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A review by urvulgardarling
Persuasion by Jane Austen
3.0
pre-change: i thought it was insufferable with a typical austen plot and very bad pacing. I thought the romance sucked and so did all the characters.
Changing my review on Persuasion because I'm a dumbass.
Rating before: 2 stars
Rating now: 3.5 stars
You may wonder, why have I spiked up my review on this book after having so much hatred for it? Well.... I'm dumb and I kinda missed the point of it. I read it from a wrong perspective.
Persuasion was written as Austen was dying, and so, persuasion is heartbreaking. It is written with emotional maturity, regret, and deep, tender emotions. Let me explain why. Anne, eight years after breaking off an engagement, after being persuaded not to marry, can't get over it. She is deeply troubled, mature, and quiet. She bears the misfortune of her family and love life. Its like.. you can feel Anne's deep, personal grief throughout the novel even though it isn't much talked about. And even when she has the opportunity to talk to wentworth, to meet with him and re-ignite the spark between them, she doesn't. She can't even entertain the thought of them getting back together. She cannot entertain the idea of him still liking her. Yet she still wants him!
Persuasion, as the title suggests, explores persuasion and vanity. While it is heartbreaking, it manages to pick apart people's vanity, and how persuasion is used (and it manages to be hilarious at times while doing that too!). Austen is a master of understanding human nature, she is a genius and has razor sharp wit.
I still do think this is one of her weaker works, it is very short and we still get a happy ending. I would much rather read Emma or Northanger Abbey. The pacing wasn't the best and it felt dragged on at times which was really annoying.
and before you complain about the characters: please. Austen mocks her characters. They are like.. exaggerations of vices. They're made to be insufferable.
Austen's work isn't about romance, or the plot. It is about vices and human nature, it is character studies and social commentary (which she is really good at!).
Changing my review on Persuasion because I'm a dumbass.
Rating before: 2 stars
Rating now: 3.5 stars
You may wonder, why have I spiked up my review on this book after having so much hatred for it? Well.... I'm dumb and I kinda missed the point of it. I read it from a wrong perspective.
Persuasion was written as Austen was dying, and so, persuasion is heartbreaking. It is written with emotional maturity, regret, and deep, tender emotions. Let me explain why. Anne, eight years after breaking off an engagement, after being persuaded not to marry, can't get over it. She is deeply troubled, mature, and quiet. She bears the misfortune of her family and love life. Its like.. you can feel Anne's deep, personal grief throughout the novel even though it isn't much talked about. And even when she has the opportunity to talk to wentworth, to meet with him and re-ignite the spark between them, she doesn't. She can't even entertain the thought of them getting back together. She cannot entertain the idea of him still liking her. Yet she still wants him!
Persuasion, as the title suggests, explores persuasion and vanity. While it is heartbreaking, it manages to pick apart people's vanity, and how persuasion is used (and it manages to be hilarious at times while doing that too!). Austen is a master of understanding human nature, she is a genius and has razor sharp wit.
I still do think this is one of her weaker works, it is very short and we still get a happy ending. I would much rather read Emma or Northanger Abbey. The pacing wasn't the best and it felt dragged on at times which was really annoying.
and before you complain about the characters: please. Austen mocks her characters. They are like.. exaggerations of vices. They're made to be insufferable.
Austen's work isn't about romance, or the plot. It is about vices and human nature, it is character studies and social commentary (which she is really good at!).