Guest Post: Pride and Prejudice Review by Esther Jackson

Well, hello there! Have I got a treat for you! My friend Esther from The Lost Review of Odd Book is appearing on Gabbing with Grace to share with you her review of one of my all-time favorites, Pride and Prejudice! I hope y'all enjoy! Be sure to subscribe to her blog for more fun reviews!

Do you ever tell someone they can choose what you do a fuller review on and have immediate regrets thinking they'll probably choose a book you've half forgotten? (for I never fully forget a book) And then they don't, they choose one you read recently, but didn't have tons of thoughts on.

Allow me to start by talking about my history with P&P. I was a good Christian kid who knew my Bible, and in the Bible it says that pride is one of the seven deadly sins... I had so much prejudice against this book. That didn't stop me from attempting to read a tiny edition of the book. It was smaller than a Moby Illustrated Classic. I failed and mostly ignored the book for the next 12 or so years.

So I start listening to the audiobook so I can sew and read and first thing there's a preface explaining the title. I kinda disagree with that preface though. It said Darcy was proud and maybe pride meant something different back then, maybe I've been infected by the nasty modern sentiment of loud and proud. To me he isn't really proud, he's reserved.

There are three types of people in Darcy's world. His friends (who he seems to have known for a long time), his employees, and everyone else. And he's happy with that, so when Lizzy Bennet is different, attractive, and dismissive, he doesn't know how to react.

So Darcy is one of the most well written, legitimately nice people I've ever read. Most of the time nice people have no flaws, are acting, or aren't well written. Jane Austen avoids all that, maybe it's because he's not the main character or a minor side. I don't know. Now about the Bennets. What a family. Not as dysfunctional as is common today, but I'm glad not to live with them. I was bewildered by Lydia (WHY!?!, but then she is a classic teen) I enjoyed Mr. Bennet's unwavering support in all of his daughters. I don't get Mary, I understand that she feels less pretty than her sisters, and therefore works to have a better education and is proud of the fact that she's better, but you aren't better if people don't like listening to you. Mrs Bennet, is just sad. To make the appearance of marrying well so important...

This book reminds me of a few questions I wish to research. Where did the myth that older books were mostly plot come from? Where did I hear that in Regency times it was scandalous for an unmarried couple to be alone together?

This is Esther Jackson, though occasionally she uses the name Wanda Gambling when talking about books on the internet. She is the creator and manager of Neath The Hackberry Reading Club and the main writer at The Lost Review Of Odd Books. She doesn’t quite read everything, but few things disinterest her. (boring baby books on repeat are among the few) Her room, where she does most of her reading and where she works is shaded by a Hackberry tree.