Books are my life... discussion

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Next to the exhortation at the beginning of Moby-Dick, "Call me Ishmael," the first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must yep be among the most quoted in literature. And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground.

Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber

If you are going to post any spoilers please say so at the beginning of your post.
Thank you :)

I haven't actually gotten the chance to finish the whole book because I found the language a little hard to understand, and was constantly rereading things so that I got it. I had to take a break from it, but I am definietly going to finishe it, even thought the writing is tough to understand it is definietly great, and I love the main character, she has such a strong character, and that's great to see from a girl.

I just finished it last week!!! Soo good!

Heather wrote: "I haven't actually gotten the chance to finish the whole book because I found the language a little hard to understand, and was constantly rereading things so that I got it. I had to take a break f..."

i know what you mean. I couldn't finish it. it was like torture

No, but i see it at the store everytime I go. What is it about?

So did I actually.

*Spoilers*
Well "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" is the same story but it talks 'bout Zombies.
It starts like this "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
It's an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. Here's the story : "A mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry?"
***And well I heard that the zombies are going to face the vampire's phenomenon :S Don't count on it !!! Vampires are and will always be THE BEST !!!

Natasha wrote: "Heather wrote: "I haven't actually gotten the chance to finish the whole book because I found the language a little hard to understand, and was constantly rereading things so that I got it. I had t..."

right there with you guys

Whitsy wrote: "Oh, I have no idea. I just thought it looked weird. Lol"

same here..and i don't really like zombies

Ya I'm not big on them either.

i never read a book that has zombies and i don't think i would like to any time soon

I haven't either, I think I would find it too strange to read about. And I'm not interested in any of the zombie movies out now.

Well, people used to be skeptical about vampires. You never know, zombies might be the next big thing! :P

i agree but not as skeptical about zombies..vampires used to represent horror and thriller but authors made them very close to humans so now readers especially the young ones like them
but zombies are brainless and i don't think they could ever be like vampires..and i don't think that the vampire "era" is over just yet.but that's just my opinion

Ya vampires or the idea of them, has been around forever, and it has always facinated people.

just the idea of vampires is fascinating

I agree, I have always like them, I was Dracula a lot for Hollowe'en when I was a little.

cool..have you ever read the book "dracula"?

Not yet, but I have it on my iPod so I'll read it when I get a chance to.

i haven't read it either..it's horror so i think im not gonna read it any time soon

I love Pride and prejudice!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have you by any chance read any of her other book?

lois ella wrote: "I love Pride and prejudice!!!!!!!!!!!!"

im reading it right now..and it's amazing

I have been dying to read Jane Austin, but I've been putting it aside for quite sometime. I think it's because so many of her books have been turned into movies and I've seen most of them.

However, I just recently read "Sense & Sensibility" and I loved it. It did take me about half way through the book to get into the groove of the old English way of speaking, but once I got it, it totally flowed. It was way better than the movie, I daresay. I really want to read "Pride & Prejudice", but I have a stack of library books I have to make it through first.

I have heard that it is excellent though and plan to take it up as soon as I possibly can.

I've read P&P multiple times, and S&S countless times. They're definitely on my list of favorites.

Vampires? Are not. Though I am reading Dracula...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? *plugs ears* LALALALALA! I can't heeeear you! (They recently published Little Women and Werewolves as well. *sigh*)

I love Pride and Prejudice. And I love the movies, the one with Kiera Knighlty, and the 1995 one with Colin Firth. The first time I read it, I was so confused, I couldn't follow the langauge, but that was several years ago. The last time I read it was last November, and it was so easy to read. And I of course fell in love with it all over again. I just bought the Barnes and Noble classic edition, so I shall be reading it sometimes next month. Then I'll watch the movies :)

i liked the new movie better than the one in 1995..i'm a fan of kiera knightly

Myosh wrote: "i liked the new movie better than the one in 1995..i'm a fan of kiera knightly"

This is one of my favourite stories of all time! Mr. Darcy was just so unbelievable! The movie with Keira Knightley is my fave too.

Just watched the movie the other day again, forgot how much I loved it. I love the stubborness of the characters.

I LOVE Pride and Prejudice...just such a good story. its one of those that for me, I can't get enough. Read it at least once a year and can't let a month go by that I don't watch one of the movies whether its the 1995 one (Personal fave) or the Kiera one (my least favorite...I despise her. And they just don't do the movie justice in my pov) or the bollywood one. I love any and all Mr. Darcy's though.

I love the book!!!! Bride and Prejudice is so bad. Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy to me. :)

I love Bride and Prejudice! I love the music and I love when Mr. Darcy says to Lalita that he just wants to be with someone that he can't wait to see everyday. Makes me go "aww" and melt a bit inside, Every. Single. Time.

I love Pride and Prejudice, but I have to admit that I only read the book after I saw the movie.The book was way better.But aren't they always?

I didn't read the book until after I saw the movie, either. And I only saw the movie because the school library that I was working at had the VHS of the 1995 version and everytime I shelved anything I saw Colin Firth staring at me. I said to myself, 6 hour staring at that dude in tight pants? What else am I doing with my weekend? HA

I love this book alot Pride and Prejudice such a gud story

I love Pride and Prejudice, it's my favorite Jane Austen although I also love Sense and Sensibility. I'm not as fond of Emma - she seems so spoiled. But P&P is the best. I love the combination of romanticism and satire, as well as the soft-pedaled but very present feminist threads. And I love the movies - Colin Firth is my Darcy. Perhaps I'm too much of a purist but I don't like the P&P take offs, whether they involve vampires or reworkings of the plot or modern day heroines plopped into the story (I really did not like Lost in Austen). Pride and Prejudice seems to me the first and best classic romance.