Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen [1813]

I was kind of cheating when I put this on my book list. When I wrote that I was kind of less than 40 pages from the end, but decided to put it on the list anyway. :P
Anyhoo, this is Jane Austen's most popular books, and is frequently hailed as her best work. I totally see why that is. The dialogue is witty, the characters are interesting and easy to identify with, and the plot is easy-going and refreshingly free of death and destruction.
I found this book a little frustrating actually, because sometimes I really liked it, and other times I wanted to toss it aside and pick up something else. To help sort out my feelings on this book, I think I'll pull out the bullet points. As usual, what I didn't like first. That way we can end on a positive note. :D

What I Didn't Like
-The pacing. Pacing is largely relative. One person's break-neck thriller is another person's yawn-inducer. For this one, I'd feel hard pressed if you asked me to give you a detailed recap of the book. Not a whole lot seemed to really happen aside from traipsing around from house to house and town to town. Stuff goes on during said traipsing around, but I just didn't feel that enthralled in the general plot.
-I wasn't that enthralled with the characters, either. Don't get me wrong, they were written and developed just fine, but for some reason none of the characters really 'clicked' with me. I think that if a book is going to become a favorite, you have to be able to connect with the characters, and unfortunately, that wasn't the case for this one.
-For whatever reason, I could not get myself to like Mr. Darcy. I know. He was in kind of a foul mood when he first met Elizabeth, and he's just not that sociable. But even when he was figuratively defrosting I just wasn't that thrilled with him.

What I Did Like
-The subplot with Mr. Bingley and Jane. Despite the fact that Mr. Bingley is kind of an airhead, I found his character quite endearing. And really, the reason he can't make his own decisions is because he doesn't even trust his own judgment, which for some reason I thought was funny and adorkable at the same time. (Shush, blogger spell check. 'Adorkable' is a word. By my standards, anyway.)
-The witty writing. One of the things I liked about Emma was that Jane Austen's writing is so incredibly snarky, but in a rather subtle (well, sometimes not that subtle at all) way.

The Verdict: B [?]
For the first time (IN FOREEEEVEEERRRR!!) I actually can't decide on the verdict. XD Some parts of it make me want to bust it down to C+ or so, but then I remember all the times Miss Austen's wit made me snicker, and yeah. I can't make my mind up with this book. But the essential question when reviewing a book is "Would I read it again?". With Pride and Prejudice, I the answer is yes, but not for a while. I'll at least wait until I've read all the other Jane Austen books before I re-read this one.

1 comment:

  1. The first time I read P&P, I was in college, and I honestly thought it was a bit yawny. I liked Emma better, and Persuasion best, and ranked this with S&S as something I liked okay. I've read it twice more, both within the last couple of years, and I like it so much better now! But I think that's because I've realized that the romance isn't the point. The social commentary, and the way that Austen can make ordinary life interesting -- that's what make me like her books. For years I didn't count myself much of a fan of Austen, but now... I don't know if she's one of my top ten favorite authors, but definitely in the top 15.

    (I'll stop reading your old posts now and go make supper for my kids, I promise.)

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