Q Q Q থেকে Začyscie, בלארוס
I scoffed at this book the first time I read it. I didn't see the humor. I didn't think the characters were at all likable. I was only 19...what did I know? And then I read the book again. I was 22. I suddenly found Lizzy hilariously funny and her dad, too. I started to see what she saw in Darcy as well. And then I read the book again. I was 27. Wow. I think I get what Austen wanted her readers to get...at least the astute ones, not the silly romantic girls who inevitably also read the book. Austen was poking fun at the girls of her time. I think she found the idea of romance and marriage slightly amusing. The whole book is satire. Most of what is said in it is sarcasm. And then I read the book again. I was 30. The sarcasm and satire were still there for me, but I think I understood something else, too. Austen may have been poking fun at her society, but I think she was also longing for it as well. She is Lizzy, Jane, Kitty and even Lydia all at once. She must have wanted the romance and sensual sensation of Lydia, the fun and frolicking that both Lydia and Kitty do. She must have also wanted to be sweet, loving Jane, who is beautiful and good. But she's Lizzy. Except she's the sarcastic Lizzy who refuses Collins and she's the Lizzy who falls for Wickem. I don't think Austen's Lizzy would have ended up with Darcy, but it's what she would have wanted to happen. I think that's why she wrote the romantic, happily ever after ending that Lizzy gets. I didn't understand that as a young reader. So I completely recommend P&P, but I'd read it many times in your life to fully appreciate it.