Pride and Prejudice

[February 2007]

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Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen

number of voters: 3
percentage of voters who finished the book: 66.67%
highest rating: 9
lowest rating: 8.5
average rating: 8.667

number of book group members who claim Jane Austen modeled this book after said book group member’s own love life: 1

All agreed to meet at Barbadosfield, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fuller of East Eugene. But when the time arrived, Mrs. Fuller hosted only Mrs. Gulka, Mrs. Poetzl, and Mrs. Renich. It was a lively crowd, however, as all the ladies were eager for a respite from the chaos of their own estates.

Mrs. Fuller was a most gracious hostess, and all were impressed with her skills in the kitchen. (Though they are quite capable of retaining a cook, the Fullers have a long history of priding themselves in their own baking abilities).

After tea and scones were served, the ladies all settled in for a discussion of the latest literary subjects of the day. It was universally acknowledged (even from those who knew not of what they were speaking) that Miss Austen’s book was both stimulating and entertaining. There was even some speculation that the plotline itself could have been garnered from their very own lives, and thus followed a lengthy tell-all of the ladies’ younger days, the days between their official comings out and their marriages. Vast are the similarities between twenty-first and nineteenth-century pursuits and conquers in love.

When it seemed that nearly all conversation on the subject had been exhausted (as indeed the ladies themselves had become), the carriages were called for. It took scarcely ten minutes for the footmen to arrive, and the ladies retired to their own estates.

It is said that, after returning home, each of the ladies retrieved a copy of the most modern of Greek myths (Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis) and settled in for a long night of burning the library candle. Though this fact cannot be confirmed, one thing is certain: All are looking forward to the first Monday of April (April the Second) when they will have reconvene for another evening of respite from the chaos of their own elaborate estates.