Product Description

'his perfect indifference, and your pointed dislike, make it so delightfully absurd!' Pride and Prejudice has delighted generations of readers with its unforgettable cast of characters, carefully choreographed plot, and a hugely entertaining view of the world and its absurdities. With the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out and menide down. Pride encounters prejudice, upward-mobility confronts social disdain, and quick-wittedness challenges sagacity, as misconceptions and hasty judgements lead to heartache and scandal, but eventually to true understanding, self-knowledge, and love. In this supremely satisfying story, Jane Austen balances comedy with seriousness, and witty observation with profound insight. If Elizabeth Bennet returns again and again to her letter from Mr Darcy, readers of the novel are drawn even more irresistibly by its captivating wisdom.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45534 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 382 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character who ,if provoked, is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp, yet always polite, 18th-century wit. The real point of the book though, the critical question which will keep you fixated throughout, is: will Elizabeth and Mr Darcy hook up? Read this genuine all-time classic and discover the answer while enjoying a story that has charmed generation after generation.

Synopsis
'His perfect indifference, and your pointed dislike, make it so delightfully absurd!' "Pride and Prejudice" has delighted generations of readers with its unforgettable cast of characters, carefully choreographed plot, and a hugely entertaining view of the world and its absurdities. With the arrival of eligible young men in their neighbourhood, the lives of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters are turned inside out and menide down. Pride encounters prejudice, upward-mobility confronts social disdain, and quick-wittedness challenges sagacity, as misconceptions and hasty judgements lead to heartache and scandal, but eventually to true understanding, self-knowledge, and love. In this supremely satisfying story, Jane Austen balances comedy with seriousness, and witty observation with profound insight. If Elizabeth Bennet returns again and again to her letter from Mr Darcy, readers of the novel are drawn even more irresistibly by its captivating wisdom.

About the Author
Fiona Stafford is the author of The Last of the Race: The Growth of a Myth from Milton to Darwin (Clarendon Press, 1994), Starting Lines in Scottish, Irish and English Poetry: From Burns to Heaney (OUP, 2000) and the editor of Lodore in the Complete Works of Mary Shelley. She is the editor of Austen's Emma in Penguin Classics.

Customer Reviews

Who am I to critique such a classic work by Jane Austen?
Not someone properly suited for such a task, I can tell you that. What I can do, however, is give an honest and heartfelt account of what I thought of Jane Austen's 'PRIDE & PREJUDICE'. I have always wanted to read some of the classics but have never up until now dug up the courage to actually do so. I thought if I was going to start reading a classic novel Jane Austen would probably be a good author to start with and what better choice was there than her stand out 'PRIDE & PREJUDICE' ? I was pleased to find out that I was absolutely right. 'PRIDE & PREJUDICE' has to be one of the most romantic novels that I have ever read. The romance between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy literally made me swoon quite often (and I don't swoon!). Romance mixed with a little bit of drama and Austen's most descriptive prose made it impossible for me to put this book down. Now I see why 'PRIDE & PREJUDICE' is on so many people's favorites list because now it is most certainly on mine.

Fantastic - a timeless classic
The plot and principal characters are well known. I read this possibly six times in school when I was 14. What emerges for me from reading this much later is that neither Elizabeth, nor Darcy are - initially at least - the perfect, but misunderstood human beings of the screen versions. Darcy, it is clear, is an insufferable snob and it is not at all clear that he ever gets past this. Yes, in the end he has no problem in accepting Elizabeth despite her relatively low social station - that is because he has fallen in love with her. But is he really as transformed as Elizabeth believes by the end of the novel? Does it even matter to her, as Elizabeth will now ascend to a higher social station anyway? Elizabeth is also utterly quick to judge and with Wickham for example, is blind to his faults despite the clear evidence of his mercenary motivations as amply pointed out to her by Mrs Gardiner. What one has to remember however is that Elizabeth is only 21 and Darcy probably no more than 26. They can be forgiven their failings (Elizabeth her prejudice, Darcy his pride and haughtiness) to some extent. This is a novel as much about growing up and reaching maturity, as it is about the danger of judging on first impressions.

Another aspect that one does not appreciate at 14 is the social background to the novel. It is a time of the emergence of mass consumerism in England and of rapid technological and economic innovation. England was the cradle of capitalism and here it is being perfected at this time. This is evident throughout the novel and money and all things money related are always part of the main event.

Although Austen was a master of the novel form, this is not a perfect novel. Compare for example the crisp, no nonsense, galloping opening chapters with some of the final chapters that completely belabour the Wickham episode and how they slow down the narrative and plot resolution. These minor criticisms aside, P&P is a stunning achievement by a literary genius and it will never lose its appeal.

Perfect!
Austen's best novel and one of the best in English Literature. A completely realistic and loveable cast of characters and one of the great love stories of all time. It should be compulsary to read this book.