Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Genre: Classic romance
Rating: ★★★★★
For: a read along, and book club sort of
From: free from Amazon for my Kindle

I'm not sure I've ever done an official review of this book on the blog and having just finished it recently with a read along, I thought I'd go ahead and seal the deal with a review!

Has anyone NOT read this book yet? If not, here's a quick summary just for you! There's this family of five daughters... two silly youngest ones, two fairly level headed oldest ones, and the middle one is lost in the shuffle. (She's a bookish sort, we should all relate to her the most!)  Oh, and their parents are quite the characters too... a mom who is shallow and silly and a dad who, like his middle daughter is a bookish sort, but very witty.

So anyway, one day a bachelor (Mr. Bingley) moves in "next door" (next door being a relative term in the English countryside!) and of course all the girls become very excited at the idea that perhaps this could be "the one" for one of them. They manipulate matters in order to meet him, and they eventually end up at a couple of balls. Sweet. Things seem to be going as planned!

But, he has this friend... a proud, handsome, rich dude, Mr. Darcy. He snubs one of the daughters (Elizabeth) and she is forever after thinking of him as a snotty, stuck up, obnoxious guy. They have a couple of encounters that don't go so well which appears to create a wall between them. Meanwhile, her sister (Jane) is falling in love with the first guy, Mr. Bingley... Mr. Darcy's friend. This is cool, perhaps a bit awkward, but it's all good.

Then, suddenly, they disappear... gone, moved back to London. Everyone is baffled that things seem to NOT be working out after all. When Elizabeth goes on a little trip, she meets up with Mr. Darcy again, and then things begin to explode and go all sorts of crazy directions!

As you know I, along with so many others, adore this book. I love the wittiness of Elizabeth and her father, I love the silliness of her sisters and mother, I love the crazy characters that are so well drawn that we love to hate them, I love the change the characters make as more and more things are revealed about them, I love the romantic sparks that are constantly flying, I love the old fashioned rules and etiquette... I just love it all. The story will never get old and I predict I'll be doing re-reads of it for as long as I keep reading.

Bottom line: I will love it forever!

How about you? Are you a fan? If so, how would you describe, in just a few sentences, why you love it?

Other Reviews:

Jenni Elyse
Rebecca Reads
Becky's Book Reviews

Pride and Prejudice Read Along: Part Four and Five

And my re-read of this book is done! Late, yes, but done! Here's my answers to the discussion questions that Jenni Elyse provided as part of her read along. It's long and I bet no one will really read them, but I had fun in the answering. Thanks for the motivation to read this one again Jenni!

I will post a proper re-review soon!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: CHAPTERS 39-49

Jenni found these questions here.

What do Elizabeth and the Gardiners learn about Darcy from Mrs. Reynolds? Does Elizabeth’s attitude toward Darcy change while at Pemberley and after talking with Mrs. Reynolds? What does she think about him now?

They learn that he is so sweet! And practically perfect in every way! And of course Elizabeth starts thinking about him differently. Suddenly, he's a cool dude and very desirable! I love it.

When Elizabeth meets Darcy at the Pemberley estates, she is surprised by his behavior. How has he changed since she saw him last? How does he treat her? Her aunt and uncle? What does Elizabeth think has caused this change in Darcy? And how do Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner look at Darcy?

He acts so different, and I've often wondered exactly what's behind this. I think just that he feels comfortable on the home court, you know? That he truly is shy but at home he's not so much. Besides, he does feel a need to impress her. But yes, he is quite nice and very sweet to everyone. I love that the Gardiner's are  like, what the heck? This guy is NOT like you said he was!

How does Elizabeth feel about Darcy’s intention of introducing Ms. Darcy? Describe Elizabeth’s meeting with Miss Darcy. Is Miss Darcy as proud as Wickham had described her? When Elizabeth meets Mr. Bingley, she detects some hints that he may still be thinking of Jane. What are those hints? Describe Elizabeth’s meeting with Miss Bingley.

Mr. Darcy's sister is sweet and nice too, of course, and nothing like she had imagined. Their first meeting is quite cordial and I think that they think they could become fast friends. Mr. Bingley's hints are funny. "How is your family? And your sisters are well? ALL of them?" Miss Bingley is as obnoxious as ever. Ugh.

In chapter 45, Elizabeth receives two surprising letters from Jane. What shocking news about Lydia does Jane communicate? At this point, how does she think this news about Lydia will influence her relationship with Darcy? What do the Gardiners and Elizabeth decide to do in response to the letter?

Well, of course Lydia has run off with the scoundrel of the story. Elizabeth is sure that this will be last she hears from Mr. Darcy, because it's so scandalous that he will never ever want to deal with her or her family again. It's all very tragic. So they go off to get Elizabeth back home to the drama and Darcy goes off to... who knows what! :)

In chapter 49 Mr. Bennet receives a letter from his brother-in-law, Mr. Gardner informing the Bennets how everything is settled for Lydia to be married to Wickham. What is required of Mr. Bennet? Why does Mr. Bennet think so little has been asked of him? Who does he think has financially assisted in this matter?

He thinks is brother in law has handled it all, and he is baffled. He only has to give her a small amount a year (a tradition that is so weird to me!) and he feels grateful but he just doesn't get it. I think he is scared to question too far though, for fear it's all too good to be true.


DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: CHAPTERS 50-61

Jenni found these questions here.

When Lydia describes her wedding day, she mentions, much to Elizabeth’s surprise, that Mr. Darcy was at the wedding. After Elizabeth asks her aunt about the reasons for Mr. Darcy’s presence at the wedding and his involvement with Lydia and Wickham’s wedding arrangement, her aunt sends a long, detailed letter. What information does this letter contain? How did Darcy help to facilitate the wedding? Mrs. Gardiner offers several explanations for why Darcy helped. What are her explanations? How does Elizabeth respond to this letter? How does this influence her views of Darcy?

Well, so Darcy had a clue where Lydia would be, so he went and found her, paid the money and made them get married. I quite wish that we saw better how all this happened instead of hearing it second hand. I think it would make us all like Mr. Darcy even better! The aunt figured he did all this for Elizabeth, no question. But Elizabeth isn't so sure. She wouldn't mind if it was, but she's not so sure. Anyway, of course it makes her like him more, even though she is embarrassed about the whole crazy thing!

A week after Jane and Bingley’s engagement, Lady Catherine stops at Longbourn. What is her reason for visiting? How would you describe her manners and behavior? What does she talk to Elizabeth about? How does Elizabeth respond to Lady Catherine’s questions and demands?

Ah, this is one of the classic scenes for sure! I love love love how Elizabeth tells her off! And how dare she come and say what Elizabeth can or can't do! I guess she feels entitled, but still. It's a great scene and shows the spunk that Lizzy is made of.

After Lady Catherine talks to Elizabeth, Lady Catherine goes to London and meets with Darcy. What does she tell him? How does he respond to this news from his aunt? When he returns to Longbourn, he has a long walk and conversation with Elizabeth. What do they talk about? What do they decide to do? How have they both changed since he first proposed to her?

The long walk. It's perfect, no? Mr. Darcy realizes when his aunt reports to him the goings on, that Elizabeth might possible maybe perhaps be okay with liking him after all! So funny that Lady Catherine has no idea that it's really her that makes it all happen. The changes in both Darcy and Elizabeth are fun to see during this talk and walk.

In the dialogue between Elizabeth and Darcy, how does Elizabeth explain the reason for his attraction to her? After the account of Darcy’s self-improvement, what do you think about their marriage? Is Elizabeth lucky to marry such a rich man? Does she deserve it?

Elizabeth figures that Darcy was blown away by someone who didn't simper and flirt and bow down to him. Perhaps this did make him sit up and take notice, but I think he loved her wit. Elizabeth is lucky, but so is Darcy. They both deserve each other and I think their marriage will/is/has been a happy one!

After Jane’s marriage to Bingley and Elizabeth’s to Darcy, the Bennet family experiences some changes. How does Kitty benefit from the marriages? How does Mr. Bennet respond? Mrs. Bennet? Lydia and Wickham? Mary?

I think they all benefit from these marriages! They are all lucky, except perhaps Lydia who doesn't seem to understand a thing about life and will go on forever being an idiot! :) 

Pride and Prejudice Read Along: Part Three

I'm furiously trying to catch up and finish this little read along. Today I finished up through these discussion questions, so here you go:

Discussion Questions: Chapters 26-38

Jenni found these questions here. 


How would you describe the first meeting of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy at Hunsford? How does Mr. Darcy feel about Elizabeth? As they spend more time together, does he completely understand her words and actions? How does Elizabeth feel about him? Does Elizabeth understand his feelings, thoughts, and actions? Can you give examples of Elizabeth and Darcy’s misunderstandings of each other? Does Charlotte understand Darcy’s attitude toward Elizabeth?

I think the whole time they have interaction at this point in the novel, neither one of them is understanding what's going on with the other. Darcy is, of course, falling in love. Elizabeth just thinks he is being cordial I suppose and doesn't catch any clues from him at all. She is baffled in fact by his attention. I'm guessing Mr. Darcy guesses that Elizabeth has been nice enough to be truly interested, but he is sorely mistaken, yes?

In this novel about pride and prejudice, which characters do you think are proud? Which are prejudiced? Do you think it is completely accurate to say, for example, that Darcy is proud and Elizabeth is prejudiced? Or are both characters a combination of pride and prejudice? Which other characters are also proud? Prejudiced?

Oh for sure they ALL have an issue with being both proud AND prejudice! I think Elizabeth has just as much problem with this as Darcy. Collins is also very proud... even Charlotte. The Bennet parents too. All of them I think. We just get it pointed out to us all the time how proud Darcy is, since that's what Elizabeth is always thinking.

As the novel develops till this point, what do you think about Darcy’s pride and coldness, esp. in Meryton assembly? How do different people, e.g. Charlotte and Fitzwilliam, respond to his pride and stubborness? How does Darcy himself explain it?

Well, I love that Darcy explains it basically, that he is shy. I'm always wondering about that.. is he really? I don't know, but that's what he says. Elizabeth laughs at this, but really, what if he is? Poor guy. And here everyone thinks he is stuck up!

As Elizabeth considers the news she learned from Fitzwilliam, Darcy pays her a visit and, to Elizabeth’s surprise, makes a marriage proposal. Are you surprised, too? (In other words, are there clues to prepare us for it?) How would you describe his proposal? Does he present an overwhelming passion for Elizabeth? How does Elizabeth respond to his proposal? Why does she respond this way? What does she tell him?

I think if I were reading this for the first time again, I would be surprised by this proposal. It does seem to come out of nowhere since we really aren't privy (sadly) to Darcy's thoughts very much. He obviously seems interested in her, but I don't think we as readers are aware to what extent until this proposal comes.

To describe the proposal... very unromantic! Very stilted and sort of apologetic... it's not a good one by a long shot... I mean he does say some pretty things, but also some really mean sort of things too. No wonder Elizabeth gets mad, you know? He totally puts down her family, and even if she secretly agrees, still... she must fly to their defense. Poor Darcy. He so messed it up!

The next morning Darcy hands Elizabeth a letter he has written to her. In this letter he explains his involvement in the relationship between Jane and Mr. Bingley, as well as his relationship with Wickham. What does this letter say? How does Elizabeth initially respond to this letter? After she has had a chance to think about the letter, how does she respond to it? Does she have a chance to talk with Darcy about this letter? Why not? How does Darcy’s letter change Elizabeth’s understanding of herself?

The letter is great because at first she is still mad, but then the more she thinks about it she realizes he is totally spot on. And this is when she starts to realize that maybe he's not such a bad guy after all! She doesn't get a chance to talk to him, of course, because he leaves the next day! Shoot! But that makes the next meet up all the better! Oops... spoiler.

Character Connection: Elizabeth Bennet

I figured it was about time to highlight a lady character for a Character Connection post and what better one to start with then Elizabeth! Especially as she is fresh in my mind what with my current re-read of Pride and Prejudice and all.

Elizabeth Bennet
from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ah Elizabeth. Where to start? Here's what I love about her:

• She is so very witty! She makes me LOL constantly with her subtle and not-so-subtle wise cracks. I think she gets this from her dad. 
• She seems down to earth and practical. Her other sisters, Jane included, seem (or should we say ARE) a bit flighty and silly and simple. She has a good head on her shoulders and seems to just "get it."
• She is passionate. She doesn't do things half-heartedly. When she falls, she falls fast and hard!
• She is swayed by prejudice, of course, which moves this story. But she doesn't have the pride to let that stop her from changing her mind. That's cool.
• She is a perfect match for Mr. Darcy!
• She has a gazillion nicknames!

I don't know what else, she is just basically an all round fun character. What do YOU love about Elizabeth?

Pride and Prejudice Read Along Part Two: Chapters 13-26

This week we read chapters 13 to 25 in our Pride and Prejudice Read Along. Much of these chapters had to do with Mr. Collins and his proposal, and with Mr. Wickham's appearance and his story about Darcy. Also, we had some more classic encounters between Darcy and Elizabeth.

Here are a few things I highlighted as I read:

• "And though prepared, as he told Elizabeth, to meet with folly and conceit in every other room of the house, he was used to be free from them there." This is Mr. Bennet thinking about his library. Have you noticed that his library is his sanctuary? I so totally relate with him! He can run from Mrs. Bennet here, and have solitude. It so bugs him when Mr. Collins invades that privacy.. poor guy. Anyway, I love this quote.
• "Upon my word!" Another phrase from the time that I feel the need to bring back! We do use "my word" sometimes or "Oh my word!!" It's fun to see that modern day variation of this older usage. Still... I like upon my word, better!
• "The moment of her release from him was ecstasy." Wow... it really MUST have been a trial to dance with Mr. Collins! I wonder how many of us have felt this very way about any sort of akward social connection?
• I love it when Elizabeth tries to get Mr. Darcy to talk while they dance saying that she has mentioned the dance, and now it was his turn to mention the room or the couples. Again, one of my favorite scenes. 
• And later he tries by saying, "What think you of books?" Now... you can't help but like him, yes?? And Elizabeth cuts him off and says that they could never talk about books since there's no way they'll agree and he says, " I am sorry you think so, but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject. We may compare our different opinions." And there is the whole purpose of book clubs and book blogs and book discussion in general, don't you think? Way to go, Mr. Darcy!
• Don't you ever feel just a little bad for Mr. Collins? Granted, he didn't love Elizabeth at all, but still he was hoping so bad that she didn't know what she was saying when she says no! Funny.
• "We are all in an uproar!" Mrs. Bennet and her reaction to the whole Mr. Collins proposal makes me laugh. And then when Mr. Bennet says to Elizabeth, "From this day yo must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do NOT marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you DO!" Don't you just feeling like cheering at that point? 
• Charlotte's philosophy of marriage is sad, but mostly likely the norm. "Miss Lucas accepted him solely from the pure and disinterested desire of an establishment...." 

And then Jenni Elyse found these questions for discussion here.

What are Elizabeth’s first impressions of Mr. Collins? What does she base her judgement of him on? Do you agree with her initial assessment of him? In chapter 14 we learn about Mr. Bennet’s opinion of Mr. Collins. What does Mr. Bennet think of his visitor? After learning more about Mr. Collins in subsequent chapters, what is your opinion of him?

Mr. Collins for me has always been a fun character to hate.. or rather, to make fun of. He's a pretty awful sort, though I don't think he means to be, really. Sometimes I actually feel sorry for him. The dude that portrays him the movie has him SO spot on, it's hard to not read these chapters without totally getting him in your head. I always wonder if they would have picked a nice looking guy for this part, and still had him act this obnoxiously, would he still bug us all as bad? I wonder. Anyway, I think Elizabeth just brushes him off as a nuisance and doesn't take him too seriously, however, her dad knows that it's actually pretty serious to welcome him because he will be inheriting the estate. 

Who is Lady Catherine de Bourgh? What does Mr. Collins think of her? Does Elizabeth agree with Mr. Collins views on Lady Catherine? Why or why not? What are your impressions of her? Mr. Collins talks a great deal about Rosings Park, Lady Catherine’s home. What are his thoughts about Rosings? How does Rosings contrast with Longbourn?

Lady Catherine is a most irritating character. We haven't actually met her yet (have we? I didn't QUITE finish the assigned reading!) but from Mr. Collins goings on, we can tell she is pretty shallow too. Rosings is obviously superior to Longbourn in so many ways! According to Mr. Collins anyway. These comparisons never fail to make me a little nauseated every time I read them! Ugh.

In this novel which frequently draws attention to appearances and how appearances can be deceptive, how would you describe Mr. Wickham’s appearance? The Bennet sisters, including Elizabeth, are initially attracted to him. What is it about Mr. Wickham that attracts them?

Mr. Wickham is.... can I say what I think of him without giving it all away? I think not. At first, I can see how he would be sweeping everyone of their feet. He looks nice, he acts nice... bottom line, that's all it is with him. Well, there's some more stuff too, but we'll get to that later.

When Mr. Wickham and Mr. Darcy happen to meet in Meryton, how do the two men respond to each other? In chapter 16 Mr. Wickham explains his troubled relationship with Darcy. What is the relationship between the two men, according to Wickham? What does Wickham claim that Darcy has done to him? How does Elizabeth respond to Wickham’s account of his past experiences with Darcy? Jane’s response to Wickham’s account differs from Elizabeth’s. How does Jane respond?

Ah, Wickham has Elizabeth hook line and sinker at first! What a sob story he gives her! He's nice, Darcy isn't, so Wickham must be right! Jane feels there's two sides to the story, and let me just say, she is right.

Elizabeth is eager to meet Wickham at the ball given by Mr. Bingley at Netherfield, but her high hopes are not actualized. Why not? Why does Elizabeth not dance with Wickham at the Netherfield ball? Who does she dance with? What happens between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth at the ball? How does Elizabeth feel about Darcy at the ball? How does Darcy feel about her? What happens between Jane and Mr. Bingley at the ball?

It's kind of funny that everyone wants to dance with Wickham and then he doesn't show up! I love that. I love that it forces her (Lizzy) to dance with Darcy and she accepts him before she realizes what she's doing.. oh and to get away from Collins of course! Elizabeth is tolerating the experience, and I think Darcy is trying his best. You know... he is a bit of SHY sort, don't you think!?? As far as Jane and Mr. Bingley goes, it appears that all is well and things are set! Well, we shall see...

******

All this fun stuff! Hopefully I can keep up with the reading and pondering even as my month falls apart these next few weeks. We are now planning a watch along sometime in August. Hopefully a few of us can meet IRL to watch, and we'll let you know in case a few of you would like to join with us virtually on Twitter too. I can't wait!

Pride and Prejudice Read Along: Week One

For book club this month we are having a sort of Jane Austen month. Those who haven't read anything by her are reading something, and those that have perhaps one or two books that they haven't read, are reading those. Jenni Elyse, who comes to book club, has been on a quest for quite some time to simply read Pride and Prejudice, a quest which in fact sparked this book club endeavor. As part of her mission to read this book, she's created a read along. How could I not join in and read again for the fourth(?) time this wonderful book? It's probably been three or four years since my last re-reading, so I figured what better time to read it again and join in on the discussion over at Jenni's blog and also participate in our book clubs Jane Austen focus.

Beside, now that I can read it on my Kindle, I'm having a blast with the highlighting feature and have things to share! Mostly it's stuff that just makes me smile, stuff that gets stuck in my head and stuff from my favorite scenes of the movie... stuff like this:

• "The astonishment of the ladies was just what he wished..." Ah Mr. Bennet... you are SUCH a tease!
• "He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world and everyone hoped that he would never come there again." Seriously? Are you SURE about that?
• "She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt ME!" Poor Darcy...will he ever live these words down.
• And this quite long declination of the difference between vanity and pride which I will only quote a part: "A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." What think you to that? I like it.
• "But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes." Wait, what? Already he changes his mind? Darcy, Darcy, that didn't take long dude!!
• "Mr. Darcy is all politeness." Did you catch the sarcasm here?
• "I am all astonishment." Now THIS phrase is one of my favorites and one I would like to incorporate into my every day speech. Are you with me?
• "I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing ANY." One of my favorite scenes... let the banter begin!
• "This is too much to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning." Love this observation from Bingley. He's spot on don't you think?
• Another favorite scene is when Darcy explains why he shouldn't join the ladies in a "turn about the room." Makes me grin every time.

Here are the discussion questions that Jenni Elyse posted which she found here. These are for our assigned reading... Chapters 1 through 12.

In Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen presents an interesting view of 19th century life in England. A key part of her presentation involves humor. Describe the presence of humor in the beginning of the novel. What examples of humor do you find? (e.g. in the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.) What does this humor suggest about the tone of the novel?

I love the humor... and I wouldn't have guessed that it would have really been so much a part of their life back then. They always seem so stoic and serious, yes? But in this house, definitely not. I love it. And including it here I think suggests that the tone of the novel, overall, is light and fun. Even though some serious stuff is about to go down.

This novel addresses a variety of themes, including issues involving marriage, financial status, and social appearances. The novel begins with one of the most famous first sentences in all novels. What does this sentence mean? What is the view of marriage that it suggests? In what ways is the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in chapter one a commentary on this sentence?

It means that girls have to get married in order to survive basically. Or at least everyone thinks that anyway. And that if a dude arrives on the scene, is unmarried and has money, he will be looked at as ripe pickings! I'm thinking that the first chapter is what many households must have gone through as their girls get to be a certain... it's sort of an arranged marriage kind of discussion, but not. Know what I mean?

All the major families (e.g. the Bennets, the Bingleys, the Lucas and the Darcys) are introduced with explanation of the fortune they have and the place they live in. What does this suggest about the importance of money and social status in this novel?

Money and social status if very important, in fact, we see that Darcy is so very bugged that the Bennets don't' quite measure up and wow... all sorts of problems occur because of this issue.

What is Elizabeth’s first impression of Darcy? What does she overhear him say? What is her opinion of him after that? Is her opinion based only on appearance or other more substantial criteria? How about Mrs. Bennet’s view of Darcy?

As we know, Elizabeth thinks Darcy is proud and haughty and she hears him say that she is only tolerable. It makes her decide that she wants nothing at all to do with him forever more.

As Elizabeth and Jane stay at Netherfield, what more does Elizabeth learn about Bingley’s sisters? How would you describe the relationship between Miss Bingley and Darcy? Does Elizabeth’s view of Darcy change? Does Darcy’s view of Elizabeth change? By the time that Elizabeth returns to Lonbourn, Darcy has conflicting feelings about Elizabeth. What does he feel? What does he decide to do about it?

Well, obviously Darcy's view is rapidly changing. I think Elizabeth's is slowly changing. She finds him witty at least I'm sure, because of the banter that begins here. She sees that Miss Bingley pretty much flings herself at him, not so very subtly.... which she finds a bit funny I think. Darcy is very nervous about his feelings, and I think he pretty much runs away, does he not?

That's all for this time... I hope you find it fun to follow my observations on this re-reading of a favorite book. I, myself, am planning on having a blast with it.