Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (A Bookies Review)

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have a houseful.  Five children, all girls… well, women really, living in a home in Georgia England during the Regency period. 

Of the five, Jane is the oldest and the beautiful one, Elizabeth is the fast tongued smart one, Mary is bookish, Kitty is immature and Lydia… oh Lydia is the wild one.

Mr. Bennett is a pretty well put together man especially considering how over the top his wife, Mrs. Bennett can be.  Set firmly on doing all she can to help her daughters marry and marry well, Mrs. Bennett will stop short of nothing… even to the length of sending Jane by horse to visit Mr. Darcy during a rain storm in hopes that she would become ill and have to stay at his home until she is better. 

Her plan… works to that extent… but not all is she had hoped. 

Elizabeth is the one who comes to Jane’s rescue, appalled at her own mothers behavior she nurses Jane back to health,avoiding as much as she can the man who annoys her so much, Mr. Darcy himself. 

What follows is a story that is described as a comedy of sorts, of sisters and men in their lives, and really… Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

Maybe... I should watch the movie...

This is my first time reading Pride and Prejudice.  My book club started a tradition many years ago that every October we would read a classic.  Back then, I was not thrilled by the idea, now… I love it.  This gives us all a chance to experience one of the greats… we do not always like them, but they have always been pretty fun to review.

My personal thoughts on the read were I really enjoyed it.  While some in the group struggled with the language, I enjoyed figuring it out as I went.  The words are different than we use them, and it was fun to see words used differently in sentences and while they were a mouthful to read.. they made sense. 

As much as the Bookies loved Mr. Darcy, I was odd man out on this one.  I realized he changes throughout the book… but his snottiness (hoo yeah I said it!)in the beginning especially towards Elizabeth rubbed me wrong and I still wasn’t over it at the close of the read.  I know this is supposed to be one of the great love stories… and I agree it was a good read, I just didn’t really like Darcy.  Yes I know I am in the minority… but remember I do not read romance reads.

I did however really enjoy the book and am so happy to now be able to say I have read Pride and Prejudice!  The Bookies had a good discussion over the book, the era, The Bennett’s, fun with the language, and overall it rated a 3.5 rating out of 5. 

We did dress up as we like to do for our Classic read – hats were requested, but you could go further with the look if you wanted to. 

I wanted to. 

Here are a few pics of our evening:

The Bookies in attendance

A little candid pencil shot while we were setting up for the pictures

Kaydi wore her grandmothers wedding dress!

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Pride and Prejudice

I purchased my copy of Pride and Prejudice at Barnes and Noble

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

So many books…. so little time.  I swear every time I enter a book store or go to book club I see or hear about yet another book that I would love to read.  The whole time I am making “wish lists” of books that I want to get to… I am very aware of all the amazing books that have been written years before I ever existed – but are words that I so want to soak in.

This book, Jane Eyre, would be one of those books.  I am in awe of the books that are so at large today that were written, as this one was, in the 1800′s.  An added bonus would be the amazing story of the author, Charlotte – who was not the only writer in her family – she was the eldest of the three famous Bornte sisters and lived a short life from 1816 – 1855.  Her sister Emily, worte Wuthering Heights.

Jane Eyre is an extraordinary coming-of-age story featuring one of the most independent and strong-willed female protagonists in all of literature. Poor and plain, Jane Eyre begins life as a lonely orphan in the household of her hateful aunt. Despite the oppression sheendures at home, and the later torture of boarding school, Jane manages to emerge with her spirit and integrity unbroken. She becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall, where she finds herself falling in love with her employer—the dark, impassioned Mr. Rochester. But an explosive secret tears apart their relationship, forcing Jane to face poverty and isolation once again.

So again – in this world of books…. I am trying to squeeze time in for this one and am doing so by applying this book to my gym time:  Eliptical and tread mill.  I started yesterday and read the first 50 pages on the tread mill.  I will write again at the end of the read.

Update July 9, 2009…. I have made my peace with Jane Eyre.  I found this book hard to read, unlike her sisters work in Wuthering Heights.  I think now that I have been reading Pride and Prejudice with Mr. Darcy, it makes my tollerance for Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre even lower.

I have worked on this book off and on for 5 weeks now, granted only at the gym, yet I never could get it to flow for me.  Perhaps this is one that may come off the shelf at another place and time, but as for now… I am done with Charlotte Bronte.