Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice: A Book Report...of sorts

I concluded my reading tonight of Pride & Prejudice and I can sum up my thoughts and feelings by stating that it was a delight!

Now let me bore you with why I was so delighted.

Never having the temptation to peruse this "chick-flick" type of book so loved by my sister, I discovered that it was on the BYU Great Works List. I knew that I would have to endure it at some point or another. The sale at Deseret Book and the gift card from my mom, sealed the deal and the complete novels of Jane Austen became my possession.

Jane Austen writes during and exemplifies the greatest epoch of the English language. Shakespeare wrote during our mother tongue's infancy. Today our language is deteriorating at an exponential rate. That period between our Founding Fathers and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to me the pinnacle of our parlance. The timing of which was not without Divine purpose. Austen didn't toy around with the language as I like to do. She simply used it elegantly and powerfully. I had to keep my Merriam-Webster open at all times as I often found three words per page with which I was not familiar.

Her subjects, while situated in a specific English era, are timeless. Hers are stories of true love in contrast to the stories of true lust that today invade our media. It took me back to a time when evil was called evil and good was called good. When that line was crossed by one individual, the entire family felt the shame of it and did all in their power to rectify the situation. Sadly, in this modern and moral relativistic world there is often very little or no shame at all in dishonoring the virtues that were integral to our roots.

Austen captures the full essence of each of her characters and brings them to life so well that I can see why her novel has evolved so easily into screenplays and modern adaptations.

If you haven't decided what to read next, please take this as a recommendation.