"I deserve neither such praise nor such censure," cried Elizabeth; "I am not a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things." (Chapter 8)

Oh dear! I assuredly know less about statistics and how much the average person read than Lizzy so I can offer nothing of merit on the subject but I can much easier believe Lizzy wrong than insincere. (:D) What does being a great reader actually mean anyway? Does it mean someone who reads a great deal and learns nothing or someone who reads and learns? The second of course does not mean they read more books than most just that they benefit from the experience. Darcy wants an accomplished woman to improve her mind by extensive reading so I take him to mean a lady must read a great many books and benefit very much from the experience. I have come to the conclusion that the definition of “great reader” is too much dependent on the individual to be exact and will now take a slightly different track. What does Lizzy think about the term great reader? (:D) Lizzy says, “I deserve neither such praise nor such censure” indicating she takes the term “great reader” to be praise and the idea she “has no pleasure in anything else” as censure. I think she is saying she is not so great a reader to the exclusion of all other pleasures which is true. Lizzy enjoys many things, some of them quite ridiculous. Lizzy is just describing herself as she believes she is. She could be wrong using someone else’s standard but not when using her own. When Darcy makes his declaration that an accomplished woman must, in addition to what Caroline listed, improve her mind by extensive reading I think Lizzy feels it is typical of him to ask for a woman with every virtue. ;D