Genre: Classic; Literature; Romance
Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5
Publisher: Penguin (Pretty much everyone, though; it's a classic)
Spoilers?: Minor.
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant
and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When
she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled
relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she
is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of
manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first
impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies
of provincial middle-class life.
Available on Amazon (there are other copies on Amazon, not only this one).
Review:
I think I’m going
to try and keep this review short, just for the fact that I don’t have as high,
or much, of an opinion as most people do. But I might have more to say than I
think.
This is my first
Jane Austen book, and, while I’d wanted to read it for a while, the main reason
I finally got around to it, was because of
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. Which, if you aren’t watching those, whether you’ve
read the book or not, you should. It’s… simply amazing. I love it.
But I’m talking
about the book, so let me get back to that.
When I started the
book, I was afraid it was going to be long and droning and boring, given the
time period it was written, and it kind of was, in parts. There were a lot of
dry parts in this book, a lot of slow points, and the language was rather
boring at some points. There were long sentences, huge paragraphs, not nearly
as much dialogue, and sometimes it was a bit hard for me to follow. There were,
though, some scenes, some chapters or plots, that I really enjoyed, and those
went by really fast, whereas other ones took way too long to get through.
My main annoyance
with the writing was how tell and not show it was. There were countless times
that the reader would be told about something that had happened, some scene we
didn’t get to see, and sometimes even some kind of characteristic that a
character had. And the one reason I’m even a little okay with those things is
that, with the characters, it was made apparent in their attitude that what we
were told was true, and with the scenes, if we were shown them, the book would
have been longer, and I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed that. It still annoyed
me, though; is probably the thing I least liked about this book.
Next, the
characters. I liked Elizabeth enough, I suppose, but didn’t really care too
much about her either way. The same with most of the characters, actually. I
liked Mr. Bennet. I liked the romantic relationships. I wasn’t too big a fan of
Bingley, most of the time, because he just seemed too prideful and full of
himself (which I will talk about again in a minute). I didn’t think I got to
know Lydia very well. Jane seemed alright. I didn’t like Caroline, because she
was… not a nice person.
I liked Darcy at
first, but then later on was kind of iffy about him. I knew what was going to
happen with him and Lizzy, but somewhere in the middle, his attitude bothered
me. I think it just seemed like too big a jump, from him being standoffish to
really nice to her. But, thinking back on it, it wasn’t too bad, actually. I
did like their relationship, so there’s that.
Now, the pride
thing. After reading the book, I understand what the title means, and I’m kind
of okay with it. I don’t mind the prejudiced thing. But the pride part just
annoyed me so much. All of the characters were prideful about one thing or
another. Bingley was rather full of himself. As was Darcy. And I just… I guess
I feel like some development should have been done there, instead of it just
continuing to be that way. They aren’t the only characters that were prideful,
a lot of them were, but they just made the biggest impression on me.
I think that’s all
I have to say, really. The book wasn’t horrible, even if it was droning and
boring at times, and had way too much telling. The rating is really so high
because of the story line. The plot was good, what with what happened with
Lydia, and Jane’s change in attitude halfway through, and the ending, and even
how some of the characters acted. There were some parts that I really enjoyed.
I don’t plan on
reading any of Austen’s other books, though. I do plan on watching some of
the Pride and Prejudice movies, and am at
the moment watching the
miniseries, but that might take a while. They’re just
so long, and kind of boring to me. I know that most people love this book,
though, so don’t take my word on it all.
I would suggest
watching the web
series
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, though, because it is amazing, and I honestly think it’s better
than the book.
