I figured it could be fun to do small discussion each time I finish an (interesting) book, since I always have so many thoughts but no book club to discuss them with.
I completed Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice last night, and I have to say I really enjoyed the book. I found it had a great amount of drama and intrigue to keep me reading on, even after my usual bedtime. But more significantly, I found the insight into 1800's English culture to be supremely interesting.
I was continually dazzled by the changes in English, and how we've modified the language as the years have progressed. For example, for someone to "condescend" in those days wasn't (in my interpretation) necessarily something rude, as it would be these days. It was seen as someone of higher station being humble enough to interact with and advise people who would generally be considered "beneath" them. For example, Lady Catherine is often described as condescending to Mr. Collins, which he takes great pleasure in.
This was also one of the first times I found an enjoyable use-case for LLMs, namely ChatGPT. I found it very helpful to be able to ask questions about the time period and its relation to the book and get specific, well thought out answers without spending too much time searching for reputable sites and scanning through potential sources for answers. That's time that I wanted to be reading, not researching. For example, I was curious how the "ten thousand a year" income was scaled, and how that worked out to today's dollars and how that income was generated. I also was able to ask questions like why Elizabeth might have been embarrassed at a certain scene, or why Mr. Collins was considered so "uncool" by everyone. In fact, a lot of my questions revolved around Mr. Collins and what he was specifically doing to be considered a social pariah by some. Admittedly, I could have had the same experience (potentially) using an annotated book, which I did want to do at some point, but I didn't find the time to get to the library to find a copy, and ChatGPT was conveniently in my pocket at any time. I generally consider myself largely anti-"AI hype" - but I'd be foolish not to admit that this is one of those use-cases that it really shines.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I'd probably give it a five out of five, meaning that I will probably re-read it someday in the future.
Love to hear others thoughts:
- When did you last read it?
- Did you enjoy it?
- Would you read it again?
- Did anything about the book stick with you in particular?
