Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read! Definitely in the top 10! It is a book of real life drama and intense love. I couldn't wait to see if Miss Elizabeth Bennet would drop some of her prejudices or if Mr. Darcy would look thru his pride or if Miss Jane Bennet would end up with the one she loved.This book is excellence in writing and in overall story! It was a book that I will read again!! Beyond doubt!
Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Tale
Review: A mother's driving force is getting her five daughters married quickly; it hardly matters to whom. A suitor proposes, is summarily rejected and marries someone else within days. A woman doesn't like men but wants to get married anyway. A sixteen-year-old runs off with a man and doesn't marry him right away, much to the chagrin of both her parents and sisters. A mother has no use for her daughter's suitor but happily accepts him into the family because he is wealthy. The less money a family has, the more important it is that all their daughters marry and quickly. If the family lives in the country, they must work harder to get these daughters married. Sound like your favorite sitcom and/or your favorite cousin and her family? Well, it's Jane Austin's timeless PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I recently reread this comedy of manners that I hadn't read since high school. Here we have much ado about getting the daughters married. Even though we in the U. S. have lived through the 60's and the "Women's Movement," sixty percent of law students now are women, and many things have changed about the way young women are brought up and what they do with their lives, I still saw a lot of families I know here. Everything changes; yet everything remains the same. Everybody points out what is so unique about this novel as well as the rest of Austin's works. She does very little to place them in any given time. They are quite wonderful in what they don't tell us. Austin doesn't give us a lot of specificity about a lot of things. For example, The Bennetts are always entertaining yet we don't know much about what they eat other than "venison" or "meat." While people often "color" when they blush, the only color named in the entire novel is blue; Wickham may wear a blue coat when he gets married. The young women often play music but we are never told the names of the pieces they play. We do know that Elizabeth plays rather badly. I kept thinking that these young girls have too much free time on their hands. They need more hobbies or part-time jobs. Of course young women of a certain station in Austin's day didn't work. The ironic first line of the novel is well-known: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." With that great opener, we are off and running. Parts of this novel will make you smile; others will make your laugh. My favorite character is the father, Mr. Bennett, who is quick to see and point out his wife's and others' foibles but never sees his own.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of an obsession for some
Review: Like others, I came to this novel after years of it being pushed upon me like a drug. "Read it, you'll love it!" It took several starts and a snowy winter far from home to finally render the book's period drama elements understandable. As a student and fan of history, particularly women's history, I was initially drawn in not by the plot of the story (though it is what soon carries you through to the delicious conclusion) but by the fascination of viewing family life in another time. While reading it I began exploring life in England in the early 1800's. As with any period piece, geographical, political, and mannerly allusions are lost without some historical understanding of the time. Having taught literature, I realize that not every great book is for every person. The Bennett family are immediately presented in an amusing light but you'll see it only if you get into the language and manners of the time period. The book is very much a romance and you must be willing and able to romanticize to truly appreciate the heroine's struggle and change of heart. So don't feel you must read it just because others tell you to. But if you find yourself in a wistful mood, ready to be immersed in another world, give this one a try. Chances are, it will lead you to a minor obsession with Jane Austen.
Rating:
Summary: literary dessert
Review: this is definitely an amazing piece of literature. i love it now, and will with no doubt still love it in the years to come. i believe it to be flawless, and Jane Austen deserves all the credit in the world for this book. the fact that it has endured the test of time, and has been enjoyed by generation after generation speaks volumes. i believe that the subtleties and simplicity of the story is what makes it the masterpiece it is. Jane Austen's ability to turn a simple love story, into something greater, while completely engrossing us without the fluff of a typical romance are what make her a literary genuis in her own right. her novels are literary dessert. they aren't filled with the complexities and deep themes of dickens', hardy's, or eliot's works, they are light-hearted and this very fact is what makes pride and prejudice an amazng piece of art. Elizabeth and Darcy come to life, and simply jump out of the text. The characters, their lives, the struggles they face, the decisions (and indecisions), and most importanty their eventual happiness are what make the book. no praise i can offer will completely do this masterpiece justice, so i urge you to read it for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: A classic
Review: It took me a lot of endurance to get through the book, and I had to re-start more than once. However, all in all it was a very good book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, funny and poignant
Review: I never thought I'd have a favorite book or author until I read Pride and Prejudice. It is, by far, the most beautifully written love story in literature, in my opinion. Miss Eliza Bennet is the second eldest daughter of an English gentleman whose estate can only go to a male successor upon his death. Because he and Mrs. Bennet are unable to conceive a male child, it is the best course for the girls to marry and marry well. The great advantage the girls have is that they are beautiful, with the eldest girl, Jane, being the most beautiful of them all. The Bennets live in Longbourn, a small village just outside of Meryton, a quaint little town. The story begins when Mr. Bingley, a very amiable and wealthy young bachelor, decides to lease an estate in the area. At a ball, Mr. Bingley introduces his best friend, Mr. Darcy, another wealthy bachelor, and his sisters to the local society. It is here where Mr. Bingley meets the Bennet girls and starts to fall in love with Jane Bennet, and it is also here where Mr. Darcy meets Elizabeth. Elizabeth immediately dislikes Darcy for several reasons but mainly because he insults her by first refusing to dance with her and then by saying, with Elizabeth within hearing distance, that he isn't in the habit of asking girls, who have been rejected by other men, to dance. Elizabeth is a complex character, a young woman who is wise beyond her years, reserve, has a dry sense of humor, friendly but very cynical of her world and of love. In contrast, Jane is sensitive, likes to think well of people, very friendly, and somewhat fragile. Bingley's personality is a perfect complement to Jane's. He's friendly, generous, somewhat naïve and looks up to Darcy. Darcy is brooding, quiet, reserved, prideful, and yet loyal and protective of his friends and family. The story progresses to where Darcy discovers his growing attraction to Elizabeth, despite his best efforts, and proposes to her. Because of his social status and wealth, Darcy expects Elizabeth to say "yes" to his marriage proposal. To his surprise, she not only turns him down, she also tears right into him: His haughty behavior, rudeness, and his part in driving Bingley and Jane apart. Yes, Darcy had been up to no good in breaking up Bingley and Jane. This sets the stage for heartbreak, courtship, scandal, intrigue, and reconciliation and finally a happy ending for both couples. Jane Austen paints her characters and their dialogue with such splendidly crafted sentences, such as "I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!" She takes time to enrich the story with picturesque descriptions of each setting, and describes each character in such a way that you easily understand the layer of complexity in each. For example, Elizabeth dislikes those who she thinks are vain, but yet she prides herself in her ability to read people's personalities and they're like. Wickham, the protagonist in this story, is, on the surface, well-mannered, kind, and has a "good face," but is really a liar, thief and a gambler. I highly recommend this book. I've read it numerous times and there's always something new to discover with each reading.
Rating:
Summary: Best
Review: Pride and Prejudice is one of the best books I've ever read. It's wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Romance Novel
Review: How a spinster who was living in relative isolation in the English countryside during the earliest years of the 19th century was able to write the ultimate romance novel is a question that nobody now alive can answer. Yet in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, this is exactly what author Jane Austen has accomplished. Written at a moment in time when it clearly was too early to have been inspired by the writings of other authors, P-and-P has every component that the greatest love stories require. The lovers meet, there is tension, there is conflict, there is separation and, finally, with the reader's pulse quickened, there is the acknowledgment of their feelings for one another. Lizzie Bennett and her hero, the conveniently rich Fitzwilliam Darcy, are two of the most significant lovers to be found in literature. And, in creating them, Jane Austen laid the groundwork for the elements that would need to be present in the modern romance novel. All of Miss Austen's books are worth reading, but PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is unique among them in being great.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful read!
Review: I wanted to read Jane Austen's Pride and Predjudice after a friend told me the book was so good. I bought a copy, and I can't say I was disappointed; this is a masterpiece. Austen did a really nice job talking about issues that you and I have trouble with--love, relationships, reputation, pride and prejudice of course--just to name a few. She did well tying in the love story with Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy with all the other characters--even the most frivolous of characters had their part in the story. I really liked the fact that Austen developed the characters/story line between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwililam Darcy well. It is evident that the two were made for each other, but Elizabeth, after first bad impressions concerning Darcy and stories by Wickham, never noticed the true character of Darcy because of her predjudice (blindness) towards him. Darcy was just too full of himself until rejection by Elizabeth brings him back to his senses--not so proud now, are we? The roads to the happy ending were often bumpy, but Elizabeth and Darcy (along w/Bingley and Jane) arrived safe and sound, concluding the novel with a sweet ending. At times, the passages are really long/tedious, but in the end, it's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Love in Pride and Prejudice
Review: The chapter that I liked the best was chapter one because it talks about the Bennet family and describes how the mom (Mrs. Bennet) is really desperate for her daughters to marry a wealthy man. The reason that I liked chapter one is because it gives a brief opening about the book. It was important for the daughters to marry a wealthy man because they wanted to have a better economic status and be exposed to a better society.
The literary device that I appreciated more was comedy. Comedy is a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character. In many comedies the conflict is provided when a young couple who wish to marry are blocked by adults.
I recommend this book for people that like to read books and are interested in how people were in the 19th century.
I like the book because it tells us how families were in the 19th century. The reason that this is important to me is because we could see and compare cultures back then and how we are now.
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