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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. It was just... there. I'm not entirely sure why, but I found it kind of difficult to keep track of the characters, although they were generally likeable. Aside from Louisa's accident, there wasn't much drama to be found, and Anne was a bit bland to be the main character. I wanted there to be more romance between her and Captain Wentworth, but it felt like all of that was rushed into the end and I didn't get to truly appreciate their relationship. The story itself was just lacking when compared to other Jane Austen books. Like I said, pretty mediocre.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Well written love story of longing and rekindled relationships. Booktok should take notes.
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Re-read Fall 2023: Listened to the audiobook version read by Juliet Stevenson. It made me pay attention to sections that I usually skimmed or skipped.
I prefer the alternate ending. Hearing Frederick's confession to Anne makes me loathe the man. He has put her on a pedestal; I don't think he sees Anne as a real person. It contradicts the rest of the book.
I prefer the alternate ending. Hearing Frederick's confession to Anne makes me loathe the man. He has put her on a pedestal; I don't think he sees Anne as a real person. It contradicts the rest of the book.
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The slow burn to end all slow burns. There would be no plot if they just had a conversation when Captain Wentworth first appears. Love Jane Austen tho she my girl
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot moves slowly and nothing much happens. Hard to keep track of all the different characters
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When you've become a ghost in your own life, leaving home is the only way to come back to life.
Of all the dire relations Austen created, the Elliots are the direst. The Bennets are a handful, but ultimately support each other. The Dashwood brother and sister-in-law are ghastly, but the mother and sisters are tight. Mr. Woodhouse is absurd, but the father-daughter bond is real. Fanny is thrown into a pit of vipers, but the Price family back home are lovely, as are the Morelands. But Sir Walter and Elizabeth are just awful, and Mary - a leech and a hypocrite - is better only (a) by comparison and (b) because Anne has sympathy for her. (And considering that all these women, despite the privilege of class, have so few options in life, I guess I do too.)
And on top of that, Anne has less of a support system than anyone. Where most Austen heroines face a perilous future if they don't make a good match, Anne already seems thoroughly stuck when we meet her. The only person who seems to appreciate Anne for herself is Lady Russell, and even she doesn't always seem to be helping as much as she could. If she's so concerned about Anne, why hasn't she just invited Anne to move in already? Sir Walter clearly isn't putting any energy into arranging a match for her.
In short, Anne has few friends at the outset, and the ones she does have don't impress me much.
Perhaps appropriate for a book about yearning, Persuasion is a slow starter that meanders through exposition and only really starts humming when Anne leaves home, finding more congenial company among the extended Musgrove family and their new naval acquaintances. Still, no one seems to take much interest in Anne for her own sake, though everyone finds her pleasant (and useful as a go-between with Mary). On the other hand, she finds herself an onlooker as her old flame seems to be courting other (younger) women. Through Anne, we pay a lot of attention to Captain Wentworth - where he might be, who he seems to find amusing, whether he might be looking in Anne's general direction - but there's very little interaction between the two of them. Much yearning, but we rely largely on Anne to tell us that he's worth pining over.
Anne isn't excited about moving to Bath, but each time we change locations, the plot ratchets up a notch. The Elliot family soap opera established in the beginning reaches its soapiest, and an old friend who first seems like a side note winds up having the juiciest intelligence of all. Anne suddenly has a suitor, even if he doesn't measure up to Wentworth. Which turns out to be just as well, as he first looks like an idealized Mr. Collins and than turns out to be - somehow - even worse).
Even in the final pages, though, there's very little actual interaction between Anne and Captain W. - even their eventual declaration of love is mostly summarized. At the end of this book about yearning, I'm left wishing the two of them were given one real, full conversation on the page. I swear I enjoyed this more last time around. Maybe it'll look better in another 15-20 years.
Of all the dire relations Austen created, the Elliots are the direst. The Bennets are a handful, but ultimately support each other. The Dashwood brother and sister-in-law are ghastly, but the mother and sisters are tight. Mr. Woodhouse is absurd, but the father-daughter bond is real. Fanny is thrown into a pit of vipers, but the Price family back home are lovely, as are the Morelands. But Sir Walter and Elizabeth are just awful, and Mary - a leech and a hypocrite - is better only (a) by comparison and (b) because Anne has sympathy for her. (And considering that all these women, despite the privilege of class, have so few options in life, I guess I do too.)
And on top of that, Anne has less of a support system than anyone. Where most Austen heroines face a perilous future if they don't make a good match, Anne already seems thoroughly stuck when we meet her. The only person who seems to appreciate Anne for herself is Lady Russell, and even she doesn't always seem to be helping as much as she could. If she's so concerned about Anne, why hasn't she just invited Anne to move in already? Sir Walter clearly isn't putting any energy into arranging a match for her.
In short, Anne has few friends at the outset, and the ones she does have don't impress me much.
Perhaps appropriate for a book about yearning, Persuasion is a slow starter that meanders through exposition and only really starts humming when Anne leaves home, finding more congenial company among the extended Musgrove family and their new naval acquaintances. Still, no one seems to take much interest in Anne for her own sake, though everyone finds her pleasant (and useful as a go-between with Mary). On the other hand, she finds herself an onlooker as her old flame seems to be courting other (younger) women. Through Anne, we pay a lot of attention to Captain Wentworth - where he might be, who he seems to find amusing, whether he might be looking in Anne's general direction - but there's very little interaction between the two of them. Much yearning, but we rely largely on Anne to tell us that he's worth pining over.
Anne isn't excited about moving to Bath, but each time we change locations, the plot ratchets up a notch. The Elliot family soap opera established in the beginning reaches its soapiest, and an old friend who first seems like a side note winds up having the juiciest intelligence of all. Anne suddenly has a suitor, even if he doesn't measure up to Wentworth. Which turns out to be just as well, as he first looks like an idealized Mr. Collins and than turns out to be - somehow - even worse).
Even in the final pages, though, there's very little actual interaction between Anne and Captain W. - even their eventual declaration of love is mostly summarized. At the end of this book about yearning, I'm left wishing the two of them were given one real, full conversation on the page. I swear I enjoyed this more last time around. Maybe it'll look better in another 15-20 years.