pride and prejudice

i am in love with this book.

i remember the first time i saw the a&e movie version. i had a regular babysitting job and the mom had the set of vhs tapes. i would watch one or two after i put the kids to bed. i loved it. i can't remember the first time i saw the newer version, but i can tell you that i've seen it at least 10 times. i love that one as well. it's visually beautiful. i think the actors they chose were perfect together.

my nana gave me the book years ago before the newer movie came out. i tried to read it several times, but i couldn't get past the first few pages. most of the time when i read, it needs to be a book that i don't have to think about. i love a good story, but please don't actually make me think about what i'm reading. i call them fluff books. there are oh, so many to choose from!

last weekend i went to visit my mom. without my children. i was going to be flying on a plane with no kids. what a novelty. i wanted to bring a book with me, but i didn't have a chance to get to the library so i perused my bookshelf. (i don't mind rereading books. i actually do it a lot)

the copy of pride and prejudice jumped out at me. not literally, of course, that would have been a little odd. i decided to grab it and bring. with no little ones around, i thought maybe i could make a go of it.

holy moly, am i glad i did. i seriously love this book. what gets me is the vocabulary. i mean, really, the way they talked is so far and above how we talk today, which is probably why i couldn't get past the first couple of pages before. if you're just reading the words just to read, you will not understand. it's a book that requires an effort to read.

an added bonus, when i opened the book on the plane i saw the inscription from my nana, who died 3 years ago. it was really special. throughout the book she had underlined phrases and paragraphs. made me happy and sad if you know what i mean.

i want to read jane austen's other books. on my bookshelf is an unopened copy of sense and sensibility that i'm going to take on next!