Product Description

For over 150 years, Pride And Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen herself called this brilliant work her "own darling child." Pride And Prejudice, the story of Mrs. Bennet's attempts to marry off her five daughters is one of the best-loved and most enduring classics in English literature. Excitement fizzes through the Bennet household at Longbourn in Hertfordshire when young, eligible Mr. Charles Bingley rents the fine house nearby. He may have sisters, but he also has male friends, and one of these—the haughty, and even wealthier, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy—irks the vivacious Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the Bennet girls. She annoys him. Which is how we know they must one day marry. The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and Darcy is a splendid rendition of civilized sparring. As the characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, Jane Austen's radiantly caustic wit and keen observation sparkle.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #322808 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-10
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.com
Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up?

From Library Journal
Austen is the hot property of the entertainment world with new feature film versions of Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility on the silver screen and Pride and Prejudice hitting the TV airwaves on PBS. Such high visibility will inevitably draw renewed interest in the original source materials. These new Modern Library editions offer quality hardcovers at affordable prices.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Jane Lapotaire, known to American audiences from her many PBS appearances, is a perfect choice to read Jane Austen's comedy of manners. Her rich and varied intonations capture just the right blend of artifice and empathy to recreate not only the lively and playfully witty Elizabeth Bennett and the handsome, albeit conceited, Mr. Darcy, but also the entire gamut of Bennett family members, friends and foes. Amazingly, Lapotaire even manages to conjure memories of the screen's Mr. D', Lawrence Olivier. This is an exquisite audio abridgment of the classic English satire. L.(H.)B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

A Timeless Classic
This seems a somewhat redundant exercise reviewing a book that already stands as an English language classic and example of free indirect speech. Even if most people could not necessarily recount the plot and characters, the countless editions of the book, combined with movies and literary spinoffs stand in testimony to it as a cultural icon. There are not many who would not recognize the book by name and have some sense of its position and impact.

This review then cannot do much more than to echo these commonly known facts and direct attention specifically to the Kindle edition of the book which was downloaded as a free public domain book and which I confess, my first time reading the entire book as originally written. The strength of the book and timeless qualities of it can be affirmed by the attention that it elicited from me. I was able to enter into the plot and see both the masterful writing as well as the true insight into human nature that this book represents. Apart from a few typos and the chapters not being very well differentiated, I had little difficulty wanting to return to my Kindle to continue the read and glad for the experience.

This is one of the most appealing elements of the Kindle in my estimation. There are so many books in the public domain that provides an opportunity for the reader who has heard of and knows the place and importance of a particular book who can then download the book and take the opportunities during the day (and for me of a long commute) and fill the gaps in one's reading by pulling books that have stood the test of time as well as the convenience of the newer books that are available at a considerable discount over the new Hardback price.

What a pleasure to read and more yet to come in the days ahead.

5 Stars for the novel AND the medium!

Bart Breen

Nice
Great book, one of Jane Austen's better works. Nice plot, great characters, and well written. This story was really different and I was glad I purchased this book.

Not what I would call a "masterpiece".
Pride and Prejudice is a classic, like everyone knows. Unfortunately, it is NOT my cup of tea. Even though many would say that is what gives this book it's "charm", I didn't like how old-fashioned this read is. I was surprised that I thought so because I do not consider myself to be a "modern" person at all. I can't really give a summary because I couldn't get myself to finish this book. I can often finish books that don't grab me at first, but there was no hope for this one. I would definitely say give it shot though because all readers have different taste and I know that there has to be something great in there to make this book so well known!