The popular girl in school...

[Brita]

I get really tired of Pride and Prejudice fangirlism. REALLY tired of it. It's a great story, but I do NOT understand why everyone finds it superior to Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility! Or Emma. And the Darcy obsession gets really old really fast. P&P has been the popular girl in school from the day it was published. I say give other Austen heroines their due! Thoughts?

[sabelmouse]

i really like persuation but sense or pride, i'd go for pride still.

[Allison Shaw]

Pride and Prejudice was the first Jane Austen book I read. I read it before I saw any of the movies or saw any of the published fan fic that's out there. I picked it up because there was an old leather bound copy on the bookshelf in my house. It's my favorite book of all time, as well as my favorite Austen book.

And on the contrary actually, while P&P does tend to be more popular among general readers, I feel like critics and scholars prefer Emma, which I didn't much care for.

My favorites, in order:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Persuasion
3. Northanger Abbey
4. Sense and Sensibility
5. Emma
6. Mansfield Park

[Annie Stargaryen]

pride and prejudice is my favorite too=) yay=D but i <3 all jane austen books

[Melissa]

I don't mind the fangirling at all over P & P. It was the first of Austen's stories that I was introduced to, and I adore it. That being said, Persuasion is my absolute favorite---book, movie, it doesn't matter. There's just something about the entire tale---gah, the letter from Wentworth!---that I find completely enthralling :)

[Adrienne Cory]

My favorite is actually Northanger Abbey but maybe because I go for the underdog but probably more because Mr Tilney always seemed a bit more dashing to me than Mr Darcy. Besides if i want dark and brooding I've got Mr. Heathcliff of Wutheirng Heights  who OWNS dark and brooding. THought i do have to admit PRide and Prejudice is a close secondto Northanger.

[Kuni Cham]

I know, Pride and Prejudice used to be my favorite until I read Persuasion. I like Elizabeth Bennett because of her strength and determination but Persuasion feels the most heartfelt to me. But then again I love all things Jane!

[Mady]

I love Pride and Prejudice. It continually tops my list of favorite books, which is really saying something!

In order, the ones I like best are:

1. Pride and Prejudice

2. Mansfield Park

3. Sense and Sensibility

4. Emma

5. Northanger Abbey

6. Persuasion

 

Has anyone else ever read "Lady Susan"? Jane Austen wrote it as a series of letters, I found it intriguing but not quite the caliber of her other novels.

[Natasha C]

I find Emma to be as romantic (if not more so) than Pride and Prejudice. It's more romantic in the way that it is more accessible to the average person... There aren't many people in this world that go from true hate to true love. Sure, sometimes there are "enemies with benefits", but that's not actual love. 

 

The love  between best friends has time and time again been proven. Accessibility lends to the romanticism of the novel, unless you're an overdramatic teenage girl.

[Julie M]

I really love the Elizabeth Bennett character.  She was truly ahead of her time. She was not afraid to give her opinion.  Women of Jane Austen's time period could not express opinions because that was considered crass.  Well, Elizabeth threw such thoughts out of the window and was true to herself.  She also had the confidence to stand up to Lady Catherine and not buckle under to anyone.  She also has such a witty sense of humor which allows her to laugh at many of the ridiculous things that are going on around her.  I find her to be the most likeable of all of Austen's heroines because she seems to be the most comfortable in her own skin.

[Ge]

my first introduction to jane austens world was the adaption of pride and prejudice with keira knightley, i watched it and i was hooked.
my all time favorite is mansfield park, it is followed in the second place by emma, persuasion, sense and sensibility and pride and prejudice. and in third place is northanger abbey, i just can't understand how cathrine can be so overly-naive and unrealistic.
i love almost all of the BBC adaptions, especially the two adaptions of emma from 1996 and 2009. although both kate beckinsale and romola garai have wholy different takes on emmas character, i can relate to both interpretations.
as to all those manfield park adaptions, i am not that thrilled. i recently saw the adaption of 1983 and was delighted! at last i found what i was looking for. it might seem boring at times, and fanny certainly is quiet and rather shy, but that's just how jane austen intendet her to be. not such a shining character like elizabeth benett, but so good and lovely. the adaption of 1999 is not that bad, but the one of 2007... let's just say, i don't think Billie Piper is such a good choice for the fanny price.
to pride and prejudice. as the adaption of 2005 was my first introduction into the jane austen universe, i will always love it. but my favorite is the one of 1995. and i think i don't need to explain why. :) just watch it!

[Sarah Pottenger]

P&P was my first full introduction to Jane Austen, but it's not my favorite. Mainly because I don't relate to Elizabeth all that well. I think people tend to get attached to characters they see themselves in, and characters they wish they were more like.

What really grates my cheese is the people who fangirl over P&P who have NEVER READ THE BOOK. Oy.