Pride and Prejudice

Bys: Austen, Jane, Cogancherry, Helen, Stewart, Diana

Book Overview

Of all Jane Austen's books, Pride and Prejudice has earned a special place in the hearts of the reading public as her best-loved and most intimately known novel. From its famous opening sentence the story of the Bennet family and of the novel's two protagonists, Elizabeth and Darcy, told with a wit that its author feared might prove 'rather too light and bright, and sparkling', delights its most familiar readers as thoroughly as it does those who...

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817216731
• ISBN13: 9780817216733
• Release Date: September 1981
• Publisher: Steck-Vaughn
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.2" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Less accessible descriptions spring to life in audio format

Classics come to life under good audio treatment, as Irene Sutcliffe demonstrates by reading Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE with passion and style. This is the best known of her novels, and some of Austen's less accessible descriptions spring to life under the voice of Irene Sutcliffe, who has worked extensively n the theatre.

Delightful version of P & P

This particular book is delightfully illustrated. I have three P & P books and this is the most treasured of all. Not only the novel itself is wonderful to read, but also the illustrations are beautiful to look at. It is a perfect gift for someone who owns a paperback version of P & P. A book is more than just a story. You will agree when you open this book.

A Masterpiece of Wit and Style, A Timeless Work for the Ages

Jane Austen is one of the great masters of the English language, and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is her great masterpiece, a sharp and witty comedy of manners played out in early 19th Century English society, a world in which men held virtually all the power and women were required to negotiate mine-fields of social status, respectability, wealth, love, and sex in order to marry both to their own liking and to the advantage of their family. And such is particularly the case of the Bennetts, a family of daughters whose father's estate is entailed to a distant relative, for upon Mr. Bennett's death they will loose home, land, income, everything. But are the Bennett daughters up to playing a winning hand in this high-stakes matrimonial game without forfeiting their own personal integrity?This battle of the sexes is largely seen through the eyes of second daughter Elizabeth, who possesses a razor-sharp wit and rich sense of humor--and who finds herself hindered by her own addlepated mother, her sister Jane's hopeless love for the wealthy Mr. Bingley, and her sister Lydia's penchant for scandal... not to mention the high-born, formidable, and outrageously proud Mr. Darcy, who seems determined to trump her every card. But the game of love proves more surprising than either Elizabeth or Mr. Darcy can imagine, and sometimes a seemingly weak hand proves a winning one when all cards are on the table.PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is simply one of the funniest novels ever written, peopled with memorable characters brought vividly to life as they both succeed and fail at the game of life according to the manners of their era. It is a novel to which I return again and again, enjoying Austen's brillant talent. I have little respect for people who describe it as dull, slow, out of date, for as long as men and women live and fall in love it will never be out of style, always be meaningful, and always be funny. A masterpiece of wit and style; a timeless novel for the ages.

It doesn't get better than this...

It doesn't get better than Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Whether you're the hopeless romantic or you just love the classics, you're going to love this book. Though I am only sixteen, I consider myself to be moderately well-read. I love reading, and, when I am between books, my life feels desolate and empty. One day, while in the most barren pit of ennui, I picked up Pride and Prejudice at my mother's recommendation. I do not ordinarily like my mother's taste in reading; her favorite books tend to be very dull, but so deep was my boredom that I succumbed to her suggestion. I wasn't displeased with what I found. I fell in love with the book at the first sentence. I brought my beloved book to the dinner table, to my classes and late into the night. I love everything about it. I love the characters; especially Elizabeth Bennet! I love the Victorian vernavular which works so well for this particular novel. I love the scintillating plot and the suspense created by knowing that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy should be together but their pride and prejudice (hence the title) are temporarily keeping them apart. The language that the novel is written in might be a little more difficult to read than contemporary literature, but once one gets accustomed to it, it makes the novel even more pleasurable. I cannot imagine Elizabeth or Darcy or Bingley or any of the other characters speaking any less eloquently; it would ruin the whole experience! The flowery language completes the whole effect of reading a Jane Austen novel. If a disgruntled female reader put down Pride and Prejudice, pick it back up! I strongly suggest it because it may prove to be tedious at first but if read again, it would probably read more easily. I can offer no suggestions to the male reader, however, because generally this book, in ever essence, is a female novel. I am not saying that men would definetly not enjoy it; I'm simply saying that I have yet to meet any male who has not addressed this book in a very vehement manner. I simply love this book in its entirety, and I know it won't be too long before I pick it up again. Jane Austen surely knew what she was doing when she wrote this one! Her Pride and Prejudice will always have an honored spot on my bookshelf.

A true masterpiece of literature-even better the second time

Wow! What else do you say after you read such an incredible book? Jane Austen's timeless characters like Elizabeth Bennett, Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley(oh, don't you just love to hate her), Jane, etc. all add to this intricately woven plot. Elizabeth Bennett is arguably one of the most complex characters ever written (well, Lucy Snowe of Villette wins the prize). This novel is an excellent example of Austen's literary power. Her heroines are to be admired for they all dared to marry for love and not for social status which so often happened to women in their predicament back then. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be angry, and above all, you will fall in love with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. However, don't stop after Pride and Prejudice; read Sense and Sensibility, read Emma, read them all. (It won't take long; she only wrote six- I was disappointed that there weren't more) Jane Austen's work is incredible; the only fault I find is that she has so many characters, it is difficult to keep up with them all. Pride and Prejudice has to be read at least twice to catch everything and everybody. But it won't be a chore to read it again, more like opening a treasure chest.