I can now say I’ve read Pride & Prejudice! I’ve always struggled with classics and kind of thought deep down that maybe they just weren't for me. But no! I not only read but LOVED P&P. Think of the heart eyes emoji and smack it on my face and you have my general feelings of how much I enjoyed it.. So I thought today I'd talk 5 things about P&P.
1) I had to read very slowly for a change.
I’ve always been a fast reader but I couldn’t read the way I normally do when reading P&P. The language and the words really made me slow down and concentrate on literally every word and I had to really take my time as more than once I realized my mind was wandering and I had to go back a few pages. The length of the chapters were excellent and most of them were quite short, making working through the book much easier.
2) Some of the themes were painfully familiar to present day.
*MILD SPOILER* Like the way Mr. Collins doesn’t take Elizabeth’s no for an answer when he proposes to her and literally says she’s turned him down so he’ll want her more...AND that he’s confident she’ll say yes to him next time he asks…URGHHHH. It's 2018 and I still see this behavior towards women and girls from men, I've read and heard about other women and girls experiences, I've had experiences...it is truly depressing and sad AND GROSS that 205 years on since P&P was published, the no's of women are still being taken as hard to get yes's.
3) Without the interesting characters, I wouldn't have finished reading the book.
Let’s be real, the book doesn’t really have a plot that keeps you on
the edge of your seat because of the racing pace (or much plot at all
to be honest) WHICH IS FINE because the characters are so sparky and
interesting they make up for that! Without all the characters spark, I
definitely would’ve put the book down before the end of the first
chapter. I thought Elizabeth was such a modern character and I bloody loved her! So sarcastic (although her mother and father gave her a run for her money at times lol) and smart and clear-headed and just very relatable. I also loved reading about her rowdy family dynamic, which was verrrry familiar to my own, her clever, clever, mother (Mrs Bennet was the brightest Slytherin of her era don't @ me) is and her father's dry wit.
4) Why does the world think Darcy is such a romantic hero? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
He was an absolute dick in the beginning and showed no signs of improving throughout most of the book. This lovely line really spoke volumes about his character lmao: “He really believed, that were it not for the inferiority of her connections, he should be in some danger.” OH THE SWEET PROSE THAT FALLS FROM HIS LIPS. Hold my heart, before it bursts out of my chest. He does improve a bit by the end but it just takes him most of the book to get there and it does not excuse his dickish behavior in my eyes.
5) Can I just gush for a minute about how beautiful my copy of P&P is!
HOLD MY CUP OF TEA AND LET ME GUSH. It’s soothing. It’s calming. It matches my DUVET COVER (kind of). It’s my favourite shade of blue. The font inside is made for human eyes not ant eyes unlike so many classic editions (although do ants have better eyesight than humans? I wouldn't be surprised, must look this up). It’s so aesthetically satisfying that it makes me smile every time I look at it so obviously I’ve been looking at it a looooot. The only negative about it is the glue that binds the spine smells a little like someone died in the process of making it and was then just thrown into the glue for good measure. It's not as bad as when I first got it but I don't know if it's because it's gone away or it's just killed my sense of smell?! Time will tell!
have you read p&p? if you love classics, what was the first classic that made you heart eyes?
