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A review by elysiennee
Persuasion by Jane Austen
4.0
(Writing reviews really helps me think about books more because I'm still trying to come up with a solid opinion when writing one haha, that's why this one ended up being really long)
I'm going to give this book 4 stars because I loved it a lot. But not so much so that I'd give it 5. I liked it a lot more than I liked other books that I've given 4 stars to though.
This is my first Jane Austen book so I'm not able to compare it to any of her other books. This book is often said to be her most 'mature' one, which I obviously can't be a judge of. I appreciate Anne's change of perspectives though, from when she was young to her age now.
One thing that diminished my enjoyment of this book is that it's marketed as a romance. And it is.... but... for being a romance, it doesn't really spend much time on the romance. The set-up of the book takes quite long and after that, the romance progresses EXTREMELY slowly and Anne spends a lot of times on other problems. For most of the book in fact, it doesn't seem like there a romance between Captain Wentworth and Anne is likely at all. This literally only changes in the last few chapters. There is quite a bit of yearning, but I went into it expecting something else entirely. This wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't gone into it expecting something else. It was very refreshing and unexpected though.
While reading, I missed a lot of the social commentary and criticism in this book. I picked up on the criticism of the shallowness and vanity (I guess) of society as represented by Sir Walter, Elizabeth and Mary. Also the criticism of the importance placed on things like blood, family rank etc. (Lady Russell and the Elliot family). Obviously also the role of women etc. However, I really missed a lot of other stuff and maybe rereading this book would be helpful, when I'm feeling more patient and analytical. And reading it now, it doesn't feel like a very revolutionary perspective (for obvious reasons) but back then it might have been?
I think I need to read more classics to judge it cause I really don't think that you can compare modern books and classics... They're just different. I think you just tend to enjoy them differently, if that makes sense and I can't really compare my enjoyment of this book with my enjoyment of a modern book. So what I'm trying to say is that I enjoyed this book, but in a different way?
I think this book has a lot to offer, but I do think that a lot of other classics have very similar things to offer... (though I obviously can't be sure, because I haven't read that many).
I'm going to give this book 4 stars because I loved it a lot. But not so much so that I'd give it 5. I liked it a lot more than I liked other books that I've given 4 stars to though.
This is my first Jane Austen book so I'm not able to compare it to any of her other books. This book is often said to be her most 'mature' one, which I obviously can't be a judge of. I appreciate Anne's change of perspectives though, from when she was young to her age now.
One thing that diminished my enjoyment of this book is that it's marketed as a romance. And it is.... but... for being a romance, it doesn't really spend much time on the romance. The set-up of the book takes quite long and after that, the romance progresses EXTREMELY slowly and Anne spends a lot of times on other problems. For most of the book in fact, it doesn't seem like there a romance between Captain Wentworth and Anne is likely at all. This literally only changes in the last few chapters. There is quite a bit of yearning, but I went into it expecting something else entirely. This wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't gone into it expecting something else. It was very refreshing and unexpected though.
While reading, I missed a lot of the social commentary and criticism in this book. I picked up on the criticism of the shallowness and vanity (I guess) of society as represented by Sir Walter, Elizabeth and Mary. Also the criticism of the importance placed on things like blood, family rank etc. (Lady Russell and the Elliot family). Obviously also the role of women etc. However, I really missed a lot of other stuff and maybe rereading this book would be helpful, when I'm feeling more patient and analytical. And reading it now, it doesn't feel like a very revolutionary perspective (for obvious reasons) but back then it might have been?
I think I need to read more classics to judge it cause I really don't think that you can compare modern books and classics... They're just different. I think you just tend to enjoy them differently, if that makes sense and I can't really compare my enjoyment of this book with my enjoyment of a modern book. So what I'm trying to say is that I enjoyed this book, but in a different way?
I think this book has a lot to offer, but I do think that a lot of other classics have very similar things to offer... (though I obviously can't be sure, because I haven't read that many).