Hertfordshire - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

[chesilbeach]

HERTFORDSHIRE
 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
 
Synopsis:
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Mr Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Mr Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is a sparkling comedy of manners which explores the folly of judging by first impressions, and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life in early nineteenth-century England.
 
Other Hertfordshire books:
 
Howard's End by E. M. Forster

[chesilbeach]

My first ever Jane Austen read was Pride and Prejudice and I read it after watching the Laurence Oliver and Greer Garson film adaptation when I was a young teenager.  Having never see or heard of Austen and her books before this, I fell in love with the film and the story, and decided to read the original book.  It was probably the book written earlier than 1950 that I'd ever read, and I did find it a struggle on that first reading, as I was unused to the style of writing and the language.  Despite the difficulties, I persevered and was rewarded with one of the most memorable books I've ever read, and the door was opened to the world of Jane Austen novels, as well as the multitude of screen adaptations I've since watched.

I re-read this last year, and I'm currently listening to an audiobook of it while driving in the car, and it's one of those books I re-read often. The characters of this novel seem like old friends, I know them so well.  Elizabeth's hot-headedness and absolute loyalty to those she believes are good and right, Darcy's shyness displaying as an aloof and proud nature, the forthright, unabashed and highly melodramatic Mrs. Bennet and her determination to marry off her daughters, and the deliciously (to quote Austen and the most appropriate description of a character ever) obsequious Mr. Collins.  The characters and the story jump off the page of probably my favourite love story ever, with a sharp and at times acerbic view of the society but with a lightness of touch that gives a wonderful and thought provoking insight into the lives of young women of that class and the necessity to marry in that period.

 

The Bennet's family home is in Hertfordshire, and the novel mostly revolves around the Hertfordshire families and estates, and gives us an insiders perspective on the society of the upper classes of the period.

[Alexi]

Coped over from my book log:

 

I was extremely nervous in starting this book. Pride and Prejudice is a book I'm not only "supposed to" have read, but also "supposed to" enjoy - or at least, so I felt. I was nervous I would hate it!

 

I shouldn't have been, I was enraptured. The first few chapters are a bit of a struggle but in the end I felt myself rushing to get to the end to find out what happened, then when I got to the end I was disappointed it was over - always the hallmark of an excellent novel in my opinion!

 

I'm not sure I need to explain what goes on here. Even those who haven't read it have a vague idea of the synopsis, and really, most of the book is predictable from a few pages in, but the writing is gorgeous, the characters pop out of the book and the dialogue is witty. 

 

I did like the character of the long-suffering Mr Bennet, who seems so utterly mismatched with his wife, who I took an instant dislike to! I also found the constrast between the sisters, particularly Jane and Elizabeth, compared to Kitty and Lydia, and then Mary rather on her own extremely interesting and well plotted. 

 

I must say, I don't see the fuss with Mr Darcy at all - but then, I haven't seen the BBC version 

 

Just wonderful.

 

5/5

 

I absolutely loved this book, and am so pleased the challenge prompted me to get around to it sooner. Must be less scared of Jane Austen books in the future!