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samchase112's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Rating: 5 stars
I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.
This is just such a wonderful, humorous, lovely book! Sense and Sensibility is the first book I have ever read by Jane Austen; as an avid reader and history nerd, it has always been my intention to read her books, and I am so glad this was the first. Most people see Pride and Prejudice as Austen's best work, therefore forgetting or under appreciating Sense and Sensiblity as a result. Because I enjoyed this one so much, I am even more excited to be able to read Austen's other works!
Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience- or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.
Sense and Sensibility, on the surface, is about the trials and tribulations of the Dashwood sisters as they search for husbands and attempt to find a way to live comfortable lives. There is plenty of petty drama over money, suitors, homes, engagements, and other things of high domestic importance. Austen uses these squabbles to show the different types of women, and how not being educated can turn one to seek power, another to manipulation, and still another to intense passion. In this way, Jane Austen supports the ideas presented by Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Plot wise, there are many twists and turns throughout the book, mainly having to do with the engagements and disengagements of various men that Elinor and Marianne fancy, all of which make for an entertaining and page-turning read. I was wholeheartedly rooting for Elinor and Edward the whole time, and I must say that I never trusted Willoughby, even from the start.
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
The characters are divided up into the traits of sense and sensibility. Elinor embodies sense, while both her mother and sister, Marianne, embody sensibility. The differences in their attitudes - and the attitudes of others around them which embody either sense, sensibility, or both - are an important part of each individual character and of the book itself. Personally, I connected most with Elinor, the primary narrator, because we have a similar way of pushing aside personal feelings in favor of manners and public discipline. The side characters are just as entertaining and unique as the main ones, though perhaps not quite as developed. Even so, many of them represent different stereotypes of both men and women which once again reinforces Austen's critique of English high society. Another little literary gem I felt proud to pick up was Marianne's illness in Volume III. This illness marked a turning point for her, a move from sensibility to more sense, as an illness in any literary capacity usually represents.
If a book is well written, I always find it too short.
One fantastic thing about this book is that Jane Austen is so. funny. There are so many dry, subtle (and not so subtle) hints at hilarity that I loved. Austen made fun of everything from the individual characters to English society as a whole, and everything in between. I laughed out loud in several places, and honestly just had so much fun reading this book. One of my favorite lines comes from when Marianne is describing her passion for so many things to Edward, a person she finds dull and uninteresting. Elinor responds to Marianne (quite hilariously, in my opinion) deadpan:
I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.
This is just such a wonderful, humorous, lovely book! Sense and Sensibility is the first book I have ever read by Jane Austen; as an avid reader and history nerd, it has always been my intention to read her books, and I am so glad this was the first. Most people see Pride and Prejudice as Austen's best work, therefore forgetting or under appreciating Sense and Sensiblity as a result. Because I enjoyed this one so much, I am even more excited to be able to read Austen's other works!
Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience- or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.
Sense and Sensibility, on the surface, is about the trials and tribulations of the Dashwood sisters as they search for husbands and attempt to find a way to live comfortable lives. There is plenty of petty drama over money, suitors, homes, engagements, and other things of high domestic importance. Austen uses these squabbles to show the different types of women, and how not being educated can turn one to seek power, another to manipulation, and still another to intense passion. In this way, Jane Austen supports the ideas presented by Mary Wollstonecraft in A Vindication of the Rights of Women. Plot wise, there are many twists and turns throughout the book, mainly having to do with the engagements and disengagements of various men that Elinor and Marianne fancy, all of which make for an entertaining and page-turning read. I was wholeheartedly rooting for Elinor and Edward the whole time, and I must say that I never trusted Willoughby, even from the start.
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
The characters are divided up into the traits of sense and sensibility. Elinor embodies sense, while both her mother and sister, Marianne, embody sensibility. The differences in their attitudes - and the attitudes of others around them which embody either sense, sensibility, or both - are an important part of each individual character and of the book itself. Personally, I connected most with Elinor, the primary narrator, because we have a similar way of pushing aside personal feelings in favor of manners and public discipline. The side characters are just as entertaining and unique as the main ones, though perhaps not quite as developed. Even so, many of them represent different stereotypes of both men and women which once again reinforces Austen's critique of English high society. Another little literary gem I felt proud to pick up was Marianne's illness in Volume III. This illness marked a turning point for her, a move from sensibility to more sense, as an illness in any literary capacity usually represents.
If a book is well written, I always find it too short.
One fantastic thing about this book is that Jane Austen is so. funny. There are so many dry, subtle (and not so subtle) hints at hilarity that I loved. Austen made fun of everything from the individual characters to English society as a whole, and everything in between. I laughed out loud in several places, and honestly just had so much fun reading this book. One of my favorite lines comes from when Marianne is describing her passion for so many things to Edward, a person she finds dull and uninteresting. Elinor responds to Marianne (quite hilariously, in my opinion) deadpan:
'It is not everyone,' said Elinor, 'who has your passion for dead leaves.'
Unlike Pride and Prejudice, this book acknowledges the prospect of settling when the best option may not be the best. This is evident in the Middletons' marriage, theirs especially being one of a business transaction without any passion involved. Marianne, of course, is very against this idea; as she says, "The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!...I could not be happy with a man whose taste did not in every point coincide with my own. He must enter in all my feelings; the same books, the same music must charm us both." Unfortunately for Marianne, her true passions do not line up with reality after all, and she must resort to settling; of course, she is lucky in that her eventual husband loves her just as much as the one she might have preferred.
There is something so amiable in the prejudices of a young mind, that one is sorry to see them give way to the reception of more general opinions.
The ending of the book is the only thing I feel I can critique; everything wrapped up quickly in comparison to how drawn out the other drama was throughout the rest of the book. Although, I suppose I might have gotten bored of another long explanation at the end of the book, instead of just a happy ending. Despite any of the critiques I may have, I loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more of Jane Austen's work!
Reread: Feb 2022
Just a lovely, good ol’ Austen tale. Sometimes I forget how much pure fun these books are to read! Truly, Austen’s wit and clever one liners are hilarious. I stand by my take that this is highly underrated — I mean, it’s got Edward Ferrars, d r a m a, Lucy Steele, dead leaves...all perfection, really — and I stand by it.
Reread: March 2023
Listened to the audiobook this time! And I absolutely enjoyed myself. This is definitely one of Austen's most underrated books, and I'm glad to find my enjoyment has not lessened since my first reading, but rather increased. (For example, despite complaining about the fast-tracked ending then, now I see it as more of a mark of the times and Austen's style.) And thus begins my yearlong reread of Austen's novels — aka, maybe my best decision ever?
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
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