Summary
“‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ With this famous declaration Jane Austen launches into the story of the five Bennet sisters. It is a story that on first reading is full of suspense, surprise and, ultimately, satisfaction, and which on re-reading commands, in addition, admiration for the author’s supreme skill in managing a deceptively complex plot to its triumphant conclusion. First published in 1813, and Austen’s most popular novel in her own lifetime, Pride and Prejudice has since been widely recognised as one of the finest novels in the English language. The volume provides comprehensive explanatory notes, an extensive critical introduction covering the context and publication history of the work, a chronology of Austen’s life, and an authoritative textual apparatus. This edition is an indispensable resource for all scholars and readers of Austen.”
-Book Description from Amazon.com
Review
It took me a while to read it, but it was definitely a good novel. Also it was nice to read it this year as this is the 200th year anniversary of Pride and Prejudice.
I honestly would never have picked this book up had it not been for the fact that I had to read it in my English class. My mom always goes on how I read so many books, but many of them aren’t great quality. Modern books=short sentences and simple stories.
So when I had to read this book for English, I was excited and a little like, ‘this may be a terrible book, WHYYYYYYYY?!’ So when I found out that I enjoyed it, I was shocked.
This novel definitely does have a different language thought. There are sentences that can run for an entire paragraph and do not have any real punctuation marks. It is also really confusing as to who is who in the story in the beginning. After a while you do get used to it though.
The storyline was quite good as well. In modern-day books, there is either some type or action or there are short choppy sentences. In this, they may spend an entire chapter describing one persons personality (a chapter sometimes only being about 1 and a half pages.)
You got really close to the characters also as you spent a lot of time with each one if it was either through descriptions, or just general interaction with them through other characters.
When you start this book, you will most likely want to put it down as it is difficult. Okay, let me rephrase that. It is not difficult like solving a complicated algorithm, or cracking some binary code ( 
), but it does require concentration and a little work on the readers part. It is worth it though. You get to see how courting was in the dinosaur days (you know, the day when most parents lived (M.O.M)), and you get to see what society was like.
I really liked the imagery in this book as well. They would go into great detail describing things which was really nice because you got a great understanding of how a character looked or what their personality was like. This, in my opinion, made you feel more part of the story and it was easier to enjoy. You were too busy trying to understand the story and who was who to have time to create a person with a personality in your head.
My English teacher provided some great links which help in understanding the book, and I will add them as they really do help.
1. Here is a link that takes you to ‘austenbook’. It takes the entire story and turns it into a Facebook timeline. Really easy to understand and a great way to see it in a modern-day view.
2. Cliffnotes has a great list of all the characters. Great to use when you are just starting the book so you can understand who is who.
I also suggest, and M.O.M is going to scold me for this, Sparknotes. DO NOT USE SPARKNOTES TO READ THE ENTIRE BOOK! I had quizzes on each chapter as I read the book and what I would do is read everything that was assigned and then use Sparknotes as a general summary. I will tell you this now though, it does not have every detail and if your teacher asks specific questions, then YOU WILL FAIL!
My teacher also assigned this study guide with a bunch of questions which were really helpful. Click here to see it, but this link will take you to a link which automatically downloads a word document.
Overall this is definitely a classic book and everyone should read it. A book is not always something that you are able to just sit down and read. Sometimes you have to use something called a brain, you know that grey mass in your head. It is really useful to use and you may actually learn a thing or two.
Also, try to pick up an older copy. New copies are okay, but older copies, with the yellowed pages and the musty smell really add to the reading experience.
If you have not already read this book, you should definitely read it.
SPARKNOTES DOES NOT COUNT!
If you have read this book, leave a comment letting know what you thought or shoot me an email at
mylibrarycardworeout at gmail dot com
I would love to get into a conversation about this book as there is so much to talk about.
Happy Reading!
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