Pride and Prejudice

Slightly daunting, this article. What can I say about a book that's often quoted as the 'best loved', a book that's spawned hundreds of adaptations, and caught the hearts and minds of millions? Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr Darcy, they hate each other, and then gradually are drawn together through fate and events... yeah, I knew the basics, although not the ending. (And wasn't there a famous scene with Darcy coming out of a lake?) Well, I can say that I'd never read it, nor watched it, until now.

It's a good story, isn't it? I was rather overwhelmed by the length of the book - it's about 150,000 words, which is more than a 'light read', and probably took me about two or three weeks as I kept dipping in and out of it.

But the main thing that struck me was - it's written 200 years ago, and yet it's lovely to read. Out of the 19th Century books I've read (relatively few), I gave up on Frankenstein, and the others are much later, nearer 1900. So it was a surprise that a book which celebrates its bicentenary in a few months would be so readable. I have to admit, the cover being plastered with quotes extolling the humour, saying it's the 'funniest book ever written'... uh, no, it isn't. Not for today's audiences mind you, but I bet the Georgians were chuckling at the wry humour of Elizabeth's parents.

That's not to say the book is dated. Whilst the trappings of the story, the world in which the characters live, is firmly in the 1800s - things like daughters not being allowed to inherit, or the ettiquette of dancing at balls, or the scandals of class and marriage - the characters are utterly realistic, the scenario so timeless, that the book speaks for itself, and probably hits a chord in all of us. The reader is swept along by the inner feelings of Elizabeth Bennet, her passionate views and noble character. And that at the heart of the story, our heroine marries for love, despite her class and money, is a very modern angle, I think, and a very happy one. No wonder then that this is a much loved book, with a joyous ending, despite the drama of the journey.

Jane Austen has quite a few connections around the city of Bath, but I was still surprised to see it mentioned in the novel. On the second-to-last page, naturally. (And that lake scene? Never shows up, unfortunately, only on TV. And that looks like a fine adaptation to watch)