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amvorbach's review against another edition
4.0
This was the first Jane Austen that I have read. I enjoyed it, but it was challenging on audio. Next time I will read the hardcover.
imogen_browne's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
myramurtaza96's review against another edition
5.0
sense and sensibility
5/5
absolutely loved this, idk why this isn't as popular as her other stuff, but the way jane austen writes about feelings and emotions and their shift over time, also her characters are so meticulously created, the character development is so so satisfying, the ending was a bit rushed, the pacing a lliiittle slow but it was fun to read so i didn't mind.
The way the difference b/w the two sisters is so subtly hinted everytime.
<333
5/5
absolutely loved this, idk why this isn't as popular as her other stuff, but the way jane austen writes about feelings and emotions and their shift over time, also her characters are so meticulously created, the character development is so so satisfying, the ending was a bit rushed, the pacing a lliiittle slow but it was fun to read so i didn't mind.
The way the difference b/w the two sisters is so subtly hinted everytime.
<333
auerbachart's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written and reminds us all to pause and think before action. Do not dare or pretend to know the reasons behind anothers actions.
kleonora's review against another edition
2.0
Verdict: Everyone has to start somewhere. Austen started with Sense and Sensibility but you should maybe start with something else.
A few years ago I was struck by the inevitable incongruity of professing to be a fan of Austen without having read a one of her books. You see, like so many of my gender I was bewitched by Colin Firth’s wet shirt and had been quite happy to remain wrapped in the wonder of the BBC adaptation of Pride a Prejudice. I have since shaken off this complacency and seen film adaptations of both Emma (aka Clueless) and Sense and Sensibility. Eventually I got around to reading the titular books. Pride and Prejudice was exactly the same as the mini-series and therefore perfect. Emma was an excellent read, much preferred to film versions. Sense and Sensibility, I’m sad to say, is a rare case of the adaptation outstripping the source material. (Though in fairness, it’s very hard to compete with a film wherein Snape gets the girl) Sense and Sensibility just did not engage me.
You’ve got Elinor (Sense) and Marianne (Sensibility). They are sisters whose intelligence and loveliness is rivalled only by their abject poverty. Elinor fancies Edward but he’s engaged. Marianne fancies Willoughby but he’s a jerk. Luckily Edward’s engagement is an unhappy one and falls through and Colonel Brandon also fancies Marianne so in the end everyone gets married to a man of good to decent fortune. Huzzah!
Are there good things to say about this book? Of course there are. As Austen’s first novel I get the sense she is very much writing what she knows. It’s an excellent glimpse into a strange world where teenage girls must, crucially must, consider men in terms of financial stability as much as compatible dispositions. In such a world it would be easy to delineate this story along the lines of the title and have Elinor be purely practical and Marianne entirely emotional, but this is not the case. They are the same. Elinor falls just as hard as Marianne and Marianne definitely expects her knight in shining armour to raise her from the financial state to which she has become accustomed. It’s only their values that skew them in favour of sense or sensibility, values that become more moderate and grounded as the book progresses.
As for the prose and dialogue, it is, as I would expect of Austen, a joy. Mostly. Well this is her first book. And she was only 19. And it was meant to be an epistolary novel anyway. These are the excuses I use to account for odd lapses of ‘telling not showing’ that jarred the prose a bit. Still though, mostly excellent. I particularly enjoyed the sequences where Mrs. Fanny Dashwood systematically logics her husband out of his good intentions towards his step-mother and half sisters, getting him down from giving each £1000 to helping them move house. Maybe. If it’s not too far. It reads as real and hilarious simultaneously.
So the writing is excellent the thought is profound, I’m afraid it’s just the actual story that lets the team down. To be perfectly unfair, nothing happens and it takes ages. The sisters are paired to single men of good fortune right off the bat. Well before the half-way mark Willoughby bolts and Edwards is ousted as engaged and then it’s pages and pages of sitting around waiting for things to inevitably sort themselves out. Oh gods and then there’s the brain fever*.
There are a few scandalous revelations (Eliza’s fate, Lucy’s marriage) but they come slowly, are over quickly and aren’t really all that scandalous. There are colourful supporting characters like the hilarious double act that is Charlotte and Husband or the saucy 30-and-still-single-might-as-well-be-dead Nancy but they pop in and out quickly leaving us alone again with the Dashwood sisters. They may be complex but they are boring, a trait only enhanced by their refusal to talk with each other about their lives. This infuriated me to no end. This is life before television, girls! Gossip! Seize diversion where you can. Then we can all move on with the story and our lives.
I will continue to count myself as a friend of Jane, but Sense and Sensibility I must declare a slog. It was simply not an enjoyable read and to anyone considering it I would just tell them to read Pride and Prejudice. It takes the major plot points from Sense and Sensibility turns it all up to eleven and adds Darcy. So because it was slow and I can’t think of anything I got out of this that I hadn’t previously gotten out of P&P Sense and Sensibility is awarded a 2. Now on to Mansfield Park.
*These last months have seen me read Madame Bovary and Wuthering Heights and I’m beginning to get a bit fed up with this power of fatal hysteria women seemed to posses in ye olde days. I don’t know if spontaneous manifestation of terminal illness was an actual tried and true problem solving method of my sex prior to antibiotics or if it just makes for a good story (at least when combined with arsenic or Heathcliff) but I’m really starting to lose patience with this reverse deux ex machina.
A few years ago I was struck by the inevitable incongruity of professing to be a fan of Austen without having read a one of her books. You see, like so many of my gender I was bewitched by Colin Firth’s wet shirt and had been quite happy to remain wrapped in the wonder of the BBC adaptation of Pride a Prejudice. I have since shaken off this complacency and seen film adaptations of both Emma (aka Clueless) and Sense and Sensibility. Eventually I got around to reading the titular books. Pride and Prejudice was exactly the same as the mini-series and therefore perfect. Emma was an excellent read, much preferred to film versions. Sense and Sensibility, I’m sad to say, is a rare case of the adaptation outstripping the source material. (Though in fairness, it’s very hard to compete with a film wherein Snape gets the girl) Sense and Sensibility just did not engage me.
You’ve got Elinor (Sense) and Marianne (Sensibility). They are sisters whose intelligence and loveliness is rivalled only by their abject poverty. Elinor fancies Edward but he’s engaged. Marianne fancies Willoughby but he’s a jerk. Luckily Edward’s engagement is an unhappy one and falls through and Colonel Brandon also fancies Marianne so in the end everyone gets married to a man of good to decent fortune. Huzzah!
Are there good things to say about this book? Of course there are. As Austen’s first novel I get the sense she is very much writing what she knows. It’s an excellent glimpse into a strange world where teenage girls must, crucially must, consider men in terms of financial stability as much as compatible dispositions. In such a world it would be easy to delineate this story along the lines of the title and have Elinor be purely practical and Marianne entirely emotional, but this is not the case. They are the same. Elinor falls just as hard as Marianne and Marianne definitely expects her knight in shining armour to raise her from the financial state to which she has become accustomed. It’s only their values that skew them in favour of sense or sensibility, values that become more moderate and grounded as the book progresses.
As for the prose and dialogue, it is, as I would expect of Austen, a joy. Mostly. Well this is her first book. And she was only 19. And it was meant to be an epistolary novel anyway. These are the excuses I use to account for odd lapses of ‘telling not showing’ that jarred the prose a bit. Still though, mostly excellent. I particularly enjoyed the sequences where Mrs. Fanny Dashwood systematically logics her husband out of his good intentions towards his step-mother and half sisters, getting him down from giving each £1000 to helping them move house. Maybe. If it’s not too far. It reads as real and hilarious simultaneously.
So the writing is excellent the thought is profound, I’m afraid it’s just the actual story that lets the team down. To be perfectly unfair, nothing happens and it takes ages. The sisters are paired to single men of good fortune right off the bat. Well before the half-way mark Willoughby bolts and Edwards is ousted as engaged and then it’s pages and pages of sitting around waiting for things to inevitably sort themselves out. Oh gods and then there’s the brain fever*.
There are a few scandalous revelations (Eliza’s fate, Lucy’s marriage) but they come slowly, are over quickly and aren’t really all that scandalous. There are colourful supporting characters like the hilarious double act that is Charlotte and Husband or the saucy 30-and-still-single-might-as-well-be-dead Nancy but they pop in and out quickly leaving us alone again with the Dashwood sisters. They may be complex but they are boring, a trait only enhanced by their refusal to talk with each other about their lives. This infuriated me to no end. This is life before television, girls! Gossip! Seize diversion where you can. Then we can all move on with the story and our lives.
I will continue to count myself as a friend of Jane, but Sense and Sensibility I must declare a slog. It was simply not an enjoyable read and to anyone considering it I would just tell them to read Pride and Prejudice. It takes the major plot points from Sense and Sensibility turns it all up to eleven and adds Darcy. So because it was slow and I can’t think of anything I got out of this that I hadn’t previously gotten out of P&P Sense and Sensibility is awarded a 2. Now on to Mansfield Park.
*These last months have seen me read Madame Bovary and Wuthering Heights and I’m beginning to get a bit fed up with this power of fatal hysteria women seemed to posses in ye olde days. I don’t know if spontaneous manifestation of terminal illness was an actual tried and true problem solving method of my sex prior to antibiotics or if it just makes for a good story (at least when combined with arsenic or Heathcliff) but I’m really starting to lose patience with this reverse deux ex machina.
iriswindmeijer's review against another edition
4.0
The contrast between the sisters and the way they handle relationships is one that can appeal to everyone. You can identify with their feelings and I loved the plot. Another favorite!
jammygirl's review against another edition
5.0
One of my absolute favorite Jane Austen novels. I could read it over and over. I love the language, the characters... all of it. It warms my heart like an old quilt on a cold winters day.
runekeon's review against another edition
3.0
The story was ok and it didn't make me care much about any of the characters. After reading Debt I found it interesting to see the communism of the community at work in this book.