"To compensate a little for the treachery and weakness of my memory, so extreme that it has happened to me more than once to pick up again, as recent and unknown to me, books which I had read carefully a few years before . . . I have adopted the habit for some time now of adding at the end of each book . . . the time I finished reading it and the judgment I have derived of it as a whole, so that this may represent to me at least the sense and general idea I had conceived of the author in reading it." (Montaigne, Book II, Essay 10 (publ. 1580))

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)

(367 pages)

My first time reading a Jane Austen work - much liked it.  Her ability to write dialogue!  Scene-setting invariably economical, interesting. I should have picked up her works long ago.

Always enjoyed the Greer Garson - Laurence Olivier movie version of this story, which somewhat tracks the book.

Elizabeth Bennet the lead character; her mother and her sisters (save one) are quite a bit less attractive characters than in the movie version.  Prideful Darcy.  Elopement with Wickham.  Bingley.  Mr. Collins (the heir).  

I just like following the plot and enjoying the writing, but I can see why there's lots of critical analysis about how the book illustrates changes in society, role of women, economics, inheritance issues, etc.  But written early - 1813 - situation with Napoleon not even resolved.  

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