“The more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of human characters, and of all of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense.”

A timeless tale of love and virtue.

Pride & Prejudice presents a study of society figures, family relationships and love through contrasting value. While Mr Darcy intrigues with his aloof characterisation, Elizabeth’s character provides a stunning insight to the idea of a modernised woman, a rebel to a gender and social confined society. While the theme of navigating love- both familial and romantic- through impossible feeling, of challenging boundaries, is one that captivates and resonates with a wide audience.

On the other hand, this book can come across as slightly uneventful in a sense. At times, achieving more as a character study than as an overall narrative- but ultimately, starting and finishing strong.

Overall, the title holds true- a delve into pride, and prejudice.

I don't think I will ever be able to properly explain my obsession with this book.

Everytime I read Pride and Prejudice (though it’s been many years since I’ve done a reread) I find something else to love about it.

Jane Austen renders a beautiful display of English country life in the early 1800s and the complexity of ordinary people — all their vanities, their flaws and their quirks.

The writing is lush and descriptive with a slow melting pace filled with subtle humour, sarcasm and witty banter.

“But people themselves alter so much, that there is something new to be observed in them for ever.”

The author created a fantastic and varied cast of characters. The absurdities of the secondary characters are what kept the plot light and fun.

Elizabeth’s whole family (excluding Jane) were a trainwreck of silly individuals.

But none are like Mr Collins. This man never fails to astound me with his silliness. The things he said were half ridiculously funny and the other half of the time I just wanted to smack him.

Characters like Miss Bingley, Mr Wickham and Lady Catherine were also infuriating at times.

Something I always find extremely entertaining in these types of classics is the underhanded savagery delivered through a facade of polite smiles and impeccable manners. It’s admirable, really

Austen was a brilliant writer.

This story is timeless.

Simply beautiful.

this book brings me the greatest pleasure and maddest joy that could ever be derived from reading any book. my heart is so full. i swear if i could but read this again, completely ignorant of its strength in character and its characters' morality, i couldn't be more satisfied, which, having seen the text with fresh eyes, might fix me into a state of partiality to everyone, as Jane had, or to the strength of humility of character that Elizabeth, and Darcy possessed.

i love this book dearly, and will love it for many years more no matter how my heart or disposition may change. i love Elizabeth, and Jane, and Bingley and Darcy, and of course Mr Bennet, for his wit, and being exactly like Elizabeth except by being her father. i love this novel, and wish all could love it alongside me, and sing it all the praise it deserves


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In my opinion, this is just a book about Victorian snobs talking about snobby things, and I don't like snobs.

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"I used to hate Mr Darcy until I found out he has ten thousand a year, now I'm madly in love with him."

The unromantic linking of money and love are just too much for me. It just makes women of this time period seem pathetic.

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It's my goal to read all of the classics that appear on the greatest books of all time lists every year, so I'm glad I can cross this one off.

It's possibly the most boring book I've ever read.

my love for jane austen will always save my love of books and reading.

Sublime - unlike many books I loved as a teenager, it gets better and better with age, as the nuance and satire jumps off the page.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of the most widely read classical romances. It is also no exaggeration to say that Pride and Prejudice is the most popular work by Jane Austen. One is amazed when one thinks how a novel which was written centuries ago have enchanted generations of readers and continues to still enchant millions of readers. But those who have read it at least once will be able to account for why it is so.
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This novel though widely loved does not escape from the criticism of being overrated. This criticism is, to me, is found on a misconception. Pride and Prejudice is merely misunderstood as being a simple romance. The reason for this misconception is its resemblance to popular romantic fiction. But if one reads it with care and attention, one will not fail to understand that there is much more into this work than being a simple romance. Since love and marriage are dominant themes of the novel, it is perhaps natural to dismiss it as simple romantic fiction. But other equally important themes such as duty, honour, domestic felicity, and class difference elevate the novel from the simple romance pedestal. However what makes this novel extraordinary are the use of diverse characters and the detailed exposition of their virtues, vices, values, and principles. Jane Austen is well known for her power of human observation. This power is well exhibited through the characters she employs in her novels. And it also accounts for her characters being felt real and close to the reader's hearts.

In Pride and Prejudice we meet an unusual heroine for the Regency period. Elizabeth Bennet is an uncommon individual. She is bold, outspoken, intelligent, and independent. Her character is quite a contrast to the passive and submissive heroines of popular romantic fiction of the Regency period. Elizabeth is far too modern and she appeals to modern readers. Her lively spirit enables readers to connect with her instantly. Darcy too is an uncommon hero. He is not bold, daring, and forward gallant type found in popular Regency romance; but rather he is steady, intelligent, strong-minded, and principled. I think the contrast of the main duo of the novel to the accepted notion of heroin and hero of the Regency period helped this beautiful novel to maintain its universal and timeless appeal.

The rest of the characters are drawn from the silly, ridiculous, vain, coquettish, wicked, proud, and indifferent lot. These various traits of the characters add variety, colour, and comic relief to the novel.

The title "Pride and Prejudice" is said to denote Darcy's pride and Elizabeth's prejudice. However, in this fourth read, I felt that both are proud and prejudiced. Elizabeth's prejudice does not awaken only from the general manner and behaviour of Darcy but also from her wounded pride. Darcy's pride prejudices him against the people below his class as unworthy of his attentions. It is fascinating to read these two governed by their pride and prejudices consciously and unconsciously fight their growing attraction.

The writing is beautiful. Though not imbued with the Victorian rich language and verbosity, the light, witty, exuberant, and passionate writing arrest the reader's heart. And her style of writing is most extraordinary. Jane Austen tells her story not in so many words but through the description of thoughts and conduct of her characters. The theme of love is expounded on the thoughts and conduct of Jane, Elizabeth, Darcy, and Bingley; domestic felicity and the consequences of its absence on the conduct of the Bennet family; the class difference is on the thoughts and conduct of Darcy, Lady Catherine, and Elizabeth; duty and honour are mainly on the thoughts and conduct of Jane, Elizabeth, and Darcy. It is nothing short of sheer brilliance.

I have written a pretty lengthy review here. My excuse is that I wanted to try my best to do justice to the one book which will always have a tender place in my heart; the one book which made me fall in love with classics as a child. I owe my love for classics to Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. And so I thank Jane Austen with a sincere warm heart.

Second time around and still a timeless classic!

n  "I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow."n

Some of my happiest, and most looked-forward-to days of the year are the ones that I reserve for the re-reading of Pride and Prejudice. To quote Austen herself from Sense and Sensibility: ‘if a book is well written, I always find it too short,’ explains perfectly how I feel about this book; no wonder she called this ‘my own darling child,’ for, for me, P&P is perfect in every conceivable way. It’s the kind of book, the moment you finished reading, you are tempted to start over again immediately. However, reviewing this is another matter… I’m excited, enraptured, but at the same time agitated, knowing that it’s impossible to do justice to the author nor to the book.

n  "But such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means. We were always encouraged to read, and had all the masters that were necessary."n

During my first reading of Pride and Prejudice, I had known I was hugely underqualified to review this book, though at the same time I had hoped, if I read all of her books, I might, in time, write an acceptable review for this masterpiece. Now that I’ve read them all, and also P&P for a second time, all I can say is I still don’t consider myself remotely qualified to write an objective review. But it is impossible not share one’s opinions after reading this: this book, for me, is as best as it could get. So, for the time being, I’ll have to be content with writing what I consider to be a subjective overview, which, I’m certain, does not do much justice. However, I hope that someday my sense in classical literature would become good enough to truly appreciate how remarkable this book is.

n  "You shall not, for the sake of one individual, change the meaning of principle and integrity."n
n  "Importance may sometimes be purchased too dearly."n
n  "What praise is more valuable than the praise of an intelligent servant?"n

Starting with the plot, which has been thoroughly analyzed, criticized, and commented upon by thousands of readers, is surprisingly, at a glance, not that original, especially if you see this as a pure romance novel. True, there are many complications resulting from multiple relationships (or marriages), but overall, there are many similarities. But what makes this special is Austen’s narrative: the sly humor, witty observations, unique lens through which she views the society, and the deeper understanding of morals of characters, are all perfectly concocted using her flawless writing style. And then there’s Elizabeth; aside from inheriting traits like humor and wit from Austen, she is lively, curious, confident, but without becoming ‘too perfect’ (like some of the Austen’s other protagonists). She is as delightful as it could get. Rest of the characters are also similarly entertaining, with each one infused with a myriad of qualities to keep the story interesting. I don’t think there was a single poorly written character in this book, and that’s the first time I’ve ever said that about a book. And I don’t wish a single thing had turned out differently in this story. With the exception of some of the children’s books, that’s also a first for me. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine, that this has been written over 200 years ago, or this ever becoming dated. Unlike with most romance novels, you will not see the reasoning, or common sense become lost in the middle of the story, which I think will help maintain that timelessness.

n  "Affectation of candour is common enough — one meets with it everywhere. But to be candid without ostentation or design — to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone."n

This second reading of the book only strengthened above opinions from my first read. If anything, everything felt even clearer, making the reading experience further satisfying. The only minor exception came with Lydia’s plotline. Compared to my opinion from the first reading, where I had been a bit angry with her, that emotion has been somewhat shifted a little towards sympathy this time. Obviously, same couldn’t be said about Wickham though. I also felt like that every single word here is essential during this second read. Although I didn’t skip a single word during the first time, I believe I enjoyed each sentence a lot more this time.

n  "Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. 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."n

Until now (that is till I finish my second read), I’ve never watched any of the TV or movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice. To be honest, I didn’t want to have any negative impact towards the perfect imaginary picture Austen had created. But after this second read, I decided to watch the 2005 movie, the 1995 TV series and the 1980 series, and couldn’t resist sharing some of my thoughts. As much as I appreciate the effort, the 2005 movie did not prove to be a worthy portrayal, at least for me. Maybe it’s the modern characters, or what had to be removed due to time restrictions, or deviations from original book, but at the end of the day, I cannot say I loved it that much. But the 1995 series was quite the surprise! It literally had almost every single dialog from the book, with a few exceptions at the end. It did add up to five and a half hours of play time, but that was totally worth it. If you loved the book, and haven’t watched the series, do watch it immediately. As for the 1980 series, though I loved it a lot, it fell a tiny bit behind the 1995 series. But both those series are commendable portrayals.

n  “Nothing is more deceitful,” said Darcy, “than the appearance of humility.n
n  "The misfortune of speaking with bitterness is a most natural consequence of the prejudices"n

As for this review, I’m going to label this as a work in progress, which I’m hoping to update after each re-read.

n  "The distance is nothing when one has a motive;"n

n  n    The happiest, wisest, most reasonable end!n  n

If somebody had told me that I'd love a romance before I read this book, I would have laughed derisively.

In my late teens, romance was just not my cup of tea: it was meant for (yechch!) - girls. I was happily reading about those brave and hardy men who blew up German castles (during World War II) and evil Communist strongholds (after the war). The only women in those books were beautiful spies or dangerous adventuresses.

A few years later, my aunt pointed me to this book, after I had rather enjoyed an adaptation of it on Doordarshan (the Indian TV channel). I opened the book, read the first couple of sentences, and was hooked.

n  It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.n

By God! You can't be more true to life than this...

[personal interlude]

Scene: Myself at a marriage reception, strutting about rather proudly having recently landed a job.

Mother calls: "Nandu! Come here for a moment."

I go rather reluctantly, because I know what is about to transpire. It is like I dreaded: there is another female with mother. My mother presents me to her proudly.

The lady looks me over with an appraising eye, and my knees are already weak.

She says in a wondering tone: "My! How tall your son has grown!" (I'm all of five-feet-six-and-a-half inches.) "When I last saw you (this to me) you were only so tall..."(and she holds her hand the appropriate height from the floor. This is not surprising, because when she last saw me, I was only five years old.)

She turns to my mother, and says the dreaded words: "He's employed now. Isn't it time he settled down?"

Uh...oh. I sidle away, because I know what's coming next: she knows of a "nice girl" who would be the perfect match for me...

[end of interlude]

Oh, Mr. Bingley and Darcy, I sympathise with you from the bottom of my heart!

***

Elizabeth Bennet was the first girl I hopelessly fell in love with. Unfortunately for me, she existed only on the pages of a book, so my love was doomed from the start.

***

n  "...Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life." - Charlotte Lucas.n

Being married to the same wonderful woman for more than twenty-three years, whom I did not know at all before our marriage was arranged, I can vouch for the veracity of the above statement.

***

Wonderful book. Read it!