Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along: Day 8

Welcome to Day 8 of the Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along! You can follow along on this three-week discussion of Persuasion and The Prayers of Jane Austen by checking out the read-along tag or by clicking the button in the sidebar.

Today we're going to discuss chapters 13 and 14 of Persuasion. If you came prepared, go ahead and share your thoughts below! Otherwise, feel free to check in later today after you've had a chance to read today's chapters. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

P.S. If you're a blogger, please feel free to put together your own post using the button above and linking back to the Persuasion and Prayers Read-Along tag, if you'd prefer to participate in the discussion that way. :)

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Persuasion Chapters 13 and 14
Discussion Format: One quote to ponder, one observation, and one question for each day's reading.
Quote to Ponder

"I am sure Lady Russell would like him. He is just Lady Russell's sort. Give him a book, and he will read all day long." - Charles Musgrove, speaking of Captain Benwick

Observation

Confession: I don't have a whole lot to say about these chapters. In fact, I read them rather late and got quite tired while doing so, which caused me to drift off for a time before finishing chapter 14. Nothing much exciting happened to rivet my attention. ;)

I will observe that there seems to be a bit of a theme in this section about personal tastes - from how one organizes their home, to what sort of person one admires, to what sorts of sounds one finds annoying or cheerful. There are differences of opinion, but that's just how people are. We're all unique!

And the characters that appear in these chapters are quite different from one another, but differences in taste don't determine the value of someone's acquaintance. Admiral Croft and Charles Musgrove - different as they are in personality and preferences - both endeared themselves to me in this section. Mary did not, but that's because she was acting quite needy and being intolerably rude in how she expressed herself and spoke of others. Yeesh.

As Anne notes about Admiral Croft, it's "his goodness of heart and simplicity of character" that make his company pleasant to Anne.

Not sure if I'm making much sense, but there you go!

Question

Here we spend a little more time getting to know Lady Russell. What are your thoughts about her relationship with Anne? Do you think she still holds power to persuade Anne in her life choices?

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Which quote to ponder, observation, and question/response would you like to share?

Join us tomorrow to discuss chapters 15 and 16!