pride and prejudice...why??

pixiegaga

i recently decided to read 'classic' books and immediately was drawn to pride and prejudice for the simple reason i hear so much of it but had never read it. i opened the book expecting to be drawn in from the outset but i couldnt read past page two. i cant make sense of the book at all i mean ask any english teacher/lover they will tell you jane austen is genious but i think its all overhyped like a britney speaars show you pay to go see and get there discovering shes lipsinging...

thoughts on pride and prejudice?? is it 'overhyped'?

Eliot Rosewater

I havent read it myself, so I will withhold comment on Pride and Prejudice specifically!

In terms of starting into "classic literature", Im not convinced that getting into the 1800's is the best tactic. In general those books will not be accessible due to the more archaic style of writing used and the enormous cultural changes that have taken place since their publication.

(In fact the opening line of P&P "It is a truth universally..." is supposed to be a poke at the real universal truth of the time: that women were made to be wives. Asfaik.)

I would go for post 1920's tbh. Just because its easier to read doesn't make it less better! Hemingway (late 20's to early 50's) is generally considered a classic, yet his writing is totally accessible. Fiesta: Sun Also Rises is a great book. And its suitable for both the new reader and the experienced critic due to the way in which Hemingway seems to go about things. He seems to work both at the literal level and the metaphorical/symbolic level.

Blush_01

I'm biased, I love Pride and Prejudice. (I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at the moment - excellent.) I love Clueless too. I'll leave it at that.

scriba

Hi Pixiegaga,

my girlfriend relatively recently decided she wanted to start reading some classics, and ran into the same issues you did. I have read P&P several times (and love it) but I acknowledge too that language and cultural changes since it was written means that much of it is less than obvious these days. I think Eliot Rosewater's advice is good, there are some quite awesome books written in the twentieth century, which are more accessible, and again as Eliot says, no less wonderful, for it!

Not all classics are good either, your personal taste is still valid! Just because its a classic doesn't mean you have to like it.

pixiegaga

think ill look up early 20th centuary books so, its true really how just because they are 'classics' you dont have to 'like' them, i know its not the same but i read the reviews/summary and saw the movie and i thought elizabeth was a total hypocrite to marry mr darcy and 'sell out' on her beliefs.....just saying

sionnach

It's not overhyped, it's a classic for a reason. It's probably my favourite book.
If you don't know about the societal structures and norms of the time it's set in, you probably won't get much out of it. You also need to be able to handle the language. You should still at least read the first 50 pages and actually give yourself a chance to be drawn into its world.

JaneLane

Hi Pixiegaga,

I had the same problem as you when I first sat down to read Pride and Prejudice. It was my first Austen book to read. I managed to get to chapter 2 and then I had to put it down, it was taking too much concentration for me to actually read it than to enjoy it.

After that though I became more interested in the culture and architecture of that era. Wanting to give Austen another go, I watched the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It made things so much clearer and you could get a better taste for the language by watching it. The language was still mostly taken from the book but also explained a little better in the dialogue.

My suggestion to you would be to watch this version of it and perhaps another adaptation, just so you can get a better idea of it all. Then you can give the book another try. It really is worth it in the end! I haven't had my nose out of an Austen book for the past 3 years! hahaha

Good luck!

dolliemix

I love all the minor characters in P & P. Mr Collins, George Wickham, Mrs Bennett, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the dizzy sisters. They're all like one big satire! Not unlike Ross O Carroll Kelly of today maybe. I can't stand the superior Elizabeth, Mr Darcy and holier than thou older sister Jane and Mr Bingley (the main characters). But I love that I feel that way about the characters. That's why the book is a classic, I reckon, every character is flawed which leaves it open to debate.

I also have different opinions about the characters now, than when I first read the book for an exam when I was 14. It shows how life's experiences changes your views as you get older.

pixiegaga

dolliemix wrote: »

I love all the minor characters in P & P. Mr Collins, George Wickham, Mrs Bennett, Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the dizzy sisters. They're all like one big satire! Not unlike Ross O Carroll Kelly of today maybe. I can't stand the superior Elizabeth, Mr Darcy and holier than thou older sister Jane and Mr Bingley (the main characters). But I love that I feel that way about the characters. That's why the book is a classic, I reckon, every character is flawed which leaves it open to debate.

I also have different opinions about the characters now, than when I first read the book for an exam when I was 14. It shows how life's experiences changes your views as you get older.

yes id be the first person to find flaw in anything to be honest, i just find it baffling that i cant get my head around this but read tolstoy last year no problem...:/ probably my own fault

dolliemix

pixiegaga wrote: »

yes id be the first person to find flaw in anything to be honest, i just find it baffling that i cant get my head around this but read tolstoy last year no problem...:/ probably my own fault

lol! I read War and Peace last year and I thought it was like an advanced or adult version of Pride and Prejudice

pixiegaga

well it was anna Anna Karenina i read and i know pride and prejudice is most likey easier i just cant get into it..:/ i do like the russian and eastern european writers best though so i did have that 'motivation'

pixiegaga

i just wasnt meant to read classic english literature.....my brains broken or something......prehaps one day

dolliemix

I agree with JaneLane. Sometimes you have to be in the right setting to read a book. I was trying to read "Shantaram' based in hot, humid, sweaty India over Christmas and I had to give up because with the snow outside I just wasn't feeling it.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

emeraldstar

pixiegaga wrote: »

i recently decided to read 'classic' books and immediately was drawn to pride and prejudice for the simple reason i hear so much of it but had never read it. i opened the book expecting to be drawn in from the outset but i couldnt read past page two. i cant make sense of the book at all i mean ask any english teacher/lover they will tell you jane austen is genious but i think its all overhyped like a britney speaars show you pay to go see and get there discovering shes lipsinging...

thoughts on pride and prejudice?? is it 'overhyped'?

In fairness, if you can't actually understand the book how can you give a judgement on it?

pixiegaga wrote: »

think ill look up early 20th centuary books so, its true really how just because they are 'classics' you dont have to 'like' them, i know its not the same but i read the reviews/summary and saw the movie and i thought elizabeth was a total hypocrite to marry mr darcy and 'sell out' on her beliefs.....just saying

She didn't 'sell out' in any way. She married him for the simple fact that she fell in love with him. Not because of his wealth or for any other reason.

(BTW I should probably say that I am extremely biased as Jane Austen is my favourite author and P&P my absolute favourite novel. It is also hilarious )

Seren_

Pride and Prejudice is a great book, definitely one of my favourites! The language used is a bit archaic, but it doesn't take that long to get used to really

I don't necessarily agree that you should start off with books from the mid-twentieth century instead though... A lot of books from this period tend to be written in modernist/postmodernist styles which can be very confusing, whereas novels from the nineteenth century like those by Austen and the Brontes are written in a realist style.

I think Northanger Abbey would be a good one to read before P&P. It's a good introduction to the kind of language Austen uses, but I didn't find it as hard to grasp as that used in the rest of her novels that I've read. I love the story too Mr Tilney is nearly nicer than Mr Darcy :pac:

emeraldstar

Your Text Here wrote: »

Pride and Prejudice is a great book, definitely one of my favourites! The language used is a bit archaic, but it doesn't take that long to get used to really

I don't necessarily agree that you should start off with books from the mid-twentieth century instead though... A lot of books from this period tend to be written in modernist/postmodernist styles which can be very confusing, whereas novels from the nineteenth century like those by Austen and the Brontes are written in a realist style.

I think Northanger Abbey would be a good one to read before P&P. It's a good introduction to the kind of language Austen uses, but I didn't find it as hard to grasp as that used in the rest of her novels that I've read. I love the story too Mr Tilney is nearly nicer than Mr Darcy :pac:

+1 to all the above except:

Mr Tilney is nearly nicer than Mr Darcy

:eek::eek::eek:

Ave Sodalis

Why? Because it's one of the best love storys ever written! I love it!

Dictionarys help with the more difficult words that we don't use anymore and the dictionarys online work best. Remember it's a different culture and a different way of life so somethings may or may not strike you as strange.

P&P is my favourite book

Dublin141

I love love love that book. Two pages in will not give you enough insight into whether it's over-hyped or not Jane Eyre is better though

If you can get through Anna Karenina, which is a great book but I hated the character Anna, then you should be able to manage a Jane Austen book. Give it a go some other time, sometimes I just can't get into a certain book but on the second try I devour it.

IrishPhoenix

JaneLane wrote: »

I watched the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It made things so much clearer and you could get a better taste for the language by watching it. The language was still mostly taken from the book but also explained a little better in the dialogue.

My suggestion to you would be to watch this version of it and perhaps another adaptation, just so you can get a better idea of it all.

I agree. We did P+P in school and 99% of the class found it didn't translate well to them. Watching the mini-series gives you a foundation to approach the book with. The BBC version uses the original dialogue. You might find that more accessible.

Blush_01

All of Austen's literature is written in the same way. I started with Emma (hence the Clueless reference above) and I definitely found Pride & Prejudice more accessible.

Pixiegaga - if you persevere with it for a little while and take it slowly, you'll get there. it's just a matter of learning how Austen speaks and what she wants to say - and she's one of the funniest authors!

Lame Lantern

The book's fundamental aesthetic vacuity that's lost on modern readers due to the archaic language. And the marriage only works when Elizabeth shows weakness, which is a pile of mental.

It's worth bearing in mind that the canon of classic novels is generally occupied by literature popular with middle class and aristocratic 19th century English people who spent all their time talking about chairs and gardening and blowing people up in defenseless, civilised countries. Not the folk I'd really look to for advice on what to read.