Back at the very end of October last year I was super stressed at work and needed something comforting and interruptible to read so took Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice to read during lunch. I hadn’t read it in years and yet I slipped into it smoothly and easily. Whenever I had the chance to read it I was immediately soothed and I was whisked away. Calgon has nothing on Jane Austen.
Then in January I started a new job. My stress level plummeted. After I got a public transit commute routine going I decided to take Jane with me. But, alas, my already falling apart mass market Penguin edition began losing pieces of itself with every trip. So Jane had to be left at home. Since I was also in school, at home reading time was severely restricted. I had only time for a chapter here and a chapter there.
Finally, on Saturday, with about 80 or so pages left, I luxuriated in the remainder of P&P. Callooh! Callay! What a frabjous book! When I closed the cover after the final sentence I was so happy, so satisfied. I caressed the disintegrating book gently and sighed.
P&P is back on the shelf now with a few new underlinings. There she will wait, very likely several years, before I pull her down again for the fourth, maybe fifth re-read, I have lost track. Unfortunately, though I have several good books on the go, none of them can compare. I feel like Mr. Darcy must have felt at the first ball in Meryton. Nonetheless, bring on the zombies!
Nicely said. Can’t believe Calgon is on YouTube. Someone needs to buy you a durable edition of P&P (hint hint) before the zombies get you!
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P&P is my favorite reread. I get that same satisfied feeling when I finish it. I start getting that little smile about the time Lady Catherine visits Longbourne and well, I just can’t stop. I may have to go get Jane off the shelf!
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“Callooh! Callay! What a frabjous book! ” So well said. I love rereading Pride and Prejudice!
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Indeed. I vividly remember my first reading of P&P, and I can’t say that for very many books. Excellent choice for bibliotherapy.
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Oh, how lovely that you finally got to finish it, and isn’t it wonderful that the more times we read it, the more we love it? I’ve read it 3 times now I think, and I’m due to read it next year – it’s Persuasion’s turn this year, my other favourite novel by her. I love how you caress the cover too as you put it back on the shelf. That’s a true book addict!!
And I also want to read the zombie book too! Should be interesting! lol
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Why do you consider P&P to be such a good book?
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I do love that book… it might be time for some Austen rereads…
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Why, I’d rather read James Fenimore Cooper …..
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I have re-read P&P several times but it’s been years since I last read it and in a way I’m scared to re-read it in case it doesn’t live up to my expectations. I loved it so much. I’ve said before that my copy belonged to my mother, and I also have another copy too – I really will get one of them off the shelf soon.
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I’m very glad that the work stress has diminished significantly in the meantime! P & P is timelessly lovely – if only the same could be said of work!
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I can’t wait to hear about the zombies!!!!
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Callay for P&P, definitely.
Thought I should mention that BBC Radio 4 are doing Zweig’s The Postoffice Girl as the book of the week this week. It may be slightly abridged but should be podcastable.
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I only read P&P for the first time last month and I already want to read it again! I hope my copy of P&P gets as well-worn and loved as your is. I’m off today to buy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. We’ll see how well I fare battling the walking dead.
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Last year, one of our “Movie Night” movies was The Jane Austen Book Club (a good movie). We all got fired up to read, or re-read, Jane Austen, and my daughter-in-law and I went to the bookstore and got a copy of each title they had in paper back and shared them around. I see Emma on the bookshelf every time I go up the stairs. I really need to pick it up and read it soon.
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I reread it more or less yearly and I have since I was somewhere around 10 years old. I love it.
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P&P is a great comfort re-read isn’t it? I’m currently reading the annotated version – but actually not loving all of the intrusions into the text!!
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Sylvia, I was surprised to find Calgon on YouTube but what can’t a person find on YouTube these days? I love my falling apart copy of P&P and wouldn’t trade it for anything. 🙂
Kate, oh yes, I started to get that little smile when Lady Catherine showed up at to see Elizabeth too!
Rebecca, it is among my favorite books and it just keeps getting better.
Mella, it did turn out to be an excellent choice. I remember when I first read it how surprised I was at Lizzy’s sassy conversations. I had never read anything like it.
Susan, oh I love Persuasion too! I think it is my next favorite Austen novel. It has been ages since I have read that one. Hmm, I think I will be reading it soon!
Phil, in a nutshell, it’s a good story well-written. The characters are memorable, the class observations and gender observations are fascinating, and the dialog is snappy.
Daphne, I know. I am thinking I am going to have to read the other ones now too!
Okie, LOL 🙂
BooksPlease, don’t be afraid. This is one book that holds up under multiple re-reads. And you will find new things to be delighted about that you didn’t notice the last time you read it.
Litlove, thank you. Sometimes it takes a little distance to realize how stressed you are. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea how bad. But P&P and a new job work wonders!
Verbivore, I am excited about the zombies too even though when I first found out about them I was a bit nonplussed.
Maggie, thanks for the tip on the BBC of Post Office Girl!
J.S., it sounds like it won’t be long before you have your own well-worn copy of P&P! Let’s hope the zombies are good!
Grad, any movie that gets a person fired up to read Jane Austen has to be a good movie 🙂 Have you read Emma before? It’s a good one. But then you probably knew that already!
Sassymonkey, that is so cool! You must have it nearly memorized. What fun!
Karen, a wonderful comfort read. I started reading the annotated version first but then switched to because I found the intrusions too much. I hope the annotations are good and worthwhile though.
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Yay for P&P! It’s such a lovely book; I could re-read it tons of times and still love it. It’s really perfect for stressful times.
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Stefanie,
Glad you got the intent of my comment. Great blog! …
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My blogging partner, Nancy, was aghast yesterday when I confessed that I had never read P&P (or any other Austen). In my defense, I went to an all-boys high school, and didn’t take any English courses in college, so it never turned up on a reading list.
Your post adds to the pressures pushing me toward P&P. Before the year is out, I’ll have to read it, the non-zombie version, of course.
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You should indulge in a nice deluxe edition of P&P. I had planned on reading/rereading all of Austen’s work last year, but got stuck on Sense and Sensibility, which I finished and enjoyed. Next up is P&P, which I often look at and am not sure why I don’t just pick up and read (since I pick up and read everything else–lol). Glad things have calmed down, too!
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Frabjous. What a frabjous word! I’m using it all the time now. 🙂
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Dorothy, it is a very comforting book, isn’t it? I can count on a happy ending yet still worry that maybe Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth won’t get together.
Okie, thanks!
Dave, you have an excuse for which you can be forgiven 😉
Danielle, I should get a nice edition one of these days, but it just wouldn’t be the same as my well-loved one. I hope you enjoy your own reading of P&P!
wil, isn’t frabjous great? Compliments of Lewis Carroll and his Jabberwocky poem.
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