Pride and Prejudice

UK hardcover, 1st edition.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austin first published on 1813-01-28. The story is set in England in 1812 and follows the Bennet family as they interact with their friends, neighbors, and potential husbands for the Bennet daughters. A large part of the story revolves around social manners, and how they often mask a person's true identity with superficial kindness while an ill-mannered person can still have genuine kindness.

I decided to read this book in order to better acquaint myself with female authors. I saw the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before reading the book.

Status

I don't own this book, but am listening to an audio book.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The entailed estate being sought after by William Collins does create some interesting tension.
• The book paints a pretty clear picture of what life was like for semi-rich English people in the early 1800s. Although, I can't speak to the accuracy.
• I do like the large vocabulary employed by Austin.

Ugly

• I had a very difficult time keeping straight all the various characters. There is almost no physical description of any of them, only descriptions of the mannerisms, so I never developed a picture of them in my head, and, without that, I could never put a face to a name. Through most of the book, I mixed up the sisters, and sometimes, even the families.
• The book is dreadfully dull. It's essentially several hundred pages of people gossiping about each other.

Links