Sense and Sensibility
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This is my first Austen book, and it's a favorite of mine. I found Marianne at first to be insufferable, but as the book progressed--I realized she was a typical young girl experiencing the world around here. And Lovely Elinor, nothing escapes her gaze.
It's a slow burner, and taking the time to read through the typos, word-language that is different 200 years into the future can make reading this book longer than usual. But I'm all the better for it. I will definitely come back to this one for a re-read.
It's a slow burner, and taking the time to read through the typos, word-language that is different 200 years into the future can make reading this book longer than usual. But I'm all the better for it. I will definitely come back to this one for a re-read.
A classic Jane Austen novel in the trials and tribulations of love from a female perspective in the 1800s. The struggle to survive and uphold family reputation without a paternal figure in the family.
Of course I love the book, what more praise could I possibly heap on Jane Austen. Julie Christie's narration only added to the beauty of this tale about the various qualities of emotional pain.
I have just finished re-reading 'Sense and Sensibility'. This was my first Jane Austen book back in 1996 when I was only 12, and I loved it so much that I went on to read all other of Austen's novels, and she soon enough became my favourite writer. I can say that I loved it then and I love it now.
It still brings, however, the same disagreeable feeling that I had when first closing the novel years ago. I know that I am not the only one, but can't fail to mention that the end and some some passages are slightly unfair to Marianne (although in no way is the book as bad as Emma Thompson made her look like in parts of her script... for obvious selfish reasons of her own!). I am certainly more of a Marianne than an Elinor and even after time, age and experience, I sympathise with her; and I still find Elinor judgemental, strict and condescending at times.
Of course, Marianne is meant to be a cautionary tale, but at times, this is put unnecessarily bluntly. Some of the remarks at the end undo some of the hints and situations throughout the novel that point at the fact that Marianne, by personality and inclination, must be and IS better off and fully happy where we find her at the end of the novel. Why JA didn't see that the dénouement could have been improved for this heroine of hers (I don't feel this happens to any other of her protagonists!) quite puzzles me. Perhaps it's because she felt a bit conflicted about the character: she herself might have been a little Marianne who had to turn into more of an Elinor.
In any case, this novel is brilliant: incisive, profound and emotional. Putting aside that perhaps the end comes a bit abruptly, it is a masterpiece. And let's not forget that it's not 'Sense or Sensibility' but 'Sense AND Sensibility' it is not a dilemma or a trick question, but a quest for balance that both sisters have to find by the end of their coming of age years.
It still brings, however, the same disagreeable feeling that I had when first closing the novel years ago. I know that I am not the only one, but can't fail to mention that the end and some some passages are slightly unfair to Marianne (although in no way is the book as bad as Emma Thompson made her look like in parts of her script... for obvious selfish reasons of her own!). I am certainly more of a Marianne than an Elinor and even after time, age and experience, I sympathise with her; and I still find Elinor judgemental, strict and condescending at times.
Of course, Marianne is meant to be a cautionary tale, but at times, this is put unnecessarily bluntly. Some of the remarks at the end undo some of the hints and situations throughout the novel that point at the fact that Marianne, by personality and inclination, must be and IS better off and fully happy where we find her at the end of the novel. Why JA didn't see that the dénouement could have been improved for this heroine of hers (I don't feel this happens to any other of her protagonists!) quite puzzles me. Perhaps it's because she felt a bit conflicted about the character: she herself might have been a little Marianne who had to turn into more of an Elinor.
In any case, this novel is brilliant: incisive, profound and emotional. Putting aside that perhaps the end comes a bit abruptly, it is a masterpiece. And let's not forget that it's not 'Sense or Sensibility' but 'Sense AND Sensibility' it is not a dilemma or a trick question, but a quest for balance that both sisters have to find by the end of their coming of age years.
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