Lydia, he was only relived because he felt like he didn't have to pay Mr. Darcy back. I thought that was a very ungrateful attitude.

I like Elizabeth a fair amount, but I don't know that she is particularly smart or talented. They didn't show that in the book. She is just not as silly as her younger sisters or as wishing to think well of everything as Jane. She is the most normal character, but I don't understand how they always said that she was very smart or talented.

This book teaches a lot about love, marriage and the value of proper behavior. The relationship between Mrs. and Mr. Bennett shows the importance of marrying a partner you can respect. Lydia and Wickham show the consquences of rash behavior and giving in to lusts and sillyness.

I really wish that I had marked some of my favorite quotes, there were so many and all so good, but I suppose that's for next time.