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I think the first line of this novel sums it up better than I ever could:<\/p>\nI think the first line of this novel sums it up better than I ever could:<\/p>\n
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.<\/em><\/p>\n I’ve been familiar with the story of Pride and Prejudice <\/em>for a long time, but this was the first time I’d read the original.\u00a0 Even though I don’t usually go for Regency romances, I have to say that I enjoyed this book very much!<\/p>\n Jane Austen has a genius for character.\u00a0 She knows exactly what little mannerism to show or what description to give to make her characters come alive.\u00a0 At several points in the book, I paused and said “holy cow, that’s just like so and so,” or “haha, I know exactly what this person is like.” At no point did I feel hit over the head or dragged through a long info dump explaining this or that character’s background.\u00a0 Of all the possible details she could share, Austen always chooses the exact ones you need to get a clear, distinct picture–no more, no less.<\/p>\n Austen drives her story with some snappy, entertaining dialogue.\u00a0 Far from being sappy or sentimental, her main character, Elizabeth, is snarky and spirited, and she clashes with a lot of people in ways that are much more interesting (and mature) than typical girl drama.\u00a0 Be that as it may, I found it entertaining to compare Elizabeth’s dating\/relationship experiences with my own.\u00a0 As different as things were back then, in some very interesting ways they are still the same.<\/p>\n I did feel that the novel slowed down a bit in the middle, probably because that was when Elizabeth went on the tour of Derbyshire with her relatives and left behind most of the other characters that interested me.\u00a0 Also (since I am a straight guy), Mr. Darcy didn’t really turn me on much, so Elizabeth’s gradual change of mind as she toured his house wasn’t as engaging to me.<\/p>\n One thing that confuses me, having read this book, is why women all over the place set up Mr. Darcy as the ideal male.\u00a0 What exactly is his appeal?\u00a0 He’s a little rough around the edges, has an independent streak, speaks his mind even when doing so would be rude, and is constantly aloof from everyone else.\u00a0 Is this what women find so appealing about him?\u00a0 I can see how the “Beauty and the Beast” syndrome can also be a turn-on–Elizabeth essentially wins him over by taming him–but that has less to do with who he is than how Elizabeth changes him.\u00a0 Do women go for a guy who they have the power to change?\u00a0 Is that what it is?\u00a0 I’m still a bit confused.<\/p>\n One thing made me a little mad, and it had nothing to do with the book at all; it had to do with the blurb on the back.\u00a0 It reads:<\/p>\n One of the most universally loved and admired English novels, Pride and Prejudice, <\/em>was penned as a popular entertainment.\u00a0 But the consummate artistry of Jane Austen (1775-1817) transformed this effervescent tale of rural romance into a witty, shrewdly observed satire of English country life that is now regarded as one of the principal treasures of English literature.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Austen’s “consummate artistry” transformed this novel from “popular entertainment” to “one of the principal treasures of English literature”?\u00a0 Come on.\u00a0 That statement is as pompous as it is illogical.\u00a0 Once her book came out in print, Austen “transformed” nothing–the only thing that changed was the way people looked at it.\u00a0 It started out as a popular genre novel, like anything by Rowling or Steele or Grisham or King, and when the literati decided to claim it, they rebranded it as something else.<\/p>\n What irks me is this idea that “popular entertainment” is somehow inherently devoid of literary worth.\u00a0 Come on, people–virtually all the “great authors” before 1920 were well-read and well-loved in their day, among the masses as much as the literary elite.\u00a0 It’s not a sin to make money writing books.<\/p>\n Overall, I enjoyed this book very much.\u00a0 Just as Lord of the Rings<\/em> is the quintessential fantasy novel, Pride and Prejudice<\/em> is probably the lodestar of the romance genre.\u00a0 I was pleased to find that it’s not a book that only women can enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"