#2: Pride and Prejudice

Austen, Jane: Pride and Prejudice. New York: Bantam, 2003. Print. 344 pages.

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SETTING: 19th-century England, primarily in the Eastern county of Hertfordshire.
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SUMMARY: With five daughters and no heir to the Bennet family estate, Mrs. Bennet is preoccupied with marrying her daughters to wealthy suitors, thus providing assurance that the family will be cared for after Mr. Bennet's death.  Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest daughter, is different from her sisters; whereas her sisters are either shy or just plain silly, she is clever, energetic, and speaks her mind.  The novel chronicles Elizabeth's dealings with her family, neighbors, and acquaintances regarding marriage, education, propriety, and, above all, how pride and prejudices can influence a person's judgement of another's character.
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FAVORITE QUOTE: "Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.  A person may be proud without being vain.  Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." - Chapter 5, page 15.
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Similar to comfort foods, P&P has become my comfort book.  I re-read it about every six months, usually when life throws a curve or I find that I need a quick break from reality.  Each re-read brings a better understanding of the novel and its characters, and I enjoy it every single time.  It's a strong, well-written story that is far from my life, and thus provides a perfect avenue for daydreaming and satisfying my curiosity of what life would have been like had I been born about 150 years earlier (at times, I'm convinced I was born in the wrong century).  After finishing the novel, I'll usually thank everything and everyone that can be thanked that I live in this century, mainly because I won't ever have to rely on marriage to provide me with financial stability.  It seems incredibly stressful to be doomed in life if you aren't able to marry well!
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Things I like about this book:

1. Great character development.  The reader has a clear understanding of each character, and what his/her role is in the story.
2. 19th century!  England!  Romance!  Drama!  Strong-willed, clever, outspoken, female protagonist!
3. The prejudice portion of the novel (although the pride part is pretty awesome too).  We're all guilty of forming a sketch of an individual based off of an unflattering first impression or hearsay, and then using that character sketch to create all sorts of false notions of that person.  It's great to see the consequences and emotions that result from doing so, especially Elizabeth's experience with Darcy.
4. Evolution of Elizabeth and Darcy's romance.
5. Inclusion of Charlotte's story, which is more likely representative of 19th century British marriages.

Things I don't like about this book:

1. How Elizabeth has to feel shame for her family's behavior around Darcy and feels obligated to make up for it, while Darcy doesn't feel the need to go to such extremes for his family member's rude behavior (Lady Catherine).  It's probably what the reality would have been like, considering the Bennet family's lower rank, but that doesn't mean I liked it!  We all have kooky family members, but we don't love them any less for their eccentricities (I'm trying to be polite... some really are borderline crazy).

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I love this book, so obviously very few points of dislike.  I'll probably go back to it again around October, but don't worry, I won't write a review after every re-read.

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Recommend?  YES!  Duh.