My Classics Club Readathon Results and Partial Review of Pride and Prejudice

I did read some of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I read the first 90 pages. I stopped reading in the afternoon because my kids all were staying the night at someone's house and it was the first time I had the house to myself in weeks? Months? I don't even remember how long it has been.

While I read the first 90 pages, I can't honestly tell you much about what I read. What I have figured out is that this is one of the shallowest books I have ever read. For all of it's fancy English and big words, the whole thing so far has been about snagging a husband. Most of the book seemed to be boring conversations where Mr. Darcy tries not to like Elizabeth because "of her lack of connections."

The story is full of women that are fake, gossip about each other, and scheme in order to get a mate. The whole thing reminds me of a nineteenth century version of Mean Girls. And until Elizabeth meets Mr. Wickham on the street, nothing much plotwise had seemed to have happened up until that point.

However, I must admit that I am curious to see just who Elizabeth ends up with and whether or not Mr. Darcy is as horrible as Mr. Wickham claims. So far we only have Wickham's side of the story about being cheated out of his inheritance. I am curious to hear Mr. Darcy's side of the story.

What shocks and fascinates me though is how fast courtship proceeds in the nineteenth century. Nowadays it's not uncommon to date for a year to a few years before becoming engaged. At one point Elizabeth's mother hopes Mr. Collins will propose by the end of the week. The end of the week!?

I do think the novel has the potential to go deeper. There seems to be an underlying theme about who Mr. Darcy truly is. Is his pride and obnoxiousness just an act? Is he truly insecure underneath? Maybe even a good guy? Is Mr. Wickham really a liar and the bad guy? Will Elizabeth fall for Mr. Darcy? I want to know!

I'm also anxious to watch the movie (or is it movies?) of Pride and Prejudice. Maybe after seeing the movie I'll understand a bit more about the first 85 pages or so.

The Classics Club Readathon

I can't believe I actually found this in time and it will be on a date that will work for me. Well, sort of. I do have some errands to run tomorrow but it's a better day than most. I'm a little thrown that it starts at 8 AM not midnight, but I suppose that means I can get some chores done in the next several hours and some sleep. Then tomorrow night I can spend all night reading rather than trying to get finished by midnight and catch up on sleep on Sunday. What should I read? Anna Karenina? Gone With the Wind? Pride and Prejudice? I have so many in my TBR pile!

While I'm deciding here is more info about the challenge hosted by The Classics Club:

I wanted to give you a head’s up that we are going to be undertaking a 24-hour readathon in the beginning of January to jump-start the new year! The first ever “The Classics Club Readathon” will be taking place on January 5th, 2013. We wanted to pick a date that would help ring in the new year and all that excitement of tackling reading lists and conquering classics.

We will be following the same timezone rules as the 24-Hour Readathon, with a kick-off post debuting at 8am EST here on the blog. We will be reading for 24 hours after that! We’re hoping this will inspire you to knock a classic or two off your challenge list!

To sign up, fill in the Mister Linky. We’d appreciate it if you spread the word (through a post on your blog or on twitter) so we can get as many participants as possible! I look forward to reading with you on the 5th!