Review: Pride and Prejudice

I finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen this afternoon. I had mixed feelings while reading the book, partly because one aspect of the book was about finding husbands for the daughters. Granted, that was Mrs. Bennet’s concern, but it irked me in places, probably because the daughers are my age or younger and are already worrying about becoming an old maid. Yes, I know this story takes place in the early 1800s and is therefore a completely different world than the one we live in today, but I can still be irked.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, on to the rest of the book. The plot centers around the Bennet daughters’ courtships, particularly that of second oldest daughter Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. This is where the book shines, for their courtship couldn’t be called that at first, but eventually they’re in love. We all know nothing can stop love.

The book moves really slowly at first. I read this for about half an hour a night, and the book moved so slowly that I was wondering when things were going to happen for the first eighty pages or so of the story. The story picks up speed really quickly, and there’s a lot of action in the last third. I zoomed through the last fifty pages of the book this afternoon and breathed a huge sigh of relief that the book ended the way I wanted it to. Now that’s a sign of a good book.

My favorite line from the book comes from toward the end, and it’s a Mr. Darcy line. (Before you say anything about spoilers, it’s one line and I think 198 years is plenty of time to read a book.)

“”I cannot fix on the hour, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”

Say it with me. Awwww. This line got to my inner romantic.

The verdict: Read it if you haven’t already. Shouldn’t this be standard high school or English 101 fare? I still like Jane Eyre better, but this was a good read after getting past the slow parts. Then read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.