Pride and Prejudice

这并非一部简单的爱情小说。杨绛曾直言「有什么好」，不少读者重读后也觉得「特别没劲」——这种争议恰恰是它的价值所在。与豆瓣简介强调的「达西与伊丽莎白的浪漫交锋」不同，真正让读者反复咀嚼的，是奥斯汀笔下婚姻与金钱之间冷峻的算计：「婚姻生活是否幸福，完全是个机会问题」，那句「饶有家资的单身男子必定要娶妻室」的反讽，点破了爱情背后赤裸的经济逻辑。书中最耐人寻味的，是伊丽莎白那句痛彻的自省——她懊悔的不是坠入情网，而是「蠢在虚荣心」，在成见与无知中丢掉了理智。奥斯汀以平淡的乡村日常为材，写尽人性的傲慢与偏见如何蒙蔽双眼。适合愿意慢读、愿意在「verbal dueling」的机锋里品味反讽的读者；若只为甜宠而来，或许会失望。

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on July 18, 1817. As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma(1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.