[Review] Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Publisher (this version): Signet Classics

Publishing Date (this version): Jan. 2, 2008

Publishing Date (original): 1813
Format: paperback, purchased
379 Pages
Links: Goodreads | B&N | Amazon

Synopsis 

Spirited Elizabeth Bennet is one of a family of five daughters, and with no male heir, the Bennet estate must someday pass to their priggish cousin William Collins. Therefore, the girls must marry well—and thus is launched the story of Elizabeth and the arrogant bachelor Mr. Darcy, in a novel renowned as the epitome of romance and wit. Pride and Prejudiceis Jane Austen’s masterwork, an entertaining portrait of matrimonial rites and rivalries, timeless in its hilarity and its honesty.

My Review

There's honestly probably not much more than I can say about this book that other readers haven't already said or thought, so I'm just going to say what I thought! I bought this book about 6 years ago because I had never read it and really wanted to. I then proceeded to pick up the book about 10 times and put it down 10 times. I just couldn't get into it; the writing was difficult for me to read, and because of that, it took me a long time to get through just a few chapters and then I would pick up a book I knew I could get done in 2 or 3 days, rather than 2 or 3 weeks. 

I also think part of me was a little afraid to read it because I absolutely adore the Pride and Prejudice movie with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. So while I knew I'd like the storyline, I couldn't tell if I'd like the actual book as much. But I convinced myself I would be reading it this year, so I picked it up and just kept pushing through. 

And guess what? I loved it! The writing definitely took some time for me to get used to, and I kept my dictionary app up on my phone almost the whole time, but after a while, I started becoming a little familiar with it and reading wasn't taking me quite as long. Don't get me wrong, it still took me a while to get through the book and I know it will continue to take me a while to get through these types of novels, but its so much more enjoyable now!

P&P was such a great read for me. I fell in love with it and the characters immediately. Mr. Darcy... ahh what can I say?! I was so infuriated with him at times, but then so infatuated at others. And I found Elizabeth to be really charming. She speaks her mind but always seems to have others' bests interests at heart. Lydia drove me crazy and so did Mrs. Bennet a little bit, but they were still so interesting to read about. And Mr. Bennet is funny! Throughout the book, I found myself laughing so many times, nearly crying at others - oh Jane Austen, what have you done to me?? I now find myself wanting to read all her books right away! Though I am going to have to read a few others in between to give my mind a rest from concentrating so hard on that language. Haha. 

Basically, I thought this book was beautiful. I want to reread it because I know that I'll find things I missed the first time around. I would absolutely recommend this book, but I would also say that you need to be in the right mindset for it. I don't know what that is, everyone's different, but like I said, I tried multiple times to pick it up and just couldn't get into it. But I knew I wanted to read it, so I kept trying and this time, it worked! I know a lot of people won't give a book that many chances, but I encourage you to with this one! (: