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Giveaway: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice Turns 200

Jane Austen is best know for her novels and her close-knit family, particularly her relationship with Cassandra, who painted a famous portrait of her sister and for burning a number of her sister’s letters following her death.  Following her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, Austen turned to her second novel, Pride & Prejudice, originally titled First Impressions.  Her second novel has been one of my favorites for many years, and I think I’ve read it at least five times or at least parts of it at any given moment.  Each time I read it, I learn or discover something new, and I think that is the mark of a successful author.

January 28, 2013 is the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s most beloved novel, Pride & Prejudice.  Austen’s novel examines the differences between social classes, elements of marriage and morality, and comments on the societal expectations regarding the manners and education of women in different circles.  It is often considered a great love story even as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy spar with one another and must overcome great adversity and societal impediments to find their way back to one another. 

The novel and the author have become so popular in modern society that a number of spinoffs, continuations, and re-tellings have cropped up in recent years, and there are a number of blogs dedicated to her novels and those other novels and books.  Facebook even has a page dedicated to the 200th birthday of Pride & PrejudiceCheck it out.

As part of my Jane Austen celebration, check out the giveaway below.

Quirk Books is offering one copy of The Jane Austen Handbook by Margaret C. Sullivan to one winner in the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom.

I reviewed this in February of 2011, and said that it was “a great companion for the Jane Austen fanatic and fan because it offers guidance on how young men and women navigated a complex set of social rules and even broke them at times.  As each moment in life is addressed, Sullivan also offers moments in Austen’s work where traditions are bent.”

If you want to check out my interview with Sullivan, feel free.  She offers some great insights into her love of Austen and what books she recommends for fellow Austen lovers.

Quirk Books is offering one copy of Pride & Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith to one winner in the United States, Canada, or United Kingdom.

In my review from 2010, I called the novel “an exercise in revision and an examination of Austen’s characters in a new light.  Many readers will disagree with Grahame-Smith’s portrayal of Lizzy as a cutthroat assassin who is quickly turned by her own emotions or strict sense of duty and honor, particularly since she often talks of dispatching her peers for slighting her family, imagines beheading her own sister Lydia simply because she prattles on, and other unmentionable actions.”

To enter for one or both of these books, leave a comment about the first time you read Jane Austen and what you enjoyed about her work or the first time you read Pride & Prejudice and why you would reread it.  If you have never read Austen before, leave a comment about what book you’d be interested in reading and why.

Deadline to enter is Jan. 11, 2013, at 11:59 PM EST.

Comments

  1. There’s just something about Pride and Prejudice that hooks readers to it. 🙂

  2. I read Austen for the first time in high school when my parents bought me S&S for Christmas, and I was hooked. I think Emma is my favorite of the moment, but I love Persuasion and P&P lots, too. No need to enter me, as I have both of these on my shelf.

  3. No need to enter me, but I think the companion book looks fantastic for Jane Fans!

  4. I read ‘Emma’ first and loved it. Thanks for the chance to win.

  5. My first Austen book was Pride and Prejudice. It’s been read many times over the years and I think what I love most about it is the language. It’s concise, formal and ever so proper. Why don’t we speak like this nowadays? (haha) The relationships are the other facinating aspect of this novel with the different personalities, the private and public personas are as complex as a tapestry. Class, money and morality…love it.

    I would love to enter the drawing for the Jane Austen Handbook. I already own Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

  6. Wonderful giveaway. The first Jane Austen that I enjoyed greatly was Sense and Sensibility.

  7. the first jane austen novel that I read was ’emma’…i loved the writing, it’s timeless