The only novel that I have read 12 times is Pride and Prejudice. And this is the only novel that I have rated a perfect ten among all the 210 novels that I have read so far. You can imagine how much I adore this novel and of course, Miss Jane Austen.
Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey are her other novels. But none lived up to the expectations I had after reading Pride and Prejudice.
Here is a story superbly told. None could have told it better. It is a very simple story set in a small town in England. The Bennets- a family with five grown-up daughters form the story. Elizabeth, the second among the Bennet daughters, is one of the most delightful heroines of all time. Jane, the eldest of the Bennets, is an adorable character. Every reader is sure to fall in love with her. Jane is a highly sensitive and emotional lady who falls in love with an equally adorable character called Mr.Bingley. Everything seems to be going well for Jane when disaster strikes in the form of Bingley’s sisters and his dear friend, Darcy, who plot to separate these two.
Hear, hear, where am I going? Neither Bingley is the hero of the novel nor is Jane the heroine. The story is surrounding Elizabeth Bennet, who is a highly stubborn and a very practical minded girl. But the disaster is, she is prejudiced against Darcy (Bingley’s friend) right from the beginning. Well, as it is, Darcy is also a highly stubborn fellow with loads of pride to go with his tall, handsome looks and of course, with his enormous amount of wealth. But Elizabeth mistakes his pride as vanity and takes to dislike him instantly (And for Heavens sakes, Darcy adds to this by hurting her pride on their very first meeting).
Darcy falls in love with this beautiful girl who has the most wonderful eyes that are highly expressive and intelligent. But unfortunately, with Elizabeth already being prejudiced against him (and there are a lot of misunderstandings to go with it), the love story comes to an abrupt pause until everybody is cleared out of their pride and prejudices against one another and the tale ends on a beautiful note.
Though it is the same old love story, with its love-hate relationships, it was never before told in this manner nor will it ever be told so beautifully, I am sure.
As for the characters, one can never forget the beautifully built character of Elizabeth. It is just her character, which makes this novel simply awesome. I am so very much in love with this character that I certainly would want to be like her. Darcy- handsome, highly rich, exceptionally tall. He easily fits into the image of any girl’s dream man. An ideally drawn character, you will surely fall in love with and you will certainly pity him too. Bingley and Jane are two characters, which are simply beautiful, and you begin wondering, if such wonderful people really exist, the world would be a better place to live in. Mrs.Bennet is one character you will love and hate at the same time.
All in all, a wonderful, superb, awesome… no words available to describe this novel, really! A must read for all readers. It doesn’t matter whether you like classic tales or not. This one will make you love it.