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A review by mayajoelle
Persuasion by Jane Austen
4.0
Delightful audiobook on Hoopla.
I'm not sure about this one. I really did want to love it, and I'd heard so many good things about it in the years since I first read it, but the strongest emotion which Anne raised in me was frustration. My mother pointed out that I ought not to dislike characters simply because they are not like me; I think perhaps the problem is that she is too much like me. I do not want to cling to my nineteen-year-old crushes when I am twenty-seven; I hope I do not. Anne makes me fear I will. And Wentworth's seemingly unchanged love for her felt unrealistic and hollow.
Maybe I'm just a pessimist. But I didn't particularly like any of the characters, thought Anne ought to have married Benwick, and ultimately didn't find the romances believable. However, I will say that Wentworth's letter and the ensuing conversations were a delightful contrast to Austen's usual lack of such things. All her other novels end with "and then, as I am sure you can imagine, in due time, they got married, and everything was great, and I'm not going to tell you about their heartfelt conversations or the proposal or anything because I'm sure you can imagine it." I don't want to imagine it, and here, I didn't have to.
Four stars, because it was good, and the ending made up for a lot of its flaws.
I'm not sure about this one. I really did want to love it, and I'd heard so many good things about it in the years since I first read it, but the strongest emotion which Anne raised in me was frustration. My mother pointed out that I ought not to dislike characters simply because they are not like me; I think perhaps the problem is that she is too much like me. I do not want to cling to my nineteen-year-old crushes when I am twenty-seven; I hope I do not. Anne makes me fear I will. And Wentworth's seemingly unchanged love for her felt unrealistic and hollow.
Maybe I'm just a pessimist. But I didn't particularly like any of the characters, thought Anne ought to have married Benwick, and ultimately didn't find the romances believable. However, I will say that Wentworth's letter and the ensuing conversations were a delightful contrast to Austen's usual lack of such things. All her other novels end with "and then, as I am sure you can imagine, in due time, they got married, and everything was great, and I'm not going to tell you about their heartfelt conversations or the proposal or anything because I'm sure you can imagine it." I don't want to imagine it, and here, I didn't have to.
Four stars, because it was good, and the ending made up for a lot of its flaws.