Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this book. I’m always excited to read it again. I wanted to read it last year, but didn’t get to it, and so I’m particularly happy that it’s older than me and therefore has a place in this year’s reading schedule.

I’m also particularly happy about the novel itself. This has to be the most enjoyment I’ve received from a reading of it, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen around every turn of the walking path. Some of that satisfaction may have come from the verified disappointment that was my second reading of Mansfield Park. Let me explain: I was a little scared that if Jane Austen had written something that I found so boring and irritating, perhaps my tastes had changed. Perhaps Elizabeth Bennet wasn’t as witty as I remembered. Perhaps she was just as prudish as Fanny Price. Since I found Elizabeth as enjoyable a heroine as I had before, however, I may have had so much fun this time through at least partially out of relief.

When I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time, it was under the recommendation of a friend, who described it as “light and fluffy” reading. There is little use in denying that this novel isn’t heavy stuff. There’s no real action or adventure. Nobody’s life is in real danger at any point. The villains aren’t in a position to really do much damage unless the protagonists allow them to affect their happiness.

But there are characters that are easy to love. There are secrets and a few lies. There is wit and banter. And, above all, there is a supreme use of the English language to tell a simple and believable story. Light and fluffy it may be, but I turned pages (actually swiped the screen; I read this as an e-book on my tablet) like never before. I was actually excited to get to the next part. Excited for Jane and Bingly to fall in love. Excited to laugh at Mr. Collins and his obsequious devotion to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Excited to see Darcy revealed as a kind, generous, worthy companion to Elizabeth. Excited to see Elizabeth come to recognize this and come to learn to laugh at herself.

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife,” is the famous opening line of Pride and Prejudice, and, while it may sound like the beginning of a rather common or perhaps even dull topic, it in fact begins a charming story. Even if this novel’s plot is no longer full of surprises for me, I still find myself pleasantly surprised by how much I like it.

 

A Year of Books that are Older than Me