Paperback, 399 pages
English language
Published Jan. 11, 1998 by Penguin Books.
During the decade when Napoleon was transforming Europe, Jane Austen wrote this novel in which the main events are that a man changes his manners and a young lady her mind.
Much has been said of the light and sparkling side of Pride and Prejudice -- the delicious social comedy, the unerring dialogue, the satisfying love stories and its enchanting and spirited heroine. None the less, the novel is also about deeper issues in which Jane Austen demonstrates her belief that the truly civilized being maintains a proper balance between reason and energy. As Tony Tanner remarks in his stimulating introduction: 'Since to stress one at the expense of the other can either way mean loss, both to self and society, the picture of achieved congruence between them offered in Pride and Prejudice is of unfading relevance. It is perhaps no wonder that it has also proved capable of giving …
During the decade when Napoleon was transforming Europe, Jane Austen wrote this novel in which the main events are that a man changes his manners and a young lady her mind.
Much has been said of the light and sparkling side of Pride and Prejudice -- the delicious social comedy, the unerring dialogue, the satisfying love stories and its enchanting and spirited heroine. None the less, the novel is also about deeper issues in which Jane Austen demonstrates her belief that the truly civilized being maintains a proper balance between reason and energy. As Tony Tanner remarks in his stimulating introduction: 'Since to stress one at the expense of the other can either way mean loss, both to self and society, the picture of achieved congruence between them offered in Pride and Prejudice is of unfading relevance. It is perhaps no wonder that it has also proved capable of giving eternal delight.' --back cover
I expected something deeper/monumental, having known nothing about the book before. But for such an old book it is well written and the characters and love story are cute ☺️
Pride And Prejudice is a difficult novel for me to review because, although this was my first reading of Austen's work, I have already encountered its essential storyline in televised adaptations and numerous other novels so I felt as though I was revisiting the book rather than coming to it fresh. I enjoyed the humour, especially Austen's partly-veiled observations on the predicament of women rendered useless without a husband and, of course, her wonderful characters. Austen had such a talent for observation and for just exaggerating foibles enough to make people such as Mrs Bennet and Lady Catherine ridiculous, but not unbelievable. Personally I wasn't convinced by Darcy's complete change of behaviour mid-book, but both he and Elizabeth have wonderfully sparkling conversations and spats with the great energy fairly leaping from the page. The repression of their social situation contrasts brilliantly with the obvious strength of their emotional attraction to …
Pride And Prejudice is a difficult novel for me to review because, although this was my first reading of Austen's work, I have already encountered its essential storyline in televised adaptations and numerous other novels so I felt as though I was revisiting the book rather than coming to it fresh. I enjoyed the humour, especially Austen's partly-veiled observations on the predicament of women rendered useless without a husband and, of course, her wonderful characters. Austen had such a talent for observation and for just exaggerating foibles enough to make people such as Mrs Bennet and Lady Catherine ridiculous, but not unbelievable. Personally I wasn't convinced by Darcy's complete change of behaviour mid-book, but both he and Elizabeth have wonderfully sparkling conversations and spats with the great energy fairly leaping from the page. The repression of their social situation contrasts brilliantly with the obvious strength of their emotional attraction to each other.
I was interested to learn from Ian Littlewood's introduction that Pride And Prejudice was pretty much an overnight success upon its publication, but that it took some sixteen years and at least one drastic rewrite to get to that stage. The book was refused on its first submission in the late 1700s, even though Austen would have paid for the printing herself! An example to authors everywhere of the importance of not giving up!
