Lady Susan
by Jane Austen
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 488)
Read in January, 2006
One of Jane Austen's earliest works, this novel, written in an epistolary form, didn't get published as last as 1871.
Clearly, Austen was trying to find her feet here in the literary world and chose a form that was relatively easier to write.
The story is about Lady Susan, a naturally born coquette, who has an easy way with men of all ages. Widowed lately and economically weakened, Lady Susan uses her eloquent charms and grace to entice men, more as amusement and a reiteration of her powe...more
Clearly, Austen was trying to find her feet here in the literary world and chose a form that was relatively easier to write.
The story is about Lady Susan, a naturally born coquette, who has an easy way with men of all ages. Widowed lately and economically weakened, Lady Susan uses her eloquent charms and grace to entice men, more as amusement and a reiteration of her powe...more
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Read in November, 2007
Lady Susan, jeune veuve désargentée, cache, sous des apparences de beauté, d'intelligence et de bienséance, une âme manipulatrice et méchante. Aussi, lorsque Susan demande l'hospitalité à son beau-frère, Catherine Vernon, l'épouse de ce dernier, qui a toujours soupçonné cette duplicité, s'en alarme. Une méfiance qui a tôt fait de trouver sa raison d'être, puisque c'est Réginald, le frère de Catherine, qui ne tarde pas à tomber sous le charme de l'invitée et à faire les frais...more
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Read in September, 2007
Written almost entirely in an epistlatory style, Lady Susan's kind of an odd duck. It's much shorter than any of Jane Austen's other books, and less satisfying. The style, though, allows Austen to give us a much sharper image of villainy than in any of her other novels -- Lady Susan Vernon is mendacious, grasping, callous, fickle, and generally a bad egg, and shows herself so through her own correspondence with her similarly nasty friend Mrs. Johnson, and not through the eye of a typical Austen ...more
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This is Jane Austen's earliest completed work, but was not published in her lifetime. The story is conveyed entirely in the text of letters among the characters. It is fast moving, entertaining, and completely different from her later novels. The basic themes of respectability, responsibility, and social prejudices are there, as they are in all Austen's books. The only things that kept this from a 5-star rating for me is that the letter format precluded the detailed character development that I ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Austen fanatics
Jane Austen's novel-in-letters, and perhaps the most perfunctory of all her books. The first time I read this I was deliciously scandalized at the perfidy of Lady Susan (she's such a brazen liar! and so mean!)--but this time around I knew that in advance, and simply found myself frustrated with the limitations of the letter, and how characters must be flattened and simplified in order to project through the layers of the form. One of the great pleasures of reading Austen is her authorial ...more
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Read in March, 2008
For me this is really a mixed bag. Austen is clearly only beginning to develop as a writer. She ends the epistolary style too early (in my opinion) and wraps everything up with a conclusion instead of writing out the letters, almost as though she gave up. I could see this being a longer, novel-length book if she had written it later in her career.
Lady Susan is a wicked, wicked woman, and it's fun to read about her. I might wish for a longer version in order to more fully flesh out the c...more
Lady Susan is a wicked, wicked woman, and it's fun to read about her. I might wish for a longer version in order to more fully flesh out the c...more
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This was certainly the most unusual of Jane Austen's novels, being that, unlike the rest of her works, it was written in letters and correspondences format like the very first novels in history. However, once you become settled for being cheated out of the witty and sometimes scathing remarks of Austen's narrative novels, you come to appreciate and enjoy the rare opportunity to see an Austen plot from all its characters points of view. Lady Susan is not Austen's best work, but it austounds yo...more
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Read in July, 2007
So I absolutely shouldn't be reading because I'm scheduled to fail the Bar in a week and a half, but this was quick, and now I've finally finished my Jane Austen anthology! This one was funny and interesting, but because it was told through correspondence, there wasn't as much character development as I've come to expect from Austen, and the main character was despicable! Same biting criticism of society, yada yada yada.
Good quick read, even if it's not my favorite of her books.
Good quick read, even if it's not my favorite of her books.
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone with a couple hours on their hands who wants to read an entertaining story
I thought this book was a quick and entertaining read. I enjoyed the vibrance and illumination of the characters. That said, I wished that Jane Austen had elaborated more upon the main character's daughter, Fredericka, who seemed to be the only admirable and innocent character in the book. The book read more like a soap opera in some ways because the main character was a beautiful, deceitful adultress. It was well-written and enjoyable to read, however.
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Read in May, 2008
This is one of Jane Austen's short works about a woman who is a manipulative flirt. Lady Susan is just barley widowed, but breaks apart a marriage and a potential match of a mother-father / daughter-boyfriend - while visiting them at their house! The characters were so vivid- Lady Susan has no redeeming qualities except her beauty! Like all Jane Austen- you have to kind of concentrate to first get into it- but then the story carries you along.
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It pains me to give Austen a low score, but this story was just so-so. Obviously nothing like her later works. I didn't like that the story was told through correspondence and I couldn't really get into the characters. But it was a humorous, quick read. And someone said it right earlier: this is what you read when you've read everything by Austen already. Good point. Still, for Austen lovers, I'd still recommend reading. You just have to.
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Read in November, 2007
I found this to be the most entertaining of all Jane Austen's books. The contrast between Lady Susan's version of events an the other characters is entertaining. I'm so disappointed that PBS's Complete Jane Austen didn't include Lady Susan. I can imagine the film playing all the character's versions of events and leaving the audience to guess which are real and which are the fantasy of the narrator.
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Read in June, 2008
Oh my! that Lady Susan is so evil and manipulative! she is absolutely the most delicious of any Austen character yet. I enjoyed her machinations very much. The format of the book being letters to and from the characters in the book was interesting, but detail of the environs etc, were left to immagination. I had the feeling while reading this was a writers exercise rather than a novel.
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Read in April, 2008
I actually really liked this book! I was surprised when I picked it up because I have read a lot of Jane Austin but never this one. Although it was really short, lacks character development, etc. etc., it was such a joy to see the story unfolding from the differing perspectives. And how naughty was Lady Susan. Too funny! Some things never change...people still act like that today!
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Read in June, 2008
I like Jane Austin's book. Lady Susan was a fun read because it is written as a compilation of letters from various characters in the book. The only thing that bothered me was the ending which is probably attributed to the fact that Austen never finished it. All in all, I would recommend reading it especially since it is such a short read.
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Read in June, 2008
It may be sick, but I really enjoyed how deceptive and manipulative Lady Susan is in this short collection of letters. This was a strong departure from Jane Austen's normal style of writing, very light and easy to read. It was delightful. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a quick light book that also loves Jane Austen.
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Read in January, 1998
This is a lesser known work of Jane Austen. It's fun because Austen paints every charater entirely through letters. I like this because letter writing was so key in Austen's novels and even in her personal life. It's not as compelling as some of her novels, but if you love Austen, you'll enjoy this book.
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Read in March, 2008
I assume there are other versions of this. The one I read was a bunch of letters from various people revealing an interesting story of a woman's power of influence/manipulation/selfishness. Typical Austen style, it ends with everyone getting exactly what they deserve.
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Read in January, 2007
The most boring of Austen's works that I have read. Difficult to finish. Only did out of mild curiosity and determination to do so. A different approach than her novels. Entirety of this is composed of letters to and from the various characters.
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An epistolary tale of English courtship and society, Lady Susan is one of my favorite Jane Austen works. Perhaps even #1. Never in any other Austen work is the villainess portrayed with such wit and wink. Love it.
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