Sofa Spotlight - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

There’s not a massive amount to say about this that hasn’t been said already so rather than rehash what’s already been said I’ll just give you a reminder of why reading this is was a good idea for me and why it would be a good idea for you to read it too. 

I’ve read Pride and Prejudice before but when I was still at school and possibly once since then. I wanted to read it again because I wanted a bit of light relief after reading some heavy Russian literature. (More about that next week but look out for my review of Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago). Pride and Prejudice seemed like the perfect remedy to counter the seriousness I had just absorbed. 

Rereading it was a great experience. I loved it. But the rereading experience made me realise how much I had been relying on the BBCs adaptation for my Pride and Prejudice. What I thought was part of the story turned out not to be in the book, which led me thinking about what Jane Austen would make of the adaptations of her book. As one thought led to another I decided that a complete re read of all Jane Austen’s books was required, including Sanditon, which I’ve not read before but thanks to Andrew Davis’ adaptation I feel the need to become acquainted with the book. 

Having said that another book that I read alongside Pride and Prejudice was Jane Austen in Hollywood. It’s a selection of essays that takes a look at different aspects of the adaptations that have been made over the years and was very illuminating. So yes, it goes without saying that I would recommend Pride and Prejudice. But I would also recommend Jane Austen in Hollywood as well. Both are readable and entertaining in their own ways.