Pride and Prejudice

I'm making an effort to read old classic books. This was an interesting story. It was very engaging and I enjoyed the characters. I'm not certain why this is a book that is given as required reading in schools. There are many current authors who can write as good, if not better, than this author. Let's have students read stories relevant to the times. Of course, if the class is about historical fiction, then this would fit fine. It was good. It's basically a chick lit story about love & romance of long ago.

[Listened to the audiobook narrated by Kate Beckinsale.]

Wow. Oh wow. I did not expect to love this as much as I did.

Late last year, I read Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Prior to reading it, I stated that if I didn't enjoy it I would read the actual Pride & Prejudice for comparison. (Spoiler Alert: I didn't enjoy it.)

This was my first ever audiobook that I was able to listen to in full, which I think helped me to understand Austen's very formal writing. I loved Elizabeth and Darcy (aka the original enemies-to-lovers blueprint), the Bennet sisters, the drama and the unexpected humor. This was a great read, and I will definitely be checking out Austen's other works!

Edit: I'm raising this from four stars to five stars because I've had many revelations about this novel over the past few days and also Mr. Darcy is autistic because I (an autistic person) said so.

An actually good love story with some saucy dialogues.

The book itself is five stars, but this particular edition deserves one. Filled with irrelevant footnotes and there were missing words.

Short review: I have not previously read anything by Jane Austen. It is hard to not know the basic story line given that there are several movie versions and this is one of the most popular novels in history. But I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I have been trying to read through a number of classics over the past 18 months or so and I think I have disliked as many or more than I have liked. But this is one I liked.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/pride-prejudice-jane-austen/

Good humor, fast pace and slow in some scene. Nice characters
Quite predictable.