pride and prejudice, Jane Austen

I almost do not dare admit to you how much I like this book. I've read it several times, and I always find it delightful, perfectly well-balanced and perfectly timed.  It cheers me up; it's funny. Its observations of foolish people are witty and comforting. It is like being in the company of my sophisticated and clever friends, laughing at the world.

Also, I think the moral is sound. If the book has a moral at all, it is, in my opinion, that one can't better oneself without having a sense of humor. It is only because Elizabeth is willing to laugh, both at herself and at others, that she is able to correct her faults.  Without this humor, she wouldn't be able to adapt. Her sisters don't have her humor, and their fortunes are determined by their natures, which are in turn merely accidents of genetics. Jane is born kind and sweet, and she ends up happily with a kind, sweet man. Lydia is born selfish and ends up sort of screwed. Elizabeth is both good and bad, but she's smart and has a good sense of humor, which makes her more human, and well-liked by readers, and also better equipped to create her own fortune and happiness.

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