Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"Pride and Prejudice" wasn't the first romance novel written, but it was at the beginning of the genre. Why is P&P still being avidly read, while most of its contemporaries have fallen into the dustbin of history? Having read none of the others, I can only offer my uninformed opinion. My guess is that Austen just had the knack of connecting with human emotion. Things that don't go out of style. Her characters are throughly human and frail, but also charming. That makes for longevity!

I truly enjoyed the book, and was very impressed by Austen's gifts. I don't think I need go into many details, since I'm probably one of the few people in the English speaking world who hadn't read it before now. If you've not read it, give it a whirl. It's light, funny, clever and satisfying.

I wonder how the book would be received if it were written today--in a contemporary style, of course. I fear it would be lumped into genre fiction and be just another light romance novel. Our need to categorize all forms of entertainment haven't done us any good, IMO. P&P is considered literary fiction, but I'm fairly confident that wouldn't be so if it were written now. I'm not sure how I'd categorize fiction if I were in charge of the world, but I think I'd like to have quality matter more than genre.