Words to Live By... Book #2
Book #2: Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
Karen, you guessed it right! Pride & Prejudice is definitely on the list, but possibly not for the reasons you may suspect. Bear in mind that my list is not in order of greater influence, but in the order that I first read them.
If you haven’t already read this book, you simply must! The MW Encyclopedia of Literature describes it as a
If you haven’t already read this book, you simply must! The MW Encyclopedia of Literature describes it as a
Novel by Jane Austen, published anonymously in three volumes in 1813. The narrative, which Austen initially titled “First Impressions,” describes the clash between Elizabeth Bennet, the daughter of a country gentleman, and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich and aristocratic landowner. Austen reverses the convention of first impressions: "pride" of rank and fortune, and "prejudice" against Elizabeth's inferiority of family, hold Darcy aloof; while Elizabeth is equally fired both by the pride of self-respect and by prejudice against Darcy's snobbery. Ultimately, they come together in love and self-understanding.
I first read this book during my sophomore year of high school. My English teacher, whose name I can’t even remember at all, decided that the entire class was going to read a book together and report on it. For the life of me, I can’t remember what book we were asked to read --- neither the book nor the teacher left a lasting impression on me. My school (which was an engineering high school) seemed to attract quite good math and science teachers, but it was seriously lacking in English teachers who inspired anything more than just getting the basic, required work done. I digress… The book we were asked to read was appalling. I remember being absolutely disgusted by the first chapter because of its crude and indecent nature. My teacher agreed to let me select another book to read and report on, and I have no idea how I made my choice, but I somehow ended up with Pride and Prejudice. The decision proved serendipitous!
Pride and Prejudice remains a book that I love to read… and re-read. I think I read it about once a year! It was springtime in Louisiana the first time that I read it, and I can vividly remember lying facedown on my bed, windows thrown wide open to the gentle breeze with my feet kicked up into the air as I devoured the text.
Something about this book awakened in me a true love of books and of reading… a love that continues to this day and is evidenced by the stacks and stacks of books precariously balanced upon my night stand. For that, it finds its way onto my list of influential books.
So, what do you think of Pride and Prejudice? And what books top your list of influential reading?
Pride and Prejudice remains a book that I love to read… and re-read. I think I read it about once a year! It was springtime in Louisiana the first time that I read it, and I can vividly remember lying facedown on my bed, windows thrown wide open to the gentle breeze with my feet kicked up into the air as I devoured the text.
Something about this book awakened in me a true love of books and of reading… a love that continues to this day and is evidenced by the stacks and stacks of books precariously balanced upon my night stand. For that, it finds its way onto my list of influential books.
So, what do you think of Pride and Prejudice? And what books top your list of influential reading?
