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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
My Recommendation: For the most part I found this book mediocre, it’s worth checking out if you’ve read some of the other adaptations but I wouldn’t put it toward the top. It was a faithful retelling of the story with all of the characters and quite a bit of updating, but awkwardly. It was a quick read and stayed engaging, but it was definitely stilted and a bit like someone who doesn’t quite know what’s hip trying to figure it out and just throwing things at the wall. This included references to iPods and social media, a flamboyant not out older brother, texting, and other things that could seamlessly be included in a novel from the early 2010s, but just feel somewhat outdated already.
My Response: Trollope’s work is the first book of the ultimately unfinished Austen Project from the early 2010s where internationally renowned authors attempted to rewrite Austen’s six novels. I started the series with Val McDermid’s retelling of Northanger Abbey and then got early access to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and with this that only leaves Alexander McCall Smith’s Emma. Unfortunately, Persuasion and Mansfield Park never materialized.
My Response: Trollope’s work is the first book of the ultimately unfinished Austen Project from the early 2010s where internationally renowned authors attempted to rewrite Austen’s six novels. I started the series with Val McDermid’s retelling of Northanger Abbey and then got early access to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and with this that only leaves Alexander McCall Smith’s Emma. Unfortunately, Persuasion and Mansfield Park never materialized.
Overall, this is a fine retelling of Austen’s work. It didn’t stray too far from the plot and the bulk of the modernization was in adding technology and cars and a very moody teenager. I will say that it felt like it was written somewhat confusingly somewhere between vaguely between 1995 (the W hand sign for whatever) and 2006 (peak popularity of iPods).
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
I’ve now read three of the recent remakes known as the Jane Austen Project. This falls right into the middle, between the quite good Eligible remake of Pride and Prejudice and the very annoying Emma remake. This one has all of the same flaws as the Emma remake:
All of the same conflicts for the main characters, with no updating for modern times. Women need men to survive - have a job to support yourself? Are you nuts?
The references to modern conveniences seem very out of place and contrived. It takes months of an engagement to travel from person to person, but then one sister asks the other if the guy has updated his Facebook page.
The language and style seems to be completely locked into the original, which makes it a beautiful read, but hardly seemed worth the update.
The reason I liked this one so much more than the Emma remake is because I like the story more, as I did the original. Sense and Sensibility is my second favorite Austen book, after Pride and Prejudice, but Emma is my least favorite. Nothing in this remake changed my opinion on the originals.
However, like the original, I continued to disappointed that Elinore ended up with that drip Edward rather than Colonel Brandon, who was clearly better suited to her than her flighty sister. This was a missed opportunity to give Elinore a more deserving partner. I continued to be hopeful that Elinore would find someone stronger, if not Brandon, then maybe that young handsome doctor at the hospital when Marianne was in the hospital. But no, they had to do everything exactly the same. Why bother even remaking these books if everything is predestined? I’d prefer an alternate universe in which Elinore gets a job, and then later gets to have a relationship that she wants someone not afraid to stand up to his own mother. The missed opportunities are countless.
All of the same conflicts for the main characters, with no updating for modern times. Women need men to survive - have a job to support yourself? Are you nuts?
The references to modern conveniences seem very out of place and contrived. It takes months of an engagement to travel from person to person, but then one sister asks the other if the guy has updated his Facebook page.
The language and style seems to be completely locked into the original, which makes it a beautiful read, but hardly seemed worth the update.
The reason I liked this one so much more than the Emma remake is because I like the story more, as I did the original. Sense and Sensibility is my second favorite Austen book, after Pride and Prejudice, but Emma is my least favorite. Nothing in this remake changed my opinion on the originals.
However, like the original, I continued to disappointed that Elinore ended up with that drip Edward rather than Colonel Brandon, who was clearly better suited to her than her flighty sister. This was a missed opportunity to give Elinore a more deserving partner. I continued to be hopeful that Elinore would find someone stronger, if not Brandon, then maybe that young handsome doctor at the hospital when Marianne was in the hospital. But no, they had to do everything exactly the same. Why bother even remaking these books if everything is predestined? I’d prefer an alternate universe in which Elinore gets a job, and then later gets to have a relationship that she wants someone not afraid to stand up to his own mother. The missed opportunities are countless.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Abortion
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an excellent modern version of Sense and Sensibility. I completely enjoyed it, especially being a Jane Austen lover. The author managed to tell the same story but with social, environmental and technological upgrades. It was a very enjoyable read and I recommend it to any Austen lover who likes a spin off or retelling.
medium-paced
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not a good version. It was interesting to see how they translated the story into a modern time period, but it fell flat. It also felt like a very elderly person was trying to ‘talk like a youngster’ with the slang. ‘Ma’ was so annoyingly overused.
I just didn't care about any of the characters. I think I need to read Jane Austin's Sense & Sensibility first.
Entertaining thanks to Austen, but Trollope doesn't do as good a job as Sittenfeld (in Eligible) of modernizing the story; Trollope's version is basically exactly Austen's version but with cars instead of carriages.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-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:
Complicated
Una versión "modernizada" del clásico de Jane Austen. No veo qué aporta, porque realmente no cambia nada y no tiene ningún sentido que nadie se case hoy en día a los 19 años.