I have always wanted to read this book and I am sad to say that I was spurred into reading it because I wanted to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" and decided that to be fair to the humorous version of this book I should read the original.
This was a very enjoyable book. It starts out a bit slow as Austen has to set up all the family relations. It takes a bit to keep all of the names thrown at you sorted out; it also takes a bit to get used to the manner of speaking used. There are many times when a characters is trying to say "no" but they take a whole paragraph of finely crafted language to do so.
Despite the above; the language is clever and the story (after page 80 or so) is very engaging. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The plot has a lot of surprises and mis-direction and much attention is paid to characterization.
It is not a quick read, you really have to pay attention to what you read. But for those who like victorian stories, this story should hit the mark. In fact this story seems to be what all the more recently written victorian fictions I have read are striving to be. Definitely a good read if these kind of humorous victorian romances are your thing; this is the original.
Although I don't think I will be reading a ton more Jane Austen; I did find this to be an enteraining book. I am also looking forward to reading the spoof on it "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies."
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