A review by wardenred
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.

Technically, this was a re-read, but also, I haven’t touched this novel since high school and until now I only ever read Jane Austen in translation, so it didn’t fully feel like one. For the most part, I had an excellent time with it. As far as enemies-to-lovers romances go, this one truly stands the test of time. There wasn’t a single dialogue scene I didn’t love, and the characters’ quips and observation often made me giggle. I loved the interactions within the Bennet family and, of course, the banter between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy—and how the fun parts intermingled with the cutting commentary about the society of the time (a lot of it still very applicable to certain aspects of today’s life, I feel).

At the same time, there were a bunch of scenes that felt more like summaries, with lots of telling over showing, and those were kind of hard to get through at times. I expect these kind of thing when I read classics, though, and it always makes me ponder on all the reasons and ways storytelling in books has changed over the years. Which is genuinely a fun topic to think about, so I can’t really complain!

Also, something that utterly fascinated me about this book: there are so many characters, and all of them are not just completely unique and recognizable in their personalities, but also so intricately linked together and constantly influencing each other’s arcs! Such an absolutely genius example of a big cast.
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