Reviews - Persuasion | The StoryGraph

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Opening Line: Sir Walter Elliot of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest parents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs, changed naturally into pity and contempt, as he turned over the almost endless creations of the last century;—and there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failed.

3/5 Stars

It feels a little sacrilegious to rate an Austen book 3/5 stars. Pride and Prejudice was the first classic I ever read (admittedly, I didn’t UNDERSTAND much of it when I was thirteen, but I did read every word). Northanger Abbey is probably in my top ten classics. I chose my name because thirteen-year-old me was so deeply in love with Mr. Darcy. But I can’t allow my deep, abiding love for the two Austen novels I read before this to cloud my judgment. This was just an alright book for me.

Persuasion is the love story between kind-hearted but perpetually overlooked Anne Elliot and her dashing, self-made suitor, Captain Wentworth… Sort of? The novel begins seven years after Anne broke off their engagement on the advice of friends and family members who felt her marriage to an untitled man like Wentworth would drag the Elliot name down, and for most of the story their interactions are sparse at best.

Now, onto the reason(s) for my rating:
★ Anne was an achingly sympathetic character. Her circumstances, the way her family treats her, her quiet melancholy. It’s hard not to feel for a character in her circumstances, and even though I didn’t find her as compelling as Lizzie or Catherine, I was very taken by her intelligence and the tender way she loves even many of the people who ill-use her. She’s certainly easy to root for.
★ As you would expect with any Austen novel, Persuasion has plenty of biting social commentary. Anne, though almost unfailingly polite, sometimes makes wickedly sharp internal observations about her friends and family. She points out the futility of egoism and class-obsession and consciously judges people by their character rather than their place in the baronetage.
★ The letter. The letter… What could I possibly say about the letter that hasn’t already been said a million times before. Austen knows how to write a confession. I swooned. I read it out loud to my dog. I’m getting it tattooed on the back of my eyelids. It was truly one of those moments where I could not contain myself.
☆ Unfortunately, aside from the letter, I didn’t feel all that much chemistry between Wentworth and Anne. In fact, I came out of the book feeling like I didn’t know Wentworth at all, really. The emotional (and sometimes physical) distance between him and Anne for a large portion of the novel left me wanting more of those quiet scenes between the two of them where we could see more than just loaded glances. And maybe none of that would have mattered much to me if, after the confession, we got to see their joy, but Austen withholds that as well. We’re simply told that they announce their engagement and eventually marry and live happily ever after. Just as we don’t see the emotionally fraught moment when Anne breaks off their first engagement, we don’t see the resolute moment where they right that wrong by standing firm in the faces of those who don’t approve. Both of the most interesting parts of their relationship are withheld from us. I wish we had gotten just a bit more to flesh out their chemistry better.
☆ Wentworth wasn’t the only character who I failed to form any real opinions on. I felt like quite a few were just caricatures. Mary Musgrove was never allowed to be more than selfish and callous, Elizabeth vain and elitist, Louisa ditzy and childish. I would even go so far as to say Charles Musgrove and Captain Harville practically shared a single genial personality between them. I kept hoping for some scene in which even ONE character besides Anne would show me more dimension, a shred of character development, some unique quirk, anything to make them memorable, but I was ultimately disappointed on that front.

Final thoughts:
When I picked this book up, I hoped it would be the novel to solidify Jane Austen as a favorite writer, but it was just an average read for me. Enjoyable enough to finish but in no way memorable. That said, I have every intention of reading the rest of Austen’s ouvre eventually. I just need a little bit of time to lick my wounds.

teaandpirates's review against another edition

2.0

Ok, I'm witholding a rating because I just could not get through this. I wanted to love it! I did not. It was... okay? I got 60% through but I was honestly bored and didn't care about Anne that much. Really disappointed after loving P&P, but I couldn't push through to the end like I wanted because I'd rather read something else.