Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

When creating my British reading list, I deliberately tried to be as broad and inclusive as possible.  That meant works made it on the list that I would never plan to read otherwise, and the three that I most dreaded were what I presumed to be "girlie books"- Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre.  A few years into my list, I could no longer put these off, so I bit the bullet and started with Pride and Prejudice.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Now, I consider myself the manliest of men, so it was with no small degree of consternation that I found myself enjoying P&P.  It's the story of the Bennet family, consisting of five daughters (Jane, Elizabeth, Katherine, Mary, and Lydia), each of whom is at (or near) marrying age (so, mid-teens, as this is Victorian England).  Mrs. Bennet is determined to marry her daughters off, preferably to men in better stations of life, who can provide a comfortable living.  Through a variety of amusing or suspenseful situations, three of the girls end up married by book's end, and the book's title alludes to the fact that, in such a class-based society as Victorian England, pride and prejudice played a large part in determination of suitable partners. 

I enjoyed this for two reasons:
1) the elegance and eloquence of the prose.  Victorian authors are unequaled in this regard, and it's my preferred literature era for that reason.  Austen has a way with words that I found delightful.
2) the comical characters.  Mr. Bennet's coy way of dealing with his wife and daughters, the ridiculous Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet's foolishness, and some "one-off" statements by Elizabeth and Lydia I enjoyed exceedingly. 

Now, I hear demands for my man card.  I refuse to give it up.  Though I enjoyed this overall, it was lacking in a few areas.  The overall story, in the end, really wasn't the original- a simple "boy-meets-girl" tale.  I read this not for the girly "will she marry her love?" aspect, but for the comedy and insight into prejudices in Victorian society.  For those reasons, it's valuable to all. 

Rating: A-