I have not felt like blogging and returning comments might be a bit more delayed. I don’t know if I have an exscuse. Think of this as a mini hiatus from blogging, though I am still making updates to my site.

For my 11 entry in my 12 Month Challenge I read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:

Pride and Prejudice is a story is about Elizabeth Bennet and her family. They live near the town of Meryton and are very prominent in their village but, they are considered to be on the lesser side of high society. Elizabeth has four sisters and no brothers which means, by law, when her father dies the land passes on to a cousin (Mr. Collins). Because of this, it is very important for the girls to marry well. Meaning, they should marry rich men if their family is to stay afloat when their father is gone.

So enters Mr. Bingley, who is new to the town and buys an estate called Netherfield. When Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs. Bennet, hears of this she is set immediately on having him marry one of her girls. At a local dance they all meet Bingley along with his sisters and one of his friends, a Mr. Darcy. When it became obvious that Mr. Darcy was unfriendly and standoffish everyone disliked him, including Mrs. Bennet, who was sometimes indiscrete with her disapproval of him. However, Bingley takes an interest in Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane.

Another character that plays a large part in this story is Mr. Wickham. He and Mr. Darcy grew up together but then there was a falling out between them. When Mr. Wickham comes to Meryton he tells his version of the circumstances between them which, coincidentally of course, sets him in a positive light and everyone even more against Mr. Darcy. Wickham befriends Elizabeth and shows a great interest in her and Elizabeth showed interest in him.

Pride and Prejudice is arguably one of the most well-known and weathered English novel. It has survived for over 200 years and is still going strong. There are multiple layers and surprising twists and it’s also the Jane Austen fashion to include humor and some lessons on decorum in her books. While this book isn’t necessarily a page turner I wouldn’t dismiss the book that easily. Yes, it is literature; it’s what you read to learn about good writing, reading comprehension and words in the English vocabulary that you don’t usually use. There are even words that you can’t even guess the meaning of. For example, ‘shire’ which was an administrative district of England, in which Wickham served as a military officer. And there are some other reading difficulties that come from the different punctuation standards in the 1800’s. But, amongst all this learning you get to have romance and humor along for the ride which makes the trip much more pleasant.

The story of Pride and Prejudice is really enjoyable. I was very pleased to find that once I was able to read Jane Austen, I did understand her characters. It’s not like they talk of virtues and traditions that mean nothing to you and nothing to anybody. They want to be accepted, want to be loved and want to be secure.

If reading Shakespeare is painful to you but you still want some quality reading, pick this book up. And if you are into the romance genre I totally encourage this read, you will not be disappointed. Some people call Jane Austen ‘too conservative’ but I think she caught onto polite individuals exactly right. There are no flying passions and insurmountable stresses in this story but that doesn’t mean Austen isn’t moving her audience. Filled with beautiful writing and an amazing quality that allows readers to relate to 200 year old characters, it’s no wonder that this book is able to endure the test of time.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 21st, 2012 at 08:50 and is filed under 12 month challenge, books, Jane Austen, Literature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.