Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

One of the better books that i've read. I surprised myself a few weeks ago when i picked this book off a shelf in a small bookstore and bought it. I had been looking for a copy of Jane Eyre, but at the recommendation of my friend read this one instead.

I had tried to read a library version of the book a few months back, but found the language dry and irritating, kind of like a wrinkly great-aunt. But this time i slipped into the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy with ease and enjoyment. The style that Ms Austen writes with is unique in this day and age and, i found, refreshing.

The story itself is as much about the culture and formalities of the English countryside during the late 18th century as it is about love and loyalty to your heart. Personally, i was fascinated by all the little things that mattered hugely to the inhabitants of the Bennet estate and beyond. All of their lives are consumed with A) finding someone to marry and B) how they should appear to their neighbors. I found it amusing, ridiculous and frustrating that these families should worry so much about finding "suitable young men" and not so much about who they are as people. However, Ms. Austen writes in such a way as to make it seem acceptable, almost as if her ghost was standing over me, whispering in my ear that this was how life was lived in this time. All of the things that the characters did, worried over and obsessed about were expressed with the utmost politeness, which added a mockable, but comfortable tone to the book. It made the main characters, Elizabeth and Mr.Darcy, seem to stand out.

Pride and Prejudice is a love story about a middle class girl of 5 sisters and a high strung upper class young man, who, despite social obstacles, take actions to be with each other. Its not your typical "Romeo and Juliet", where the girl and boy are together because of youthful attraction, either, which i thought made it all the more interesting. No, the story starts with Elizabeth disliking Darcy because of his distaste for her lifestyle and the pairing of another couple: Elizabeth's sister Jane and Darcy's friend Mr. Bingley, who are falling in love. The story continues with heartbreak, and an underlying tang of pure uncomfort, but it is beautiful. One of the only books i can confidently call a "master piece".

There are two books that you must read before die, this is one of them.