Pride and Prejudice (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Recently I went on a drive home to California and back. It's about 7 1/2 hours each way (because I actually go the speed limit!!!) and I wanted to try something new while driving. So, I decided to try an audio recording. I found one from my local library of Pride and Prejudice. : Why not go with a classic book for the drive home? So, I listened to Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is the story of the Bennet sisters, Elizabeth and Jane. Both are of marriageable age but do not come from the wealthiest of families. However, they live in a time when marriage to someone with wealth is of utmost importance. Since they have no brothers, when their father dies his estate will go to another male relative, as they are unable to inherit. One summer a new family comes to live nearby, and Mrs. Bennet, their mother insists that Mr. Bennet make an acquaintance with Mr. Bingley, the new bachelor who is very wealthy. At a ball one evening he is immediately taken with Jane Bennet who is admittedly beautiful, of a sweet nature, but perhaps below the standard of wealth into which he is expected to marry. But the problem really is his friend, Mr. Darcy. A haughtier more proud man has never existed, and though that same night at the ball many women did not have partners as men were few, Mr. Darcy makes it clear that he thinks pretty negatively of Elizabeth Bennet. He is cold, unfriendly, and seemingly unkind . . . Mrs. Bennet is determined to see her daughters married and encourages Jane and Mr. Bingley, but is desperate to make a match for Elizabeth, including pushing her to accept the proposal of marriage from her most insipid cousin. We follow the story of the Bennet family as others do everything they can to keep Jane and Mr. Bingley apart, and Elizabeth is forced into close proximity with the awful Mr. Darcy repeatedly. Will Jane and Elizabeth ever find true love that others will accept? Or will their less wealthy state be their destruction? Read Pride and Prejudice to find out! This is a total and complete classic. There are over 2 million copies sold worldwide, hundreds of editions, and quite a few different audio recordings, not to mention TV and movie versions of this story. If you haven't actually read Pride and Prejudice you simply must! It's a beautiful, wonderful story full of lively characters with personality oozing from them. Mrs. Bennet is incredibly silly, a trait which seems to have rubbed off thoroughly on several of her daughters. But Jane and Elizabeth took far more after their father with much more sense. It's the story of how pride and prejudice can keep you from truly seeing another's character, and how opinions can change when someone is given a true chance. I highly recommend this book to everyone! 5 out of 5 stars!

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." That's probably one of the most famous opening sentences of a novel, along with Moby Dick. Pride and Prejudice is also probably one of Jane Austen's most famous novels. I certainly liked it much more than Northanger Abbey. It is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, who lives with five sisters, and an odd pair of parents at Longbourn. Her mother is constantly scheming about marrying off her daughters to wealthy young men, so when Netherfield Park is let to the rich Mr. Bingley, she is very excited indeed. (Mr. Bennet's estate will be entailed away from the immediate family upon his death, so at least one of the sisters has to marry well to provide for them.) And Mr. Bingley brings his very proud friend, Mr. Darcy. The book is about the courtships, and, of course, has many twists and turns. Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Wickham, and I suppose, the detestable Mr. Collins (who the estate will be entailed to) are the main men of the story. I really loved this one; it had humor and wit in it, and great characters. I enjoyed Mr. Bennet and his sarcasm very much, though Mrs. Bennet and Lydia are really too silly sometimes. So stupid. And of course, Elizabeth. She is really a very smart and spirited young woman, who will not be ordered around. I also watched the 1995 TV series from BBC, and I must confess, Mr. Darcy...never mind. Anyway, all the characters were well portrayed, and while the TV series is wonderful, it doesn't quite have the subtlety of the conversations in Pride and Prejudice itself. The TV series did have excellent casting though; all the Bennets, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Collins were portrayed very well. (Yes, I suppose this is sort of a double review.) I would say though, that Caroline Bingley should have been a little prettier; she was just hideous, and Mr. Bingley was kind of silly-looking. But everywhere else, they did very well. Back to the book. As I said, there were many twists and turns which made this one a thoroughly enjoyable read. And really great characters. Though she is certainly less descriptive and florid than Dickens, Austen still manages in this one, to portray everyone extremely well. Mr. Collins really is detestable, Bingley overly-cheerful and positive, and Darcy stiff and stern (though he has his reasons, of course.) Mrs. Bennet is an extremely foolish woman, as is Lydia, the youngest Bennet. The pride and prejudice of the story refer, I believe, to Mr. Darcy's pride and Elizabeth's prejudice (though it is certainly debatable.) Mr. Darcy is very proud indeed at the beginning of the story, and Elizabeth's prejudice prevents her from seeing his true character for a while. I will just add that I read the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition from 2009, and while it has a very nice design, it does not have any analysis or introduction, so if you want that you'd be better off reading the Penguin Classics regular edition or Oxford World Classics. However, my Penguin Classics Deluxe edition arrived slightly damaged on the spine, which was a disappointment. [...]

Edition Review: The Chiltern classics are classy, collectible, and most definitely giftable. Each copy is a work of art in the gorgeous raised cover art, gilt-edged pages, thick paper stock, ribbon bookmark, and well formatted pages and font. Just above the size of a paperback and comfort-cushioned hardbound feel in hand. Readers will love this edition. Book Thoughts: The Bennets of Longbourn are a frolicking family of five daughters, a bookish father and a fluttery mother. A young man of fortune moves to the neighborhood and all the matchmaking mamas are on point with Mrs. Bennet leading the way especially when he is joined by a friend of even more wealth and status. Too bad, the imminently handsome and wealthy Mr. Darcy makes a terrible first impression and his struggles to deny his attraction for second Bennet daughter Lizzy are dismal and he slips in love with a woman who is unlike any he has ever before encountered. Of course, there are other iconic characters and they invariably do their best to throw a spanner in the works for Darcy and Lizzy. But, a few fortunate twists of fate and the generosity of Lizzy's Gardiner relations give them another chance if youngest Bennet daughter Lydia's escapades don't scotch it all for good. Each time I read or listen, something different captures my attention. With this time around, it was eldest and beautiful tranquil Jane and also Mr. Bennet father to five grown daughters and husband to a woman of simple mind and purpose with an overwrought set of nerves. After reading the dialogue between Jane and Lizzy discussing Wickham's 'woes' and Darcy's perfidies, I was never more struck by just how intensely determined Lizzy was in her prejudices. Gentle Jane made good sense in her observations and advice even if her own tranquil nature and boisterous relations messed up her own romance, but Lizzy was determined to think her quicker, livelier mind was superior to her sister's when it came to knowing people. Then there was Mr. Bennet. I get a kick out of those opening pages each time when he enjoys teasing his wife and girls about Mr. Bingley when he secretly went and introduced himself so the family had a chance of meeting him at the neighborhood social gatherings, but he pretended to not have bothered. I think he was a lousy parent in many ways, but he is a comic addition to scenes several times. So droll! All in all, another delightful outing with a favorite classic.

Pride and Prejudice By: Jane Austen Rating: 4 stars Ages: 13 and up I adore the movie inspired by this book, Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen created fascinating, wonderful characters that I adore. Pride and Prejudice has been a long-time classic loved by generations of girls like myself. What makes this story so fascinating? The enthralling romance. Tons of dialogue. Incredibly real-in-their-decisions characters - Pride and Prejudice is undoubtedly fun. I found myself anticipating the wonderful conclusion, smiling and laughing at some of Mr. Collin's rediculousness, and really wanting to watch the movie. :) Pride and Prejudice is quite fascinating. The story moved along easily and (if you read over a hundred pages in one day, like I did), moved quickly. The story was dynamic, sweet, and interesting. Characters: Elizabeth Bennet (main character) was vivacious, to say the least. She was bold and showed it quite often. She's reasonable, and her actions and sentiments were very understandable. A great heroine. Fitzwilliam Darcy ('hero' of the story) was such a different kind of male character than what I see in books today. At first, he seems proud and self-centered, and he looks down at others for inferiority of birth, lack of wealth, etc. But underneath is such a loveable character. The true Mr. Darcy finally comes out in the last third of the story, leaving you smiling. He changed so much from the first page he entered the story to the last. Mr. Whickam (most villanious character) is eventually proven to be a blackguardly fellow, but doesn't appear to be so. He was more dimensional than most villians are created to be. Really, though, I didn't like him. Mr. Collins (Elizabeth's cousin) was so much more annoying in the movie! In the book he was actually a tall young man. (In the movie he is short, has a nail-on-chalkboard voice, and isn't very handsome.) An interesting character who added to the plot and was memorable. Mrs. Bennet - a most irritating and disturbing character. The only important thing in her life is to see her daughters married well-off - that is practically her only focus at all. Terrily rude, nervous, and so changing in attitude. The poor girls who had her as a mother! Lydia Bennet (Elizabeth's youngest sister) was most bothersome and...annoying. Most annoying. Really, she was a cringe-worthy character. Overall: I enjoyed the book, but not as much as the movie. I am very glad I read it. I would recommend it to classical literature readers. Also, two of the quotes I like from Pride and Prejudice are: "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment." (Mr. Darcy) "Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion."

First time reading a Jane Austin novel. I thought I would not like it, or, would not appreciate it as I should. However, I was astonished! Wonderful storytelling, wonderful wit and observation. A tribute to the female character both living in and rebelling in the attitude of her times. Very feminine, in that it is very feminist, of the first order.

There was only a small bend on the top part of the spine as you will see on the photos I provided. The books is black with a semi 3D effect on the flowers which are of a metallic blues, pinks, greens, and silvers. The pages are glossy, therefore not good for annotating. It comes with a ribbon bookmark and sprayed silver edges. It comes loose on the packaging with no protection so be aware of this, luckily mine was ok other than the small bend on the spine.

Ok... I never write reviews on Amazon, but this copy.. 👌 I have been looking for a beautiful copy for a couple months now, all over the place. I stay in a small town in the middle of Arizona, where the closest Walmart is an hr away..( the grocery store is in the hardware store if that tells you anything). I was worried about the condition in which the book would arrive in. Especially because the closest place to return anything is of course an hr away, but when I opened the box... I was just absolutely blown away! It's the small pocket size that I wanted, so I can carry it with me everywhere. It's dangerously beautiful. I definitely recommend this copy if you're looking for a nice and classy looking copy, that will make your book collection just pop! 😍 Not a mark, dint, scratch, or crushed in corners.. very impressed with the condition after shipment.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel based in the early nineteenth century that focuses on many issues at the time such as women’s roles in society and society’s unattainable standards in general. So basically, if you like petticoats and large words nobody has heard since 1832, you’ll love reading this novel in your parent’s basement with your cat as you dream of a dashing young man with a British accent whisk you away on in his horse-drawn carriage. I’m kidding. Well, partially any way. Many high school students are assigned to read Pride and Prejudice, and the outdated language along with the early nineteenth century setting are usually a big turn off to us young-ins. Quite frankly, we’d rather watch Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen make out in the 2005 movie version. The story begins with Mrs. Bennet talking to her husband about potentially marrying off one of her daughters to a man she hasn’t even met yet. Ultimately, her goal is to marry off all five of her daughters (you would think she would have at least popped out one boy- yeesh.) to wealthy men who she doesn’t know. What a good mother. Actually, this was a typical mother’s desire of her young daughters during this time period, and ironically, Mrs. Bennet would probably been seen as a “good mother” in society’s eyes. Young women were expected to marry off to wealthy men of a high social class because obviously they couldn’t possibly take care of themselves. Oh, and if you’re poor and on the low end of the social class scale, looks like you’re screwed for life because a man with a high social class would never be seen with the likes of you! What would people say and think? After lots of meddling by the one and only Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Bingly finds himself to be quite fond of Jane, one of the five daughters. However, (as I described previously) Mr. Bingly was pretty high in terms of social class, and Jane was a bit lower than him. But don’t worry, he eventually comes to his senses and realizes that happiness is more important than what other people think. You won’t see that coming, I promise. Likewise, Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s beauty has caught the eye of handsome, wealthy, arrogant Mr. Darcy. But it won’t be until she rejects him multiple times that he starts to take notice in her. Eventually, after two marriage proposal rejections, Lizzy consents and they fall in love. They give society the big middle finger and choose happiness over standards. You won’t see that one coming either. As for the other three daughters, Lydia, Kitty, and Marry, well, their story isn’t so happily ever after- depending on how you look at it I guess. Lydia ends up marrying some rude soldier guy who turns out to be poor too. He actually married her because he thought he’d get a sweet deal out of it. Too bad she was poorer than him. They live the rest of their lives in unhappiness because they don’t actually love each other. Kitty and Marry don’t end up getting married. Perhaps they too were waiting for their night in gold-plated shining armor just like every other young woman in the early 1800’s. What they didn’t realize is that marrying someone purely for the sake of marrying them wouldn’t make them happy either, and until they realized that, they would forever be unhappy. In all honesty, I think Pride and Prejudice has a bad rap within my generation. Maybe it’s the language, or maybe it’s the setting that we just can’t get past, but I think if we really push through the surface, we would find out that Jane Austen was a pretty bad ass lady for writing this during her time, and that maybe it’s not just all about big words and petticoats. I give this novel three out of five stars. Not just because the characters are easy to make fun of, and therefore amusing to read, but mainly because Austen fearlessly published a book about how awful society’s standards were not only for women, but everyone. You go girl. But I’d still recommend the 2005 movie version- it’s way faster and the words aren’t as big.