Thursday Book Group
Well, it's about time I start a book group...with myself.
Members include, alphabetically, as follows:
me.
CNN has produced a list through Amazon of
I have a l i f e t i m e...
so I figured I should read these books whilst here.
And lucky you, you get to read about my opinions, judgments, and musings of these 100 books!
A book a week.
Let's start, shall we?
The first I chose to read was
Pride & Prejudice.
There are books, multiple movies, and even a mini-series dedicated to the greatness that is Pride and Prejudice. (um, there's even a Mormon version?)
Looks like "love met its match" in this version. Good job, love.
I never thought I'd enjoy this book, but it is actually a very witty, charming little book.
Jane Austen is a marvelous writer.
Who knew?
I guess every love-sick girl in the world.
She gives each character depth and meaning without saying too much.
The Bennett family is the main subject of this book.
5 girls.
Expect drama.
Let's give a breakdown of the family: (my view of them, of course)
Mr. Bennett: sarcastic and stern
Mrs. Bennett: ignorant and a complainer
Jane: naive and pretty
Elizabeth: forthright and opinionated
Mary: introvert and bookworm
Kitty: follower and giggly
Lydia: haughty and materialistic
Mary, the quietest and most random character,
a l w a y s g i v e s t h e b e s t i n s i g h t.
Here is the best quote of the book:
"Pride is very common failing, I believe.
By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or other, real or imaginary. Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves; vanity to what we would have others think of us."
She has many of these "one-liner" paragraphs.
I think she is exactly right.
Everyone has a little bit of pride.
We need a little or we would all be very self-deprecating.
This also describes the theme of the book.
Pride & Prejudice.
The main love story involves Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. (swoon)
Elizabeth detests him at first upon thinking he is proud and judges him thus. She is prejudice against him and his behavior.
She hears things of him that she believes readily.
He is prejudice against her family (mostly her out-spoken mother) and a little proud of his 10,000 pounds a year.
As the story progresses, they are both humbled.
Elizabeth's pretenses are proved false,
and Mr. Darcy falls easily in love.
I won't go into all the deets.
It is a marvelous story of overcoming the
prides and prejudices
we all face.
(and they end up happy and married from being a little bit humble)
To show that Mr. Darcy is worth a swoon...
This is what he says to Elizabeth,
"Such I was, from eight to eight-and-twenty; and such I still might have been but for you, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth! What do I not owe you! You taught me a lesson, hard indeed at first, but advantageous. By you, I was properly humbled. I came to you without a doubt of my reception. You showed me how insufficient were my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased."
He then says,
"[My object] was to show you, by every civility in my power, that I was not so mean as to resent the past; and I hoped to obtain your forgiveness, to lessen your ill=opinion, by letting you see that your reproofs had been attended to. How soon any other wishes introduced themselves, I can hardly tell, but I believe in about half an hour after I had seen you."
I realize this book was written by a woman, but these are still lovely words to hope for some day.
I always had a prejudice towards this book because I assumed it was too lovey-dovey (and maybe it was not "Harry Potter" enough?)
But I have to say, my pride has subsided after reading the pages and coming to know the characters.
Here's to you,
{prevailing over}
Pride & Prejudice.
**My book blogs will progressively get better**
Next week:
The Stranger, by Albert Camus
a book club for yourself. i like it. xo
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