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Women's Fiction

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $10.47
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
Summary: Best
Review: Pride and Prejudice is one of the best books I've ever read. It's wonderful!

Rating: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
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: 5 stars
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.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pride And Prejudice
Review: The book Pride And Prejudice is a very good novel; it takes place during the 19th century, when women were inferior to men. The title of the novel Pride And Prejudice has an actual meaning in the story that describes the main characters. This novel has some similarities to today's society in various ways.
The meaning of the title describes the personality of Darcy and Elizabeth. Darcy had the personality of being proud, and Elizabeth was very prejudiced. The reason Darcy had that personality was because he was a wealthy man who didn't associate with people who were from a lower social class. He didn't have the confidence to tell Elizabeth that he liked her because of his pride. Elizabeth was really prejudiced because before she met people, she distrusted them. Elizabeth thought Darcy's love for her wasn't real when it actually was true. I think the way that Darcy and Elizabeth were acting was foolish because pride and prejudice are not good things to have. It causes problems among people.
In the story the strong one was actually the woman because she did not let him play with her and that attracted Darcy to Elizabeth.
. Chapter three appealed to me because that was the beginning of all of the misunderstanding in the novel, which made it interesting for the readers to read. The sparks lit up in that chapter. The pride and prejudice of Darcy and Elizabeth started and kept on getting worse throughout the novel because even though they felt an attraction for each other they had misunderstanding that made them have bad feelings. But like all stories it always has a solution at the end. I liked the misunderstanding because it kept on make me feel a great suspense that made me want to keep on reading to find the answer, especially when Darcy asked Elizabeth to dance and was rejected by her. This part of the chapter was the best part because it life me with questions about what was going to happen later in the story with them, and it also confused me because I didn't think that they were going to end up marrying at the end.
I liked this book a lot. It is one of my favorite books right now. The rating that the critics gave this book was a wise decision, five stars, because it was well written and interesting. This book is appropriate for people in the age of 14 and up. If you like to read suspense novels, you will like this novel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Comments on Pride and Prejudice
Review: Pride and Prejudice is a love story between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, an uptight man who has too much pride. Their first impressions gave a big start to this story that developed into the major conflicts and story line. My favorite chapter was the first one because it sets the tone for the story. It gives us the setting and the introduction to the characters. We really get to see Mrs. Bennett as an excruciatingly loud mother who lives only to search for husbands for her daughters. We can see Mrs. Bennett favors Jane as her first priority for finding a husband because she is the eldest and most beautiful one of all. One instance is when Mrs. Bennett found out Mr. Darcy was moving into a neighboring house. When she found out he was single, she automatically suggested/recommended Jane as a potential future wife. In contrast we start to see and understand Mr. Bennett's attitude towards his wife's plea and towards his defense of his daughters. He doesn't critique his daughters when it comes to men.
I would recommend this book mostly to women/girls between the ages of 17-50 because this story deals with the trouble girls go through and it deals with five girls living in the household, to which we can relate. The daughters were not that old, yet they were mature for their age. Teens will enjoy it because we all go through these teen stages of boys, and women can relate because of the maturity level that is in this story.
One literary device that was used in the story was analogy. It is used to describe two characters (Elizabeth and Darcy) that are alike by comparing them. We are able to see their differences, but along with it their common interests start to show. For example, they both come from a different social background and yet are both intelligent, and have a tendency to judge harshly.
Overall I can say that I liked this book, Pride and Prejudice, because it was an interesting story. Nowadays we read about homicide detectives and mysteries happening with murder, but this story is nothing like this. It builds its own suspense through character's personalities. It's based on feeling rather than action so we can all relate to this story psychologically. It captivates us in an imaginary world in the early 19th century that reminds us of their rules and regulations that were used back then. For example women were just expected to marry wealth and make a family. They played no other role whatsoever, so since we don't live in that type of environment anymore, we can just picture how life was back then and see what they went through, and their approach through these situations.


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