Pride & Prejudice for Dummies! | A Beginner’s Reading Guide to Literary Classics

Well, we finally read our first Jane Austen Novel… and OF COURSE it had to be Pride and Prejudice! We needed to know what the hype was about, and why this book is such a pivotal piece of the romance canon. What is that hand flex all about??!!

Welcome to our newest bonus series where we’re taking deep dives into some of the most beloved classics of our time. We kicked it off with Wuthering Heights, and today we’re moving on to our Jane Austen journey with a cutie little crash course into Pride and Prejudice.

We decided that rather than attempt to become overnight experts we would phone a friend! And today Sarah @sarahsliteraryworld is here to give us a little help with Pride and Prejudice as first time readers and helps provide us with the tips and tricks we need to really understand this novel. 

Sarah breaks down the Bennett family dynamics, the setting and timeline, gives us some background on Jane Austen herself, outlines central themes, and gives us all her advice on how to truly immerse yourself in this story. 

We hope that you enjoy this bonus mini episode, and will join us for our future deep dive into the novel and movies! And don’t forget to go follow @Sarahsliteraryworld | https://www.instagram.com/sarahsliteraryworld/ for some more amazing bookish content! 

Don't be shy, subscribe! New Podcasts every Tuesday!! (And sometimes Friday!…)

• Shop our Merch line | *  https://besties-and-the-books-shop.fourthwall.com

Check out these narrator interviews? ⬇️

Anthony Palmini gives us the lowdown on what it’s like to voice act Rhysand, Kingfisher, AND Slade Ravinger! https://youtu.be/zcCyrlZ5Jcc?si=2k7ULbRPgZl_5pUJ

Check out these author interviews? ⬇️

Penn Cole talks with us about Strong Female Characters, Feminist Themes, and her debut bestselling Spark of the Everflame Series! https://youtu.be/7ukNImyoObw?si=7C3Y9kOUMN4hfcKb

We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4

Check the official Follow Up Author Interview with Lindsay Straube of the Split or Swallow Universe all about Between Two Kings! https://youtu.be/OW1cxXTVcTc?si=oOxVIzbIheET_bNE

____

Shop Bookish Merch we are wearing:

Ashley is wearing our merch:  Black Crop Besties Hoodie 

Liz is wearing our merch:  Grey Full Zip Besties Hoodie

Shop the collection: 

https://besties-and-the-books-shop.fourthwall.com

Any link with an * is an affiliate link through the service Magic Links and is eligible for a commission to us with no ex

Transcript

In Europe and in the US, we don't have the same ending. For me reading it for the first time, I definitely struggled with that. A contemporary romance that also has the criticism of societal norms at the time. It has influenced every modern romance novel out there.

Welcome to the Besties in the Books podcast, guys. I'm Liz. And I'm Ashley. And this is our second actual mini episode because we are making new reading guides. So, this is a quick little reading guide for our series covering some classics. In case you missed it, we did one for Withering Heights. Boy, was that a beast. Boy, was that an undertaking. So, now today we are phoning another friend for some help. Sarah over at Sarah's Literary World over on Instagram. Hey, Sarah. Hi. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. She's going to share some tips and tricks and a quick little reading guide for those of you who are reading Pride and Prejudice with us for the first time by none other than the Jane Austin. So, mostly a spoiler-free episode. We will warn you if some spoilers will be ensued, but we just want to help everyone kind of, you know, deep dive gentlerally. That's not a word, but that's all right. More gent more gentler. It's still not a word. We're going to let it go. All right, good try. As a first time reader, some of us are still waking up. Dear Sarah's on another time zone coming in at the end of the day, so we're going to be a little, you know, all over the place in a good way. It's going to be great. It's great. It's great. Everything's great. Everything's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. So, you know, as Ashley was saying, we heard you, especially with Withering Heights. I mean, even us like firsttime readers for Withering Heights, we were like, "Oh my gosh, like we need much more explanation." This is also a first time read for us with um Pride and Prejudice, all Jane Austin in general. Um so we appreciate like a little bit of guidance just to kind of like make going into this a little bit easier because I feel like we're just we're coming from, you know, yeah, a contemporary space, a fantasy space, just something a little bit different. Um, so it's also important with books like this to make sure that we're talking a little bit more about things like social context, for example. Um, so we'll get a little bit into that. Um, maybe just get into what the actual genre is, who these characters are. I feel like with some of these old books, there's like a zillion characters and sometimes it could be hard to keep track. Um, so yeah, we'll be decoding it a little bit, if you will. Um, so hopefully useful if you've read the book before, but also extra useful if you've never read the book before. But before we bring Sarah on, we just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. Seriously, thank you guys so much for taking time out of your day and your book to come and join us and hear what this chat is all about. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like favorite podcasts, including YouTube. We are Besties in the Books podcast everywhere. And make sure you follow Sarah over on Instagram at Sarah's Literary World. Yay. Okay. So, first and foremost, let's welcome our special guest who's here to help us understand Pride and Prejudice a little bit better. So, welcome Sarah at Sarah's Literary World. Thank you for the warm welcome. Of course. So, first, why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself, how you became interested in classic literature, but specifically Pride and Prejudice, and maybe tell us a little bit about your Bookstagram account. Hi, I am Sarah. I am French, but I read and review in English. I fell in love with reading when I was a child. I was reading what we call in France Detectivis. It's Nancy Drew in English in the US, I think. A and I was reading them with a little flashlight. Yeah. Love it. Under the cover. And um like that's how I fell in love with it. I then became like a teenager and didn't care that much about reading. But I went back to it probably around 12 because my school teacher, my French teacher like thought that I would love Pride and Prejudice. So she recommended it to me. I read it then and ever since I think I've read it almost every year. So I do know it quite well. I would say so. Um I wouldn't say that I am very much verse in classics but I did read a few classics after that one um that she recommended it to me like Withering Eyes for example. I did read around that time. I haven't reread it since then but I did listen to the podcast. That was amazing by the way. Well thank you. Thank you. Those those heavy hitters, man. Yeah. What a wild ride that was. Yeah. Yeah. Um so after that I have I think it was one of the only books that I read like every year. I didn't went back to reading at all until a certain age. Um, and then I picked up Fourth Wing in 2024 and I decided to create an Instagram account to kind of journal my books and my feelings and such. And now I'm thinking about opening a YouTube channel to post my reading reactions. So, it's taking like it's it's consuming me at the moment, we can say. And it does. Yeah, it's I'm very excited to be here with you today. A well, welcome. We're so excited to have you. So cool. We love that reading journey for you. Let's get into Pride and Prejudice. Okay. There's a lot of characters in Pride and Prejudice, especially being an older novel. They love to use those last names, make us all confused, but it's the proper way. So, can you talk like briefly a little bit about some of the major characters we need to be looking out for? So, we are following Elizabeth Bennett and she has uh a few sisters, Jane, Lydia, Mary, and Kitty. Um, they all have very different personalities. They were raised by a couple that met Love at First Sight. Okay, we can say. And like the novel explores somehow how that can be like um troubling for the upbringing of a family cuz we are kind of diving into some societal expectations with marriage and relationships. So we have there. It seemed like when I was reading it kind of like what that would look like in a society where it is so important to marry for money, social gain, and you have parents that maybe didn't quite go down that path. Is that right? Yeah, exactly. and they may make a very special very weird pairing that has an impact on all the women. M mhm they you have the eldest daughters like the two the two eldest daughters that are more mature kinder maybe more reserved and the younger ones that are more frivolous I guess and it's going to have a very it's going to be very important for the for the rest of the story. Mhm. Um the book criticize marriage through all length like like I said um love at first sight marriage for like you said for financial reasons for um social status. I saw it as like it's symbolized by the different daughters, right? Like it's kind of like she's using the different like daughters in their relationships to kind of like show like different kinds of dynamics and how like the society at the time kind of gave women only certain options. Right. Yeah. The daughter and also the main character as a best friend. Mhm. Mhm. who comes from a not because the Bennett is a family that is not aristocratic or not very rich but still rich for their town I guess as a best friend that is from same town but with lower income and she then marries and we see how we see the difference in the reason why she chose to marry. Her her social status is very important, but it's not just that. She's also very old for someone to be getting a proposal. Oh, right. She's like 27, right? Or something like that. Yeah, exactly. An old maid at that point. I know. My gosh. So we have the five daughters, the parents, and then we have at one point early on new, you know, the new men of the town come in. And what are the names of those male characters that we have come on the scene? So we have Mr. Binglay who is coming to Netherfield to rent kind of a a manor, I guess, a castle. I don't know how you say that in English. Um, a big property. Yeah. Yeah. large estate maybe. Yeah, thank you. Large estate. And we follow him. He arrives in town. The town is just buzzling with excitement. Everyone visits him to place their daughters because that's the way you do thing back then. And um there is invited to a bowl and he comes with a big party. He plans to come with a big parties but eventually comes with only his best friend Mr. Darcy who is richer than him. Who is an aristocrat, a broody and some men I guess we can say. Yeah. Handsome but aloof. Yeah. So makes a lot of talk about him because he's so much more reserved than some of the other male characters on page. Mhm. Yeah. And maybe a bit judgmental. Yeah. And he has sisters. Mr. Bingley has a sister um and his sister-in-law if I remember correctly. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Um and they both they're both coming with him and they're all very high status. And even though Mr. Bingley is a very kind and gentlemanlike character. His family and friend are not. So I think it's very interesting because it shows that it doesn't matter how rich you are, what your social status is, there is still it doesn't mean you're going to be a good person. And I think she she uh I think Jane Austin choose to represent that very well throughout the the entire book. Like there is other characters that come through like Lady Katrindberg um or even Mr. poems that are very conceited uh proud characters that um represent aristocrats or religious party, religious people and they're

they're not really great people. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah. For sure. and they're kind of holding up these social expectations and political expectations while also like because they're benefiting from it. So they are almost upset when these things don't fall through with what they would expect because then it's going to it's going to rock their boat. So yeah, very interesting. the brand. That's a good little the scheme. It's a good introduction into some of the characters to hopefully give you guys, you know, a little bit of a framework going into what we're dealing with here. Yeah. Yes. So, okay. Do you have one piece of advice for someone thinking about reading Pride and Prejudice? And if so, what would it be? So, I wouldn't say I have a piece of advice really because I think it's actually one of the easiest uh classics to read. like it was written in the early 18. Mhm. Um but it doesn't feel very heavy or dance. It has lots of dialogues. Um the conversations are very sharp, witty, and often very funny. Mhm. It makes it makes it feels like it's still modern today. Okay. And I think that helps a lot. And I think that helps a lot with um with it being an easy classic. And it's also like there is no long descriptive passages that you can find in some other classics, I guess. Okay. I could see that. Like kind of those long meandering descriptions that can sometimes like allow our brains to wander off into space. Yeah, I could see that. It's a heavy dialogue, would you say? Yeah. Yeah. Heavy in dialogue. Yeah. But the dialogue doesn't feel like too much. It's not It's very It's often very funny. Um a lot of dry humor. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, I I really feel like it it just passes by. Beautiful. All right, let's set the scene a little bit. So, do you know much about Jane Austin and what was going on socially, politically during that time period that she wrote Pride and Prejudice? So, she was uh an English writer born in uh 1775. Uh she died at 41 of um some kind of illness which is still quite young for the time. Mhm. All of her novels were published anonymously. um during her lifetime. It was mostly because she was a woman but also because the genre in which she writes is was not very well perceived at the time. Mhm. So it helped a little staying anonymous I guess. Um some of her work were published postmortar like Nortel Abby and P and Persuasions. She has a few unfinished novels sending tons uh I think also the Watsons and some other works she started when she was a child but never went back to it. Yeah. So was Pride and Prejudice like did cuz I was curious about this. I didn't look this up ahead of time cuz I was thinking we'd talk about it here. So, Pride and Prejudice was published while she was still alive, but did people know that she wrote it? You know what I mean? Like, I'm wondering like what the dynamic there was cuz she had published under a different name originally. It was uh start publish uh first impressions. Okay. Mhm. But it was it was her second novel. Some people knew it was her, but it otherwise it was pretty anonymous. Wow. Yeah. And it it it was kind of a success, like a moderate success, but she didn't get into fame during her her time, like while she was alive. Wow. It all happened after when it was republished by um by some publisher with illustrated um pages. Man, how interesting. I know. I feel like we see that so often when we're going through these classics, just like obviously by women. Yep. Not not getting the cred they deserve like until they're already gone, you know? Yeah. Of course not. Why would they? Golly. So during the time she wrote it like a few things happened in Europe. First there was the French revolutions which um did challenge a little bit the idea about class and aristocracy. Mhm. Britain was also in the middle of the Napoleon the Napoleonic wars. Mhm. We don't really see that in the books, but there are mentions of militias in the town like Marington and stuff. True. Yeah. Like society was structured by class. And that is I think the main point, the main thing that we see in the book. Everything was based on your place in society. Family, um, money and social connections were everything back then. And especially for women, you couldn't marry for love. Like it could happen obviously, but it was mostly for financial security and social mobility. That's that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Women had very little right. Yeah. They couldn't inherit um they couldn't inherit uh property very easily. And that's also the main point of the book. Like the estate they live on is entitled to a male. Yeah. Mr. Collins. I think that that was one of the things that I found was most Yeah. Right. Well, that's the thing is that it's like, you know, it was the entailment law, right, is what basically this whole thing is about is about the fact that when the dad, Mr. Bennett, dies, the property will not be left to any of the daughters or the wife. it'll go to the next male in the lineage, I guess you could say, or like the closely most closely related male who happens to be Mr. Collins, right? And so I feel like that was a really great way to tie in some political commentary for sure. Definitely. Yeah, exactly. Mhm. And everything that that meant. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Can't wait to talk about that. That goes that goes deep for sure. So building off that, what would you say are the central themes for Pride and Prejudice? The most relevant thing to say about Pride and Prejudice is that it's criticize several aspect of the society. Like I said, marriage as a social economic institution, wealth because of the commentary we can see on some characters that are aristocrat but are like the worst character that you can find. Mhm. Um like being very educated and being high in the society like doesn't give you everything I guess. Um but I think it's also important to note that um there is also a big part that is about personal growth and self-awareness. And I don't know if it's something that is discussed a lot with this book, but I feel like it's it's also very important because the title Pride and Prejudice that was before first impression is very important. It is a satire about like the the lineage thing. They're going to lose the house, so they have to get married. So this part is the main theme, but there is also like the moment she meets Darcy. Mhm. He hurts her pride a little. Um, but then we see that he kind of he compares her is as unremarkable or not special enough to tempt him. I don't remember exactly say it, but it's rather rough. Mhm. Yeah. But then when she goes to Mr. Bingley's house for because her sister is there. That's all I'm going to say for now. Um, we see that there is this little moments where where is like, oh, like it's I know it's Elizabeth's point of view, but we kind of feel like, oh, maybe I maybe I was a little bit fast in my judgment here. Like I feel like we can see it like when she challenges him by in a little dialogue about um what a woman have to do to be considered um or Yeah, it's amazing. That was a good that was a really good part. Like yeah, I I'm glad that you brought that up because that resonated with me actually a lot. Mhm. Yeah. It felt like the introduction to banter or something. Yeah. We don't have his point of view, but I feel like we can feel it. And she stays very like intent on disliking him throughout the book. And it goes on and on and on and on and at some point everything shifts and she realized that maybe she was also a little bit prejudiced. I think it shows that character growth that I was talking about earlier and self-awareness kind of like how to overcome that first impression that you've created of this person in your mind and also at the same time I noticed that she's combating uh reputation. Yeah. It's like I think we have all done it right where it's like especially when you're younger which all these sisters are like definitely like you know on the younger side. It's like we are so quick to judge other people and I think it shows like that growth into being like okay well what are my actually like what are my internalized like prejudices and judgments and stuff like that and how am I putting that onto other people and projecting that out and being able to self-reflect. So yeah, I completely agree with what you said there too. Yeah, that's exactly that. Yeah. What would you say this genre is considered in the book world? So it is a romance novel obviously um a classic regence novel but I think uh no um I don't think I'm sure it's also categorized as a satire and a social observations because she brings to light the aspects of society that she believes to be unfair or ludicrous and she does it with humor and wit. So it's not only a romance novel. It is a romance novel. It is considered to be the foundation of the romance genre. But it's not just that. Yeah. Cuz we can have both. We can have only and we can have both. And in this case, it's all Totally. And I kind of like thought of it once I cuz again, we went into this blind. We didn't have the reading guide yet. So I hope you guys, you know, this helps you guys out there listening. But going into it, I'm like, "Okay, this isn't historical romance, right?" Cuz that's somebody that's in the future writing of the past. No, this is kind of like a contemporary romance that also has the criticism of societal norms at the time. So, you know, just go, you know, that going into this book is it's almost like reading your contemporary romance of the the if as if you were there right then and there because that's somebody that is literally experiencing these things, writing it and then offering a critical lens to those problems and issues of the time. Yeah, I think that Yeah, you could say that. Yeah, I think that that that helps too because I feel like for me reading it for the first time, I definitely struggled with that. Um, for sure. But if you look at it like, okay, if you're walking around in the early 1800s and you're like, hey, I want a romance novel, um, and you pick it up and then you see like, oh, romance has always been used as this tool for women to critique the societies that they live in, right? Like at whatever time that is. And she, Jane Austin, is choosing to do it in a way that is satirical. I feel like can be a little hard to understand now in 2026 if you don't know going into it that that's what we're looking for. So that's why we're doing this. You know what I mean? Cuz I feel like if I would have known that going into it, I think that it would have made it a little bit easier for me to read, too. Yeah, I get it. It's It's really like it has influenced every modern romance novel out there. It has all the romance trope that we read on a daily basis. It's kind of an enemies to lover miscommunic miscommunication, misunderstanding, the proud and emotionally reserved love interest, the witty, independent, harrowing, like it's all a little bit of forbidden love, too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. If you think about it, you get different classes. Yeah. Yeah. That's both. Yeah. Are you obsessed with the movies or miniseries or Pride and Prejudice as well? as well. I do. I have like opinions. Okay, let's share because it has the quite the cult following like we knew things about this book just due to memes and reals and things like that. So, yes, please share your opinion on these adaptations. Do you feel like they do the book justice? Are they worth watching? Spill it. First of all, every every BBC miniseries about Jane Austin, about Jen Austin novels, every adaptation is absolutely faithful to the book. Like it's it's it's word for word like almost like it's insane how exactly the book it is. especially maybe for the calling fifth scene at the lake uh for Pride and Prejudice. But it is it is perfect. Like I have the DVD collection because I I I watch them all the time and I need to have a format that I can watch that doesn't go away like if I don't have Netflix all the time or physical over here. Buy your DVDs, guys. Buy your CDs. Buy your records. like we can't let them take it from us like they can virtually. So fully support that. So, I have them and every time I read or reread a Janiston novel, like I watch the BBC series right after and it's just it I I think I read uh Sense and Sensibility in 2022 for the first time because I hadn't read it before and I watched the show right after and I was like it's it's exactly the same. It's exactly the same. there is like so if you're not that much into reading or if you are not sure if you want to read it I think this is the perfect way to start but it is longer than a movie. Yeah, we discovered that when researching it like oh no we don't have time to watch all of these cuz we were just thinking it was two movies. But that is so wonderful and so rare to hear honestly when we're cuz we do a lot of book versus movie things that when applicable and it's very rare that it does a good job adapting, right? Yeah. Well, there there are some exceptions in the channel department also, but I feel like most of the adaptations that I've watched, I didn't watch the 1980 one, I think, but it doesn't have a great rating. Um but like I feel like the movie with Karen Nightly is probably the most um visually pleasing and it follows the story really really beautifully. It's it's a great adaptation. It's not word for word but it's like some scene are happening at some different places but it makes sense for for a movie to be done this way. So it's more cinematic. I'd agree. Mhm. The the music is amazing. I mean, it's it's perfect. Even though it's not the most faithful adaptation out there, it's it's still perfect. So, these are my favorite adaptations. Like both I I do watch. If I reread the book, I have to watch. And I I usually just watch both. I just I love that. I cannot feel like I need to. Yeah. But if you want me to talk about a nonfaithful adaptation of Jane Austin, I can't because there is a movie called Persuasion on Netflix. And it's just it's it's a good movie if you take it away from Persuasion. It's a it's a prime movie, I guess, but it's not it's not Persuasion. It's just it's not it's own thing. You know, I feel like that's a really interesting because I was kind of talking to my husband about this um and we talked about it on the Withering Heights uh reading guide as well. You know, I think we're so used to wanting to avoid spoilers when we get into a new book that we do the same thing with these classics if we haven't come around to reading them yet. Um, and I almost think, you know, that it's more useful if you can find a really good adaptation, like you're saying, you know, like the BBC adaptation to almost watch it first. Mhm. To kind of help with the reading process afterwards, you know what I mean? Because it's like, okay, yeah, sure, you're spoiling it for yourself, but at the same time, if you understand the novel that much better then, then then it's worth it in my opinion. Yeah. and you see more things like you you visualize thing easier and I think you can catch up on more details. So I I I am not against watching adaptations first if you know they are faithful. Yeah, I think it's actually quite smart. I did a weird thing with the Kira Nightly movie where I was like, "Okay, I need to make sure I watch this movie before Liz and I film our deep dive episode." episode. I ended up watching the first half about 70% into the book and it actually helped me finish the rest of the book easier because I do actually struggle with the way it's written because it's very proper and some of the words that they use are not words that we use in our day-to-day anymore. So, it can take some more motivation to get into. So once I can kind of take out the part where I'm trying to visualize the characters and the family tree and everything cuz I've at least seen it halfway through, then for me that helped connect the dots and made the rest of the book a lot easier. So that's an option for people if you're like us and can never sit down and finish a full movie in one sitting. Anyways, yeah, I guess with classics it's like yeah, like now that we're doing this, I'm like don't be afraid of spoilers. spoilers will probably help you like it better to be honest. Especially Yeah, especially for the ones that aren't fully faithful. So, getting a getting a light version and just knowing like Sarah said, it's not going to be exact, but just like a loose representation or you can go with some of the more accurate adaptations and just know, yeah, you might be spoiled, but it's just different. Reading the book is different. Yeah, it is. It is. And um I don't know. You finished the movie or not? The movie I finished? Yeah. We just didn't do the show. Mhm. How did it end? In Europe and in the US, we don't have the same ending. Oh, what? Everybody, that's crazy. Go find the different endings. Because because uh I think they thought that European viewers would be kind of um weird. Honestly, like I loved the ending of the movie. Like I wasn't fully sold on the movie to be honest. Like it's just not really my type of movie. Um but like the ending kind of honestly makes me want to rewatch it now. If you're interested in um Jan in general, there is a movie called Becoming Jane. It is um a romanced version of her biography and it's um Anati that's playing Jane Austin. Okay, that's cool. That's actually really good info. Yeah. And I I I I did enjoy it. Okay. Yeah, I know it is very romance. It's not exactly how our life went by, but and honestly, we don't know much because the sister burned down their letters. So, we don't have much to to know exactly what happened with her like intimately. We know that she never married, that she turned down to proposal because she was like uh Jane in the novel or Lizzy in the novel waiting for true love kind of. I guess and uh maybe didn't find it, but we don't we don't have much to go on. So, it is rather romanced. Yeah. Any other tips and tricks for reading Pride and Prejudice for the first time? Ashley, did you have anything that helped you or Sarah, do you have anything like to add? Well, I there is a book that is called Mr. Darcy's Journal, I think. Oh, and it's Pride and Prejudice written from Mr. Darcy's POV. I might like that better. I don't know if it's considered like uh a fanfic or it's a book. I bought it from Amanda Gr or something like that. Um, I read it and I I read it only once, so I don't remember that much, but I did really enjoyed it. Mhm. So, um, maybe try that if you if you love Pride and Prejudice and if you want to see the inside of Darcy's head, then maybe maybe you can try that. What about you, Ash? Uh, other than the advice of, you know, if you were struggling to maybe dabble in the movie adaptations to help get your head in the game, I of course went back on to immersive reading, which if you guys didn't know what immersive reading is, tell me audio. Tell me you read the Roson Pike version. Listen to I don't know what version I read. It was good. Whatever it was, it was good. It was an Amazon Kindle one, so it literally like I highlight it would highlight while I'm reading. So that helped really focus me when I was having issues with the dialogue. But I don't know what version it was because there is that one's like the most popular, right? Yeah. I think Yeah. It's actually uh narrated by uh the character that the the actor that plays Jane in the movie in the in the two in the 2000 movie. Like it's um Oh yeah. I love I can't remember her name in real life. Is that her name? Oh, she's lovely. Yeah, she's lovely. I don't remember if that's the one I read, but that's the one you would recommend. Oh, yeah. Yeah, 100%. There is a new one that just released that I've tried. It's a full cast, but it's not it's it's not pride in prejudice. Like I I don't Yeah, it makes it change. Yeah, I I I guess maybe they had to, but I I also like mind you, I only tried the first chapter because I just couldn't. I have reddone my reread of the year a few months before so it was too fresh in my brain and I just I just couldn't like there is some sentence that are very like known like quoted back and forth that were like modified in that version and it was just the beginning and I was like if it's starting like that I'm just not going to enjoy it. So I yeah I don't I could recommend it I guess for someone because it could be more entertaining more engaging I guess than uh like a one person narrated audio book but if you want something that is very faithful to the book I don't think that is the good one. Good to know. It the length I think it's only like a few hours and I was like that's weird. Oh. Oh, that's weird. So, it makes sense that it's different, but it's like I Well, I guess it could be a good entry into into the book. I don't know. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. I did the same thing. I would say that I did immersive reading probably at least half the time, but I definitely was like bouncing back and forth kind of just doing whatever I had time to do. Reading on Kindle or audio. I don't remember the audiobook version I got either. It was like the one that downloaded when I downloaded the Kindle version. Um, and it was fine for sure. Um, you know, I'm going to scream it from the rooftops forever, though. I use Spark Notes all the way through this one, too. Like, you know, I would read the chapter analysis and the chapter summary probably. I didn't do like after every one like I did with Withering Heights, but I would say probably after every like three to five chapters. Um, and that was really helpful for me, too, cuz I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing stuff, you know. Yeah. Well, thank you guys so much for joining us today. Thank you, Sarah, so much for joining us today and helping with this reading guide. We're so happy to have you. Thank you. We hope that you guys are enjoying these mini reading guides and it was helpful for you as well before cracking open this classic novel or maybe you already read it and you want some clarification on some of the themes things like tropes and themes and characters. Whether you're watching the movie or the TV adaptations, listening to our deep dives in the future, just make sure you follow, like, and subscribe everywhere your listen favorite podcast, including YouTube. And make sure to follow Sarah over at Sarah's Literary World over on Instagram and maybe possibly a YouTube channel coming down the pipeline. She'll keep you posted for more amazing bookish content. We have different friends in the book community coming up to help us cuz we're covering Little Women after this. So get to reading you guys. It's going to be a reread for Liz and a first read for me. You can let us know which classics you would like us to cover next time we do a classics deep dive. Thank you guys so much for coming today, taking time out of your book and your day to hang out with us. And thank you again, Sarah. Appreciate it so much. Bye, you guys.