Pride and Prejudice Circa 2011

Two hundred years is a long time.  That's about nine to ten generations removed.   And because change happens every day, what took place two centuries ago may be alien to us today.

This change was never more dramatized for me than when I received a Barnes and Noble  Nook from JB, Gianina, and Adrian  as a Christmas present.  It took time before I even touched it, clueless on how it works.

I had coveted one, simply because I thought it was a no-brainer, like opening any printed book of my liking and reading away!

But the literature that came with it had a long litany of do's and dont's. I googled Nook and was spooked by the dollar prices I had to spend to download the e-books I like.

Yesterday was a breakthrough, though. JC and JR, who are both busy with their own lives, spared a few minutes for their frazzled mom.  I mentioned the first free book that came to my mind—Pride and Prejudice.

And so I am, today, re-reading Jane Austen's book published in 1813 on my Nook.

I don't recall the book being very funny. But I am chuckling every e-page of the way, enjoying the formal, correct language of the story that follows the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, who deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, and education in early 19th-century England. 

Manners have changed.  Then, people were genteel, today we are often crass.

Upbringing has changed.  Then, children listened to their parents, today they shout back. 

Morality has changed.  Then, people got married before they lived together; today, they  live together before they get married, if they ever get around to it. Then, people who stole were ostracized; today, they are hailed as heroes. 

Education has changed.  Then, people went to institutions housed in buildings; today, we can go to open universities on the net.

Reading has changed.  Then, people flipped through the leaves of a printed book; today, I click on my Nook to go to the next page.   

The only things that have remained in man, and will probably remain till the end of time, are pride and prejudice.  Pride has been a major cause of our downfall then and now.  Prejudice has been the bane of living creatures from Bible times to Nook times. 

It's unimaginable that through all these changes and non-changes, grace is, constant and unchanging.