KADmom and Rocky make an interesting point. For Whom the Bell Tolls is lexile 840, and Pride and Prejudice is 1160. Part of the reason Dickens takes perseverance is because our current aesthetic is different. We aren't used to writing like that. If I had ever handed in a paper with as much twisted syntax as Austen, I would have done poorly. We value clarity. Austen's generation valued the flourish.
I read P&P to my 10 year old daughter. The pay off was tremendous. The first time that Mr. Darcy proposed to Lizzie and she rejected him so fiercely, my daughter hid her face and squealed "Mom! Please tell me this has a happy ending!" I have read P&P several times and am a huge fan, but I do have to say that reading it out loud was difficult because of the length of the sentences.
