The books that opened my mind: Pride and Prejudice

The first time I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was when I was around 8 and it was the Classics Illustrated edition. Mostly, I just liked the way the pretty illustrations. But the story interested me enough that I finally got my hands on the book and got hooked on the humour, arguments, repartee and the study of characters.

There was this instance when Bingley rues his bad handwriting saying his thoughts travelled too fast to emulate his friend Darcy’s elegant style. Darcy points out that Bingley is actually delivering a boast on the quickness of his thoughts in the guise of humility. That was a time when teachers despaired of my handwriting and I had thoughts similar to Bingley’s. It took Darcy to puncture our glorified balloons. :D 

I was also fascinated by the study of first impressions, the journey of Darcy’s pride and Elizabeth’s prejudice and their respective re-evaluations. Perhaps Daniel Dennett would have made their journey easier with a lecture on guesstimate mistakes and course corrections. :D

I have come to the firm belief that if I want to retain my fondness for my favourite books the last thing I should do is analyse them. (The sole exception being Girish Karnad’s play Tughlaq. I couldn’t get over the fantastic use of satire in that one.) However, over the course of our second year literature studies, we went over Pride and Prejudice so minutely, I couldn’t look at the book without flinching. :P 

Thankfully, I re-discovered the joys of Pride and Prejudice, years later, particularly that scene towards the end when Elizabeth takes on Lady Catherine. If only I had that kind of presence of mind and rationale during all those times when I really need a good comeback! :D 

My sister, Sappu, sure does. I remember after one of our childhood quarrels I angrily told her to go to hell. Her response? A casual, 'Ok, see you there!' For a moment I was stunned because it was so perfect. Then I burst out laughing and she did too and that was the end of that quarrel. :D

Image Courtesy: C.E. Brock, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons