Book review - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

★★★

So what is there to say about this book that hasn't been said in many previous reviews? Jane Austen is a classical writer, and this is probably her most emblematic novel, a trip down memory lane to Regency England and a charming, Olympian world of well-to-do young ladies living in nice countryside houses and hoping to make the perfect match. This is comedy in its most refined form, as in Shakespeare's, and tinged with the further element of Jane Austen's subtle and poignant irony at social situations, expectations and constraints. The absurd and pompous characters are really to be laughed at, and the protagonists experience what contemporary critics relish so much - character development and complexity. The Pride in the title is Mr. Darcy's, an extremely well-to-do quasi-noble and owner of half of Derbyshire. The Prejudice is Lizzie Bennet's, a clever girl who is jet deluded by appearances but wise enough to end up correcting herself. I have only read two Jane Austen novels with this one (the other, Emma), but from both I have extracted a quintessential female protagonist, 'young, handsome and (somewhat) rich' who in the wanderings of the novel is forced to learn some humility and brought down a peg or two, but only to land into the lap of love and happiness.

I have enjoyed the book, but not as much as might be expected, and this probably is reflected on my giving it only a 3-star rating out of 5. The main reasons for this are two:

1) This being such a popular work, I have already been spoiled by its adaptations, of which I've seen two or three that I can recall (my favorite, the Keira Knightley version, although the actress is far too pretty to represent well how I believe Elizabeth Bennet should look). After such levels of audiovisual mining, there is very little to find in the book that has not appeared already, and this affects the pleasure of its reading. You do get Austenian irony, and a more leisured pace for all the activities, which feel rather rushed by comparison in the films.

2) I wouldn't blame Austen for it (the adaptations, on the other hand, go overboard in this regard), but some elements have turned these works into stereotypical chicklit waxing lyrically over what feels a deeply ingrained female fantasy for the Byronian Hero, a.k.a. 'the bad boy': in a nutshell, the protagonist pines and falls for a powerful, strong, slightly dark and threatening (but mostly to others) man, whom the female protagonist can redeem from his relatively few limitations. With different shades, it is Heathcliff, it is Mr. Rochester, it is the man in every Danielle Steel novel, and seems still alive and healthy today, as Twilight and Shades of Grey seem to testify. I have a deep, personal (and of course, totally subjective) dislike and loathing for this fantasy, and it evidently detracts from my enjoyment of its instantiations. As said, this is subjective and not something for which Austen should bare any criticism, but I lay it down so that others who might share my (dis)taste will be aware of its pride of place in this book.

Those two things aside, this is a great English classic, and you'll probably enjoy reading it and learn something too. Ideally, read it before watching any movie adaptations.