Matthew Trenda

That afternoon in 2008, I found myself staring at my laptop screen, reading an email informing me that I had been banned permanently from the book website Shelfari, which was a competitor to Goodreads at the time. And if I'm honest, it was the right decision. I was an undergraduate in 2008, and in my British Lit class, one of the books we had to read was Pride and Prejudice. I hate that book.

That afternoon in 2008, I found myself staring at my laptop screen, reading an email informing me that I had been banned permanently from the book website Shelfari, which was a competitor to Goodreads at the time. And if I'm honest, it was the right decision. I was an undergraduate in 2008, and in my British Lit class, one of the books we had to read was Pride and Prejudice. I hate that book.

That afternoon in 2008, I found myself staring at my laptop screen, reading an email informing me that I had been banned permanently from the book website Shelfari, which was a competitor to Goodreads at the time. And if I'm honest, it was the right decision. I was an undergraduate in 2008, and in my British Lit class, one of the books we had to read was Pride and Prejudice. I hate that book.

I think if Jane Austen was a good writer, she'd be a Bronte sister. To make matters worse, you might recall that this was the era when our society was salivating over all sorts of Pride and Prejudice adaptations. There was a movie where the guy from Succession wooed Keira Knightley. There was a book where Elizabeth Bennet slays zombies for some reason. It was Pride and Prejudice everywhere.

I think if Jane Austen was a good writer, she'd be a Bronte sister. To make matters worse, you might recall that this was the era when our society was salivating over all sorts of Pride and Prejudice adaptations. There was a movie where the guy from Succession wooed Keira Knightley. There was a book where Elizabeth Bennet slays zombies for some reason. It was Pride and Prejudice everywhere.

I think if Jane Austen was a good writer, she'd be a Bronte sister. To make matters worse, you might recall that this was the era when our society was salivating over all sorts of Pride and Prejudice adaptations. There was a movie where the guy from Succession wooed Keira Knightley. There was a book where Elizabeth Bennet slays zombies for some reason. It was Pride and Prejudice everywhere.

You can imagine my suffering. Now before I continue a little about me, I am a rule follower. If there is a rule in place, I am going to follow it because my number one goal in life is to never be a burden on anyone else. All of my report cards said I was a pleasure to have in class. I never tasted alcohol until I turned 21, and when I'm out on public land, you better believe I'm leaving no trace.

You can imagine my suffering. Now before I continue a little about me, I am a rule follower. If there is a rule in place, I am going to follow it because my number one goal in life is to never be a burden on anyone else. All of my report cards said I was a pleasure to have in class. I never tasted alcohol until I turned 21, and when I'm out on public land, you better believe I'm leaving no trace.

You can imagine my suffering. Now before I continue a little about me, I am a rule follower. If there is a rule in place, I am going to follow it because my number one goal in life is to never be a burden on anyone else. All of my report cards said I was a pleasure to have in class. I never tasted alcohol until I turned 21, and when I'm out on public land, you better believe I'm leaving no trace.

So it was extremely out of character when I logged on to Shelfari and created a new post on the Pride and Prejudice discussion page without first reviewing the community guidelines. But my hatred compelled me. I said, I hate all these snobby characters, especially Elizabeth Bennet.

So it was extremely out of character when I logged on to Shelfari and created a new post on the Pride and Prejudice discussion page without first reviewing the community guidelines. But my hatred compelled me. I said, I hate all these snobby characters, especially Elizabeth Bennet.

So it was extremely out of character when I logged on to Shelfari and created a new post on the Pride and Prejudice discussion page without first reviewing the community guidelines. But my hatred compelled me. I said, I hate all these snobby characters, especially Elizabeth Bennet.

She is rude to her family, she does not support any of her friends, and she even admits she only liked Mr. Darcy after she saw his big house, which makes her a class traitor on top of everything else. No, none of the characters in this book deserve happiness, especially her. My post generated quite a few responses. most of them aggressive.

She is rude to her family, she does not support any of her friends, and she even admits she only liked Mr. Darcy after she saw his big house, which makes her a class traitor on top of everything else. No, none of the characters in this book deserve happiness, especially her. My post generated quite a few responses. most of them aggressive.

She is rude to her family, she does not support any of her friends, and she even admits she only liked Mr. Darcy after she saw his big house, which makes her a class traitor on top of everything else. No, none of the characters in this book deserve happiness, especially her. My post generated quite a few responses. most of them aggressive.

But there was one that I found particularly insulting, posted by a user called Mr. Litman. And he said, please ask your parents' permission before you post anything that stupid on this page again. Maybe when you develop critical thinking skills, you can rejoin the discussion. Now obviously I wasn't going to take that sitting down. So before I responded, I stood up.

But there was one that I found particularly insulting, posted by a user called Mr. Litman. And he said, please ask your parents' permission before you post anything that stupid on this page again. Maybe when you develop critical thinking skills, you can rejoin the discussion. Now obviously I wasn't going to take that sitting down. So before I responded, I stood up.

But there was one that I found particularly insulting, posted by a user called Mr. Litman. And he said, please ask your parents' permission before you post anything that stupid on this page again. Maybe when you develop critical thinking skills, you can rejoin the discussion. Now obviously I wasn't going to take that sitting down. So before I responded, I stood up.

I could feel the blood rush to my head, my heart rate was increasing, I could tell that I was becoming angry online. If you're unfamiliar, common symptoms of angry online include typing in all caps, refreshing a page every 30 seconds or so, and of course, staying up to the wee hours of the morning to argue about a topic that does not matter. Please ask your doctor if any of that sounds familiar.

I could feel the blood rush to my head, my heart rate was increasing, I could tell that I was becoming angry online. If you're unfamiliar, common symptoms of angry online include typing in all caps, refreshing a page every 30 seconds or so, and of course, staying up to the wee hours of the morning to argue about a topic that does not matter. Please ask your doctor if any of that sounds familiar.