Tuesday 17 March 2015

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

A Spoiler Free Bit About the Book

Jane Austen's most famous and beloved novel tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a witty, intelligent and sometimes sharp-tongued middle-classed girl in early 1800s Britain. A comedy of manners focusing on first impressions, friendship, snobbery and of course pride and prejudice.


My Review

I don't feel like I can or should criticise this excellent novel in any way. All the things I found difficult about it were the language and era it was written in which soon began to fascinate me. I've always loved history and it didn't take me as long as I imagined to fall into the 1800s and live there for an hour or so every day. It amazed me that over 200 years later the characters are still relatable even though their day-to-day lives are nothing like our own in the 21st century.

What struck me most about the way this was written was the complex sentences. Sentences went on for lines and lines and there were hardly any instances at all of a short sentence. I love short sentences but my eyes have been opened to how beautiful a long sentence can be. Because of this, there were more semi-colons than I've ever seen in one go before. No wonder people don't know how to use them these days, they've practically fallen out of use. But like Austen, I love a good semi-colon in writing.

The amount of words in italic also surprised me. There's more of it than I've ever seen in one book and it's not quite used in the same way as it is today. If anything was exaggerated even in a small way it was in italics. Like I said before, I was fascinated not only by the plot and characters but by the way it was written.

I have nothing else to say as Pride and Prejudice was crafted with such mastery I feel like I'm not able to criticise. Why would I want to speak ill of one of the greatest authors of all time?

But through all this, I'm still a Wuthering Heights girl. Sorry Austen!


Evaluation

Overall 8/10

Would I recommend it? Yes. The world of the 1800s fascinated me and Elizabeth entertained me so much more than I expected.

Would I look up the author? Yes, of course I would! I am rather interested in Sense and Sensibility as a friend told me years ago that it was better than Pride and Prejudice.


Pride and Prejudice made me feel sophisticated while I was completely in awe.


Molly Looby
Author / Ghostwriter / Editor / Blogger / Reviewer / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready
molly.looby@hotmail.com

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