Pride and Prejudice

 Author: Jane Austen

Illustrations: Bil Donovan

ISBN: 9781454947547

Hi Everyone

I have to recommend this edition of Pride and Prejudice, even if it is only for display on your coffee table or bookcase. It sat on my coffee table as a display book for several months before I got to reading it, and it will return there for others to pick up and admire. It is simply the most beautiful edition I have come across. I thank my daughter for finding this copy and gifting it to me.

When I first started reading Pride and Prejudice I wondered if it would be worth continuing. But, I have read many classics now and believe they are worth being given the extra chance. Hence, I continued to grapple with the content and learn the ins and outs of the characters. In doing so I became a part of their community. Of course, being a part of any community you gain friends and tend to keep others as acquaintances, keeping them at arms reach for reasons of your own. 

So who did I become friends with along the way:

Elizabeth Bennet, she was a thinker. Sometimes an over-thinker. I like this about her. Elizabeth watched those around her and found her own opinions about them, based on what she was experiencing. Sometimes she was right and sometimes she was wrong. I admired that when she was wrong, she admitted so. This became apparent with Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth also kept a lookout for her family and friends, speaking her truth where required, listening, and understanding other people's points of view. I gained respect for Elizabeth as her story unfolded.

Fitzwilliam Darcy, now there is a gentleman. First impressions make him out to be a snobby, judgemental young man, with a lot of growing up to do. He comes across as being of a superior class to those around him, and I (like Elizabeth) had my prejudices built against him in the first chapters. As Elizabeth and I got to know Fitzwilliam Darcy we quickly peeled off the hard layers to find a kind gentleman hidden beneath the layers.  Trust me there is more to Fitzwilliam than first impressions give us.

Jane Bennet is such a sweet character. What you see is what you get. She is simple and the kind of friend every girl should have somewhere in her life.

Lydia Bennet, now there is a work of art! If you want the opposite of Jane and Elizabeth then Lydia is your friend. She was too high maintenance for my liking and I don't know why so much time was taken to keep her happy other than the social outcomes that arose from her shenanigans.

Mr and Mrs Bennet go together like chalk and cheese. Mr Bennet has my vote whereas Mrs Bennet needs some timeout!

George Wickham is off my friend's list, he is pure spoilt.

Mr Collins is too pompous for me and what's with him seeking Lady Catherine de Bourgh's approval so much. If I was engaged to Mr Collins, I would have had more say in the matter unlike Charlotte Lucas (his betrothed) who had little input in anything. He drove me nuts! He needed to keep his pompous nose out of everyone's business.

Mr and Mrs Gardiner, they were divine and a special couple that could join me for dinner anytime.  They were very caring and looked out for their family at every turn. Every book needs a couple like this.

And, Georgiana Darcy, of course, I would be her friend.  Simple and quiet, but ever watchful towards the people entering her brother's life. What a brother and sister should be. I believe taking Gorgiana on as a friend would give you the friend that would show up when messaged, with no strings attached.

As you can clearly see, the characters in Pride and Prejudice form a community not that different from today's world. We live in different eras and the dynamics are different. But have people really changed that much? I'm not looking at the social dynamics of today versus 1813 when this was first published, but rather the characteristics that make us all individuals. The personalities that bring us all together in different ways and those whom we gravitate towards or away from due to such personalities. What personalities do you connect with? And, which personalities drive you crazy?  That is what I found myself thinking most of as I closed the book and placed it back on my coffee table for others to enjoy.

Description:

Pride and Prejudice and its account of the fraught romantic pas de deux between the proud Elizabeth Bennet and the haughty Fitzwilliam Darcy have been a cornerstone of literary letters for more than two centuries. This deluxe edition of Jane Austen's masterpiece future the full-clour art of Bil Donovan, the first appointed artist-in-residence for Christina Dior.

Happy reading