Pride and Prejudice: Discussions and Reviews.

Source: Google images.

First, let me apologize, for I haven’t yet finished reading. I’ve been surfing through a mental mayhem because of NaNoWriMo. And yet I promise to finish this book soon, and until I can provide my review, you gotta tell me…

– How did you experience the book?

– Would you describe the book as a “page-turner”?

– Themes and symbols, were they meaningful?

– Any inspiring quotes or characters?

– I Anything you didn’t like, disagreed with?

– How did you find the end?

– Has this book added anything to you, changed you in any way?

** Questions inspired from LitLovers.com.

Nancy says:

Probably one of my favourite books of all time. I don’t even know why.

Jane Austen could get a little carried away in her description but she understood people. She understood the way people thought and loved made their decisions. Her characters bounce off the pages; even the secondary characters.

To the end, I wasn’t sure where the lovers would wind up, and that’s nice. Romance novels are hardly unpredictable, though a mixture of good style, interesting characters and just the right amount of suspense can keep you absorbed.

I especially loved the contrast between Elizabeth and Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte succumbed to the social tension she had to endure as a single woman who wasn’t getting any younger, but Lizzy refused to settle for something less than what she thought she deserved or a man who couldn’t make her happy, regardless of the tension exhibited on her by her mother, sisters and society.

Then there’s the blind, foolish attraction between irrational youths like Lydia and Wickham. Austen distinguished that from the innocent love of Charles Bingley and Jane, who were public in their affection, all for the world to see.

These are characters that lived in New England and still live today, personalities and mentalities that endure throughout the ages, which is why Pride and Prejudice will live on while most modern romance literature will be buried under the dust of time, and thus Jane Austen demonstrates her ingenuity.

And Amanda says:

I listened to Pride and Prejudice on an audiobook site. It was narrated by a variety of people but I was so into the story I didn’t even notice. I loved it, the details really let you just disappear into the story. I also watched the TV mini series and I was just as hooked. I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to this story!

There were plenty of meaningful themes throughout, ranging from societal behavior to relationships.

My favorite quote from Pride and Prejudice would have to be “It is particularly incumbent on those who never change their opinion, to be secure of judging properly at first.”

Of course my mind rebelled a bit against women and girls being treated as lesser, and how this time did not encourage love so much as it did societal security and advancement.

I loved the ending. It was exactly how I wanted it to end but I hate to wait it out, agonizingly, along with the characters.

I feel like a came away with a stronger love of classical literature. There is an eloquent beauty in it that we don’t see very often today.

On Another note, Gathering Blue (sequel of The Giver) is December’s read.