Book Nook: Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I’d been meaning to read Pride and Prejudice ever since my sister gave me a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, making sure I knew I wasn’t to read the zombie version before the original. It took me a few years, but I decided it was time to fill all the prerequisites for being able to finally read about some zombies.

Before I specifically address Pride and Prejudice, I want to mention that Jane Austen books are easiest for me to read in as few sittings as possible.

Because of the style of writing, reading 20 pages here and there doesn’t work for me. It takes me longer to get into the story when reading it in bits and pieces. But, if I sit down and plow through the book for a while, I get more invested in what’s happening.

I felt that way reading Emma, and I felt the same reading Pride and Prejudice.

As far as Pride and Prejudice is concerned, most people are probably familiar with parts of the plot – if not the entire thing. There are multiple movie adaptations and a variety of books/movies based on the plot.

Even so, I don’t want to simply give a summary of the plot. That’s never been my intention with these reviews. I’d rather allow you the chance to read the book yourself and experience the story firsthand.

Instead, I’d rather talk about why I feel you should give this book a chance, if you haven’t already.

First, Mr. Bennet is fantastic. No, not Mrs. Bennet, although she is pretty great too. *Oh, Mr. Collins!*

I have a soft spot for Mr. Bennet. His dry humor and sarcastic wit were unexpected, and I found him to be a thoroughly enjoyable character to read about. A lot of Austen’s characters are enjoyable to read about for different reasons, but I particularly liked Mr. Bennet.

Second, the idea that your perception of somebody affects how their words and actions are interpreted is an interesting one. When you think somebody is a kind person, their actions will often appear kind. When you think somebody is arrogant, their actions will often appear arrogant.

Two people might see somebody perform the same action, but because of their perception of the person they may interpret that action differently.

Reading Pride and Prejudice is fun because you get to see the characters go through the experience of changing how they see each other simply by changing their perception.

Lastly, it’s a romantic and intelligent book. It can sometimes be hard to find both qualities in a single book.

I’m not really sure how zombies are going to fit into all this, but I guess we’ll see.