I joined the Jane Austen Book Club with this book. My edition is actually not the one listed; with over 600 editions to choose from, I selected this one as representative of my book. I actually read a Borders Classic edition; I've read several classics republished by Borders and have found them to be of high quality, with no typos or publishing errors.

Of course, the basics of this book are well known. This book was originally written in draft form by Jane Austen at the age of nineteen, under the title "Elinor and Marianne." It was published in its present form years later. It was the first of Austen's use of women in reduced circumstances, and/or living in upwardly mobile families, if only the daughter can find a man to marry who has an inheritance of 10,000 Pounds Sterling. The long gestation period of S&S shows, in my opinion, in the rich tapestry of characters and of their intersecting plot lines. True to Austen's tradition, this is where she first gave the world a published novel showing her writing clarity, simplicity, and wit. The world has moved from the early nineteenth-century's aristocratic preoccupation with secret betrothals and other highly decorous courtship traditions, but Jane Austen's ability to infuse her characters with subtlety and to keep the reader wondering if conflicts blocking the pursuit of everlasting love will be resolved before the end of the book, continue to entertain new generations of readers.

Part of this book's appeal results from parallels between the lives of the book's main characters and events in Jane Austen's life. The two Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne (representing the traits of common sense and sentimentality) have a close relationship, similar to the lifelong friendship between Jane and her sister Cassandra Austen. It also has been suggested by critics that the ambiguity in the book's plot leading the reader to wonder if sense or sensibility will be the prevailing emotion at the end, reflects changes Jane Austen had lived through during the years of the book's production. The main appeal of this book, however, will always be from the enjoyable reading pastime it provides you.