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Sense and Sensibility

Jane Austen,

Tony Tanner (Introduction)

Ros Ballaster (Introduction/Editor)

4.06 · Rating details · 851,878 ratings · 13,457 reviews

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780141439662

'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her ...more

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Paperback, Penguin Classics, 409 pages

Published April 29th 2003 by Penguin Books (first published October 30th 1811)

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4.06 ·

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· 851,878 ratings · 13,457 reviews

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Apr 23, 2010 Stephen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, classics, easton-press, literature, 1800s, romantical, love-those-words, classics-european

I love Jane Austen.
I LOVE Jane Austen.
I LOVE JANE AUSTEN!!
I…LOVE…JANE…AUSTEN!!
I……LOVE…..JANE..…AUSTEN!!

I still twitch a bit, but I'm getting more and more man-comfortable saying that because there no denying that it’s true. Normally, I am not much of a soapy, chick-flick, mani-pedi kinda guy. I don’t spritz my wine, rarely eat quiche and have never had anything waxed (though the list of things that need it grows by the hour).

But I would walk across a desert in bloomers and a parasol to read M ...more

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Dec 22, 2008 A. rated it did not like it

Here is this book in a nutshell:
Marianne and Elinor: 'O, why are we not married yet?'
Hot Guy #1: 'Let's get married.'
Elinor: 'Yes, let's.'
Hot Guy #1: 'Nah, forget it.'
Elinor: (pines)
Old Guy: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: 'No, let's not.'
Hot Guy #2: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: 'Yes, let's.'
Hot Guy #2: 'Nah, forget it.'
Marianne: (pines)
Hot Guy #1: 'Hey, let's get married.'
Elinor: 'Hark! Now I may stop pining!'
Marianne: 'This sucks. I am way hotter than her.'
Old Guy: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: ...more

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Oct 04, 2017 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: love-and-romance, romantic-movement

Money. It's all about the money. I mean, why else would you marry someone?

In Sense and Sensibility there are three major factors beyond the usual considerations of appearance, personality and character conduct when looking for a marriage in 19th century England. Indeed, what the Dashwood sisters look for- well Elinor really because she has more refined tastes and is far more discerning in regards to men- is a man’s opinion on literature and his understanding of natural beauty. What most people l ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: regency, classics

Jane Austen’s first published work, Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, is more straightforward than most of her later works. The story focuses on two sisters, ages 17 and 19, and how their romantic interests and relationships epitomize their different approaches to life. The older sister Elinor embodies sense, good judgment and discretion.
description

Her sister Marianne is emotional and volatile, following her heart with a supreme disregard for what society might – and does – think.
description

Elinor is pretty m ...more

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Nov 06, 2013 Carmen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of Classic Literature

Shelves: fiction, classics, traditionally-published, favorites, she-says

RE-READ January 30, 2019 - Do you ever notice how Colonel Brandon is a man, who steps up and takes care of things like a man? Edward is kind of useless, I think Marianne got the real prize here.

Also fascinating just how much Austen is saying in this novel. She's saying A LOT and more and more becomes clear to me on every re-read. The scene where Willoughby shows up to confess to Elinor when Marianne is ill was particularly striking to me this time. What does this say about 'bad people' and the n ...more

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Dec 26, 2013 Barry Pierce rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, read-in-2015

Sense and Sensibility is dense with inactivity.

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Nov 21, 2016 Ana O rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, romance-contemporary-and-ya

“The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!”

Yes. So much yes.

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Jul 24, 2013 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The story of two teenage girls with romantic troubles, caused by unreliable men (they have dark secrets, but who doesn't ? ), in 1790's England, calm Elinor Dashwood 19, and her younger sibling , by a couple of years, the emotional, Marianne, 17. When their father is no longer living, all the family, including the mother, Mrs. Dashwood and third sister, Margaret, 13, must vacate their mansion, in Sussex, Norland Park, a large estate, which many generations of the quiet, respectable Dashwoods, ha The story of two teenage girls with romantic troubles, caused by unreliable men (they have dark secrets, but who doesn't ? ), in 1790's England, calm Elinor Dashwood 19, and her younger sibling , by a couple of years, the emotional, Marianne, 17. When their father is no longer living, all the family, including the mother, Mrs. Dashwood and third sister, Margaret, 13, must vacate their mansion, in Sussex, Norland Park, a large estate, which many generations of the quiet, respectable Dashwoods, have resided. Only men can inherit this property says the law, then, ( a rich uncle, they received it originally from, insisted in his will this provision), and relatives can be greedy. John Dashwood , their half - brother, has little family feelings and his cold-heart wife, Fanny, none, take over. Breaking his promise to his dying father, to help his sisters and stepmother, financially, selfish Fanny, persuades him, with not too much effort, that these women can survive, very well, without any assistance, she tells her wealthy husband ... And money is money, and promises just words (otherwise, the couple's child, " poor little Harry", would starve ! ). Sir John Middleton, a kindly cousin, of the mother's, offers the Dashwood's, a small cottage, low rent, to live, close to his big house. Desperately wanting to leave the hostile environment of their former home, they relocate there, in far away, Devonshire, by Allenham village. Being very pretty women, the sisters, soon attract admirers, the shy Mr. Edward Ferrars, the eldest brother of Fanny, who likes Elinor, unlike his sister, Miss Dashwood, thinks, but she can never be sure, he doesn't speak much. On a rainy day the two girls, imprudently are walking outside, over the country hills, they enjoy exploring the beautiful area, but the weather becomes too much, running, for shelter, Marianne takes a tumble, hurts her leg, and unable to go any further and still some distance, from Barton Cottage . What to do ? Elinor can't get her home. Mr. John Willoughby, hunting with his dog, in the rain, comes along and carries Marianne back to the cottage. The amazed mother, Margaret and the whole family are speechless. Handsome, charming, well spoken, Mr. Willoughby, visits the injured girl every day, to see that everything's all right ... But he doesn't fool anybody ... the youngest sister falls madly in love and he appears also, to experience the same emotion. He's a good , fun loving friend, of Sir John's, well known and liked in the neighborhood, with a rich old relative he wisely sees, often, nearby, Mrs. Smith. The perfect man, has a rival, Colonel Brandon, more than ten years older, at 35, with a huge house, a lonely , honorable gentleman, but Marianne has eyes only for Mr. Willoughby ( a secret libertine). And Mr. Ferrars has a fiancee, he never mentions ... Even the Colonel, might have skeletons, in his closet... A great book by the incomparable Jane Austen, her likes will never arise again, years go by, relentlessly, customs and technology changes the Earth, either for better or worse, but there will always be her words. ...more

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Jul 15, 2015 Maureen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the third Jane Austen book I've read and it's by far my favorite. I love the story, love the heroines, love the MEN I just love everything about this. There was so much happening that it never felt slow or boring and the SUSPENSE and REVELATIONS at the end of the book were so fantastically done. AGH JUST SO GOOD.
TIME TO GO WATCH THE MOVIE.

Reread mid-Jan to early Feb 2016 for Austentatious

STILL MY FAVORITE

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Nov 06, 2016 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, fiction, romance, listening, british, literature, 19th-century

Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. Henry Dashwood, his second wife, and their three daughters live for many years with Henry's wealthy bachelor uncle. That uncle decides, in late life, to will the use and income only of his property first to Henry, then to Henry's first son John Dashwood (by his first marriage), so that the property should pass intact to John's three-year-old son Harry. The uncle dies, but Henry lives just a year Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. Henry Dashwood, his second wife, and their three daughters live for many years with Henry's wealthy bachelor uncle. That uncle decides, in late life, to will the use and income only of his property first to Henry, then to Henry's first son John Dashwood (by his first marriage), so that the property should pass intact to John's three-year-old son Harry. The uncle dies, but Henry lives just a year after that and he is unable in such short time to save enough money for his wife Mrs Dashwood, and their daughters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, who are left only a small income. On his deathbed, Mr Henry Dashwood extracts a promise from his son John to take care of his half-sisters. But before Henry is long in the grave, John's greedy wife, Fanny, persuades her husband to renege on the promise, appealing to his concerns about diminishing his own son Harry's inheritance despite the fact that John is independently wealthy thanks to his inheritance from his mother and his wife's dowry. Henry Dashwood's love for his second family is also used by Fanny to arouse her husband's jealousy and convince him not to help his sisters economically. ...
عنوانها: حس و حساسیت؛ حس و احساس؛ عقل و احساس؛ دلباخته؛ شور و شوریدگی؛ نویسنده: جین آستین؛ انتارتیها: عنقا؛ نشر نی؛ جامی، ثالث، گلشائی؛ سمیر؛ جاوید؛ کوشش، آبنوی؛ پر؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: 6 نوامبر سال 2001 میلادی؛ دویمن خوانش: اول فوریه سال 2006 میلادی
عنوان: حس و حساسیت؛ نویسنده: جین آستین؛ مترجم: جمشید اسکندانی؛ تهران، عنقا، 1379؛ در 830 ص؛ مصور؛ شابک: 9646404863؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی سده 19 م
با عنوان: عقل و احساس؛ مترجم: رضا رضایی؛ تهران، نشر نی، 1384؛ در 407 ص؛ شابک: 9643128199؛
با همان عنوان مترجم: وحید منوچهری واحد؛ در نشر جامی سال 1390، در 344 ص؛ شابک: 9786001760198؛
با عنوان: شور و شوریدگی با ترجمه جمشید اسکندانی؛ تهران، ثالث، 1393، در 806 ص؛ شابک: 9789643808914؛
با عنوان: حس و احساس با ترجمه حسین خسروی؛ تهران، گلشائی، 1366، در 460 ص؛
با عنوان: حس و حساسیت؛ با ترجمه جمشید اسکندانی؛
و با همین عنوان با ترجمه آرمانوش باباخانیانس؛ تهران، سمیر، 1391؛ در 424 ص؛ شابک: 9789642201570؛
و با عنوان: دلباخته؛ با ترجمه عباس کرمی فر؛ تهران، جاوید، 1363؛ در 412 ص؛ و چاپ دیگر: تهران، کوشش، 1363؛ در 412 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، آبنوی، 1371؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، پر، 1374؛
رمان نخستین اثر جین آستین، نویسنده ی انگلیسی ست، ایشان این رمان را در سن بیست سالگی، و به سال 1795 بنگاشته است، نخست نام رمان: «الینور و ماریان»، بوده؛ سپس بانوی نویسنده آن را بازنویسی کرده، و عنوان انگلیسی بالا را برگزیده است. داستان عقل و احساس در فاصله ی سال‌های 1792 تا 1797 میلادی، در منطقه‌ ای در جنوب غربی انگلستان می‌گذرد. شخصیت‌های اصلی، دو خواهر به نام‌های: الینور و ماریان دشوود هستند؛ که به خانه‌ ای تازه کوچیده اند؛ و در گیرودار ماجراهای عاطفی، عشق و دلشکستگی را تجربه می‌کنند. عنوان این کتاب را می‌توان بازتابی از دو شیوه ی تفکر و رفتار، در جریان‌های فلسفی، و سایر جریان‌های فکری رایج در سده ی هجدهم میلادی دانست؛ که یکی متأثر از: فلسفه ی دکارت و عصر روشنگری بود، و دیگری برآمده از آثار ادبی نویسندگانی همچون: جان میلتون؛ و فیلسوفانی نظیر: جان لاک. در برداشت نخست، انسان موجودی میان فرشته و حیوان ست، که با توان اندیشه و با مهار غرایز جسمانی، می‌تواند خود را به جایگاه فرشته ها نزدیک کند. در دومی، بدن انسان (و امیال و غرایزش) اعتباری دوباره یافت. بر مبنای این شیوه ی تفکر، عقلانیت و در نتیجه اخلاق، تنها از مسیر تجارب جسمانی، میسر می‌شود. تقابل میان عقل و احساس، حاکی از منازعه ی میان این دو جریان فکری، در سده ی هجدهم میلادی است. ا. شربیانی ...more

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Sep 14, 2012 s.penkevich rated it really liked it

Recommended to s.penkevich by: Meredith Holley

Shelves: classics, austen, love

'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'

What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'? As we are all individuals, with our own needs, is it sensible to always act according to our countenance (to steal a lovely phrase from Austen), to keep true to ourselves, or is there a code of manners that we should adhere to in order to maintain a proper course of action? Austen’s aptly titled Sense and Sensibility, a staggeringly impressive f 'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'

What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'? As we are all individuals, with our own needs, is it sensible to always act according to our countenance (to steal a lovely phrase from Austen), to keep true to ourselves, or is there a code of manners that we should adhere to in order to maintain a proper course of action? Austen’s aptly titled Sense and Sensibility, a staggeringly impressive first publication from 19 year old Austen, probes the very ideas of it’s title. Told through the juxtaposition of two sisters forging their own sensible rationalities as they find themselves in a society fueled by social standings and money, they discover that love does not always fit pleasantly into such a world.

An impressive feature of the Jane Austen novels is her ability to construct a broad scale society to immerse her heroines. She juggles a large cast of characters, each with a uniquely rounded personality and varied level of likeability, which gives a realistic scope and portrayal to the story. Just like in our own lives, we see Elinor and Marianne dealing with friends, rivals, busybodies and outright scoundrels. Austen manages to flesh her characters out with positive and negative traits, giving even the despicable ones a moment to plead their case. The reader is left to either accept or reject such justifications on their own terms, and, in a way, if even the ‘villainous’ act in what they see to be a sensible manner, Austen calls into question our own ideals and interpretations on the matter. She is clever at keeping an ironic flair to her characters, offering a dark side to ones you initially thought amiable, and bestowing grief of less-than-Prince-Charming characteristics to those who should be the true champion of hearts.

The actions of each character show the variety of ways one can interact and react within society, offering a wide number of actions to decide between when declaring what is ‘truly sensible’. The two sisters experience near-mirrored heartbreak and respond in polarizing manners. Is it more sensible to keep your feelings buried, suffering in solitude, always appearing calm and collect at the risk of seeming cold, or more sensible to wear one’s heart on their sleeve, falling into self-pity while drawing the attention of those who can care and offer support? Even the smallest characters can be looked at in this ways. Is sensibility, to toy with hearts, to stick your nose in another’s business, to marry for love with no money or for money with no love?

Perhaps a proper title could have also been Cents and Sensibility, as Austen takes careful aim at the dominating social constructs. The opinions on money, and it’s unavoidable, necessary power over society and the not-so-well-off Dashwood’s particularly, is a crucial element to what is sensible. The social commentary is thick and delicious. We witness many broken hearts in the name of money, and many hearts set on love faced with crippling financial consequences. The final results of the novel however, goes to prove the lyrics 'you can't always get what you want, but when you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need.'

While I began reading the Austen/Bronte novels feeling like it is something I should know going into a literature degree, thinking ‘oh well, I guess I should know these’, I’ve come to discover I really enjoy them. Especially reading them alongside so many post-modernist works of genius; Austen has been the anchor keeping me from being lost in the Zone. Occasionally it is nice to escape the bells and whistles of modern lit, to step out of the multi-layered metafiction and swirling narratives that I so love, and read a novel that is just as incredible on a powerful but elegant voice, ironic wit, and an acute sense of society alone. I highly recommend Jane Austen to anyone. I want to show up with flowers for Elinor and spend all day sipping tea with her from dainty cups and sighing about weather and society. However, I would be doing a great disservice to you and two the two fine reviewers I am about to speak of, to continue keeping your time and not sending you to these two outstanding reviews: Liberty’s, who I’ve come to consider my professor in all that is Austen/Bronte/Woolf, etc, and the wonderful Kelly, who has said everything I wanted to say and more, but far better. Austen’s world makes us all question our morality and actions, and the world is a better place for it.
4/5
...more

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Apr 05, 2016 L A i N E Y rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: regency, audiobook, reviewed, historical-fiction, marvelous-writing, reread

[reread] 01.29.18: added another star this time round

My penultimate Jane Austen novel. (nooooooo!)

For me, it took too long to get going. Not until they arrived in London that I started to get curious about how the story will unfold and what will happen to the Dashwood sisters. Elinor, I liked well enough but I found Marianne to be too self-righteous and annoying. She did turn a new leaf in the end but I think it came too late for me to start liking her at that point.

Owning to the fact that bec ...more

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Aug 05, 2008 Kerry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fromthelibrary, chick_lit, romance, about-a-woman

This my first Jane Austen.

Okay, I LOVED this book. I don't even know why. It's about . . . girls who like boys! Who are jerks! Um, the end! But it was funny. But clever funny, which is my favorite kind. And I enjoyed deciphering the late 18th century prose. It made me feel smart, just to figure out what she was saying half the time!

Also I love all the wacky British society stuff. Like sending notes! And walking places! And having breakfast at other peoples' houses! And I enjoyed figuring out the ...more

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Jun 02, 2008 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-book, classic, fiction, literature, romance, 19th-century, british

940. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. The novel follows the three Dashwood sisters as they move with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up, Norland Park, to their new home, Barton Cottage. The four women must move to a meagre cottage on the property of a distant relative, where they experience love, ro 940. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; By A Lady appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. The novel follows the three Dashwood sisters as they move with their widowed mother from the estate on which they grew up, Norland Park, to their new home, Barton Cottage. The four women must move to a meagre cottage on the property of a distant relative, where they experience love, romance, and heartbreak. The novel is likely set in southwest England, London and Sussex between 1792 and 1797.
عقل و احساس - جین اوستین (نشر نی) ادبیات انگلستان
عنوانها: حس و احساس؛ دلباخته ( حس و حساسیت)؛ شور و شوریدگی؛ عقل و احساس؛ نویسنده: جین اوستین؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ششم ماه نوامبر سال 2001 میلادی و بار دوم ماه فوریه سال 2006 میلادی
عنوان: حس و احساس؛ نویسنده: جین اوستین؛ مترجم: حسین خسروی؛ تهران، گلشائی، مطهر، 1363؛ در 460 ص؛
عنوان: دلباخته ( حس و حساسیت)؛ نویسنده: جین اوستین؛ مترجم: عباس کرمی فر؛ تهران، جاوید، 1363؛ در 412 ص؛
عنوان: عقل و احساس؛ نویسنده: جین اوستین؛ مترجم: رضا رضایی؛ تهران، نشر نی، 1385؛ در 407 ص؛ چاپ دوم و سوم 1386؛ شابک: 9643128199؛ چاپ ششم 1389؛
عنوان: عقل و احساس؛ نویسنده: جین اوستین؛ مترجم: وحید منوچهری واحد؛ تهران، جامی، 1390؛ در 344 ص؛ شابک: 9786001760198؛
نخستین اثر جین آستین نویسنده انگلیسی ست، گویا نویسنده رمان را در سن بیست سالگی در سال 1795 میلادی بنگاشته است، نخست نام دیگری داشته: «الینور و ماریان»، سپس آن را بازنویسی کرده، عنوانش را همان عنوان انگلیسی بالا برگزیده: عنوان کتاب در ترجمه ی فارسی عقل و احساس با ترجمه رضا رضایی؛ و نسخه دیگر با ترجمه وحید منوچهری واحد؛ شور و شوریدگی با ترجمه جمشید اسکندانی؛ «حس و احساس با ترجمه حسین خسروی؛ و حس و حساسیت با ترجمه جمشید اسکندانی؛ و نسخه دیگر با ترجمه آرمانوش باباخانیانس؛ و «دلباخته» توسط عباس کرمی فر ترجمه شده است. داستان عقل و احساس در فاصله ی سال‌های 1792 تا 1797 میلادی در منطقه‌ ای در جنوب غربی انگلستان می‌گذرد. شخصیت‌های اصلی، دو خواهر به نام‌های الینور و ماریان دشوود هستند؛ که به خانه‌ ای جدید نقل مکان می‌کنند؛ و در گیرودار ماجراهای عاطفی‌ شان، عشق و دلشکستگی را تجربه می‌کنند. عنوان این کتاب را می‌توان بازتابی از دو شیوه ی تفکر و رفتار در جریان‌های فلسفی و سایر جریان‌های فکری رایج در قرن هجدهم دانست؛ که یکی متأثر از فلسفه ی دکارت و عصر روشنگری بود، و دیگری برآمده از آثار ادبی نویسندگانی چون جان میلتون و فیلسوفانی نظیر جان لاک. در برداشت نخست، انسان موجودی میان فرشته و حیوان ست که با قدرت عقلانیت و با مهار غرایز جسمانی می‌تواند خود را به جایگاه فرشته ها نزدیک کند. در دوم، بدن انسان (و امیال و غرایزش) اعتباری دوباره یافت. بر مبنای این شیوه ی تفکر، عقلانیت و در نتیجه اخلاق، تنها از مسیر تجارب جسمانی میسر می‌شد. تقابل میان عقل و احساس حاکی از منازعه ی میان این دو جریان فکری، در سده هجدهم میلادی است. ا. شربیانی ...more

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Apr 26, 2018 Luffy rated it really liked it

This book nearly failed the Bechdel test. There were an equal assortment of men and women, only the men seem to have a lemming like migratory bent, and fly from the nest for some reason or other.

Elinor is a blueprint for heroines that are strong. At least we can agree on the fact that most strong heroines in films are indistinguishable from men. But here there cannot be such confusion.

I was not immune to the charms of Sense and sensibility. It was very tough for me to read. At least I was now pr ...more

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Jun 12, 2007 Kelly rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Austen fans, women

Shelves: fiction, brit-lit, regency, owned, 19th-century, mawwiageiswhatbringsustogethertoday, its-the-quiet-ones

New review to come eventually. Can't quite put it all into words yet.
* * *
ORIGINAL:Ah, the third member of the Holy Trinity of Austen. Also deservedly so. This is my intellectual favorite of the Austens. By that, I'm not calling it "intellectual" I'm just saying that taking emotional attachment to other books out of it, this is my objective favorite Austen. I actually believe that the story of the women is better than Pride and Prejudice. Go on, shoot me for that one. I've taken it before for t New review to come eventually. Can't quite put it all into words yet.
* * *
ORIGINAL:Ah, the third member of the Holy Trinity of Austen. Also deservedly so. This is my intellectual favorite of the Austens. By that, I'm not calling it "intellectual" I'm just saying that taking emotional attachment to other books out of it, this is my objective favorite Austen. I actually believe that the story of the women is better than Pride and Prejudice. Go on, shoot me for that one. I've taken it before for that. The romance might be better, more tight, more like one would idealistically want in Pride and Prejudice, but the ones here are more realistic and would have a better chance of lasting in real life. Colonel Brandon and Marianne are one of my favorite flawed couples of any piece of literature. This book finds faith in romances that are less than perfect, heroes who don't act like heroes (Colonel Brandon wins over the romantic figure of Willoughby in the end), and heroines who are at times geniunely ridiculous in the things they choose to do. Not because Austen writes them ridiculously. All women do things like that, and these girls find their way to love anyway. And not with the people conventional plotlines or even gothic strangeness would normally put them with either. By all rights, Eleanor and Colonel Brandon should make a quietly sensible couple, if one thinks about it. But that's not how this ends. There's enough romance left in it for some poetry to how the story ends. None of the men are one or even two dimensional, either. They don't merely serve as the means to the narcissitic heroine's end. No cardboard Prince Charmings with one ridiculous flaw here. They're very believable. I've always thought one of the strengths of Austen is that she writes novels that are undoubtably marketed to women, but men can still see themselves in her heroes if they read them.

The movie is my favorite Jane Austen movie, as a side note. And one of my favorites in general. I've been watching it since I was about 13. It's beautiful. So is the soundtrack. Emma Thompson's performance alone is worth the viewing. Ang Lee.. before he switched over to gay cowboys. Yes, he did period pieces. Who would have known, right? ...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Eric Althoff rated it it was ok

Hmmm, how to critique one of the most revered writers of romance literature? Now, before all of your Jane-ites get on my case for being unromantic or whatever, let me say only that unfortuantely, I read "Persuasion," Austen's last novel, and found it to be one of the best books I've ever read. Now having read "Sense and Sensibility," I will say that it truly doese feel like a first novel, as if the author was still trying to find her voice. So I've done the bookends of Austen, much like a concer ...more

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Mar 02, 2018 Maria Clara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

¿Qué puedo decir? Jane Austen siempre será la maravillosa Jane Austen, y esta historia, como todas las que he leído de ella, me ha encantado. Sin embargo, me ha faltado un poquito más de romance.

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Sep 26, 2010 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: vagina-soliloquies

Call me Elinor.

Being the older sibling, while growing up I often felt like I was shoved into the role of being the sensible one, the reasonable one, the responsible one. That is how I was seen. That is what people believed of me. Underneath the skin of the rational, reserved tut-tutter writhed an often non-sensical, unreasonable, irresponsible being. But it took the occurrence of extreme circumstances for others to see it.

Such is the life of Elinor Dashwood, the elder sister in a small, displac ...more

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Oct 30, 2014 Melindam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: jane-austen-related, classics, favourites

CRACKING THE AUSTEN CODE! :)
...
...
... OR ATTEMPTING IT (Review still under construction)

"Many of Jane Austen's admirers, it is true, read her novels as a means of escape into a cozy sort of Old English nirvana, but they find this escape in her pages only because, as E. M. Foster has written, the devout "Janeite" "like all regular churchgoers ... scarcely notices what is being said."
(...)
Nor do we need such a great deal of ingenuity to see that all, or nearly all, the great issues in human life ...more

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Aug 14, 2007 Diane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: british-charm, favorites, love-stories, jane-austen, movie-adaptation

Rereading Sense and Sensibility was a joy and a delight. It was also surprisingly enlightening.

Wait, enlightening? Seriously? Isn't that a bit much for a girly romance story?

Well, I think reading a Jane Austen novel can be enlightening because the characters are drawn so well that they resemble real people. I've been slowly rereading Austen's novels, and I am constantly impressed by her powers of observation and description. Even though she was writing 200 years ago, her stories remind me of man Rereading Sense and Sensibility was a joy and a delight. It was also surprisingly enlightening.

Wait, enlightening? Seriously? Isn't that a bit much for a girly romance story?

Well, I think reading a Jane Austen novel can be enlightening because the characters are drawn so well that they resemble real people. I've been slowly rereading Austen's novels, and I am constantly impressed by her powers of observation and description. Even though she was writing 200 years ago, her stories remind me of many people I know, and I even see parts of myself in them. She had tremendous insight into human behavior.

I think one of the things that makes S&S so compelling is that the two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, are so opposite in how they approach the world. Elinor favors order and restraint, and when she falls in love with a man, Edward Ferrars, she does so quietly and she follows good reason. She understands that there will be opposition to the match, and that Edward is unlikely to propose to her.

In contrast, when Marianne falls in love with the dashing Willoughby, she is not shy in her affections and spends all her time with him. She recklessly follows her heart, and is nearly destroyed when he abandons her and marries another.

(Personal note: It has probably been a decade since I read S&S, and I think I used to identify more with Elinor, or at least aspire to be like Elinor, but with this reading, I had to admit that I have always been more like Marianne. That is to say, I fancied myself a romantic, I threw myself into relationships, and I had trouble concealing my emotions. I think age has cured most of this, but I kind of wish I had read S&S when I was a teenager, you know? Maybe the wisdom would have come earlier.)

What I especially loved about reading S&S were the put-downs of anyone who was silly, mean or vain. Jane Austen did not suffer fools gladly. Here is a favorite description:

Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect. Her complexion was sallow; and her features small, without beauty, and naturally without expression; but a lucky contraction of the brow had rescued her countenance from the disgrace of insipidity, by giving it the strong characters of pride and ill nature. She was not a woman of many words; for, unlike people in general, she proportioned them to the number of her ideas; and of the few syllables that did escape her, not one fell to the share of Miss Dashwood, whom she eyed with the spirited determination of disliking her at all events.

And here is another:

John Dashwood had not much to say for himself that was worth hearing, and his wife had still less. But there was no peculiar disgrace in this; for it was very much the case with the chief of their visitors, who almost all laboured under one or other of these disqualifications for being agreeable — want of sense, either natural or improved — want of elegance — want of spirits — or want of temper.

Jane Austen's writing is so delicious that I savored this novel for days, not wanting it to end. My only complaint about S&S is its poor opening. It starts with several pages of family exposition, about how the father of Elinor & Marianne died without being able to leave them much in his will. The story doesn't get going until you get past that background info. But otherwise, this novel is such a delight that I highly recommend it. ...more

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Jul 19, 2008 Ashley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 1700s-1800s, anglophilia, audiobooks, favorites, fiction, lit-fic, romantical, satire

February 2016, Part II: A couple of years ago, I re-read Jane Eyre, and because I was overwhelmed with the task of writing a review for such a classic book, I decided to get weird and write the review in the form of letters to the characters. Since then, with an eventual plan to re-read all of Jane Austen's books, I've had it in the back of my mind that I'd do the same with as many future classic books that I could. So. This is me doing that. And I'll be doing it all year for the rest of Austen' ...more

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Oct 23, 2016 Samra Yusuf rated it it was ok

Shelves: total-trash

Dear Austen
I will confess right off the bat that I’m one of those readers who never “got” you. I tried to read Pride and Prejudice years ago, but gave up after a few pages because of your writing style. What can I say – I had less patience in those days with long, indirect sentences which seemed to use 20 words to say what could be easily said in five (hah! I’m one to talk on that score…). I read Emma a few years ago and honestly did not care for it. It wasn’t so much the language this time; it ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 Aishu Rehman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: clean-romance, favorites, english-literature

Sense and Sensibility is a richly rewarding story of manners from one of the world's greatest novelists. Full of feeling, humor, and beautifully realized characters, this book is treasured by teens and adults who enjoy a complex romantic page-turner. For two centuries, readers' hearts have broken for naive Marianne and long-suffering Elinor, and the book will surely find devoted readers for centuries to come.

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Sep 28, 2015 Cait • A Page with a View rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, historical

This is actually the first time I've read this book the whole way through! I had this movie memorized by the time I was 7, so I've always set the book aside when the beginning chapters weren't done in as much detail.

And yes, a lot of detailed movie scenes are summarized in a few sentences in the book, BUT I finally admitted that the book expands in so many other areas. I loved seeing more into Elinor's mind and got a way stronger understanding of Marianne's character. They're still two of my ab ...more

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Sep 23, 2015 Apatt rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

Sense and Sensibility is a lot like a Fast & Furious movie, except there are no supercar races, gun fights, fist fights, robbery, and scantily clad girls. Come to think of it Sense and Sensibility is nothing like a Fast & Furious movie. I just had no idea how to start off the review.

Actually Sense and Sensibility is (seriously now) a lot like Pride and Prejudice. What with the sisters, one stoic and worldly, one a little wild, impulsive and naive, not to mention the youngest one who is ...more

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Feb 13, 2018 C. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: riedel-titles-2018

I wish Jane Austen could see she became an admired literary standard. She conjures such scholarly connotations, I was wary of enjoying “Sense And Sensibility”. I hope my words attain quality that is discussed and absorbed for meaning but books are about the story, personages, message, setting, and sympathizing with them. I couldn't care less about structural intentions, like “symbolism”, thus my reviews are never going to be critical essay types. Just as a novel, I am thrilled to report I liked I wish Jane Austen could see she became an admired literary standard. She conjures such scholarly connotations, I was wary of enjoying “Sense And Sensibility”. I hope my words attain quality that is discussed and absorbed for meaning but books are about the story, personages, message, setting, and sympathizing with them. I couldn't care less about structural intentions, like “symbolism”, thus my reviews are never going to be critical essay types. Just as a novel, I am thrilled to report I liked this! I feel relief and triumph, to have enjoyed this enough to give it four stars!

We have read and seen numerous stories portraying the 1800s, most often in England; at a distance already for North Americans, culturally. They must spotlight a rare class, with mercifully extinct codes of conduct. Except Edward Farrars' Mother, I was shocked, to find an authoress from 1811 itself, depicting no stuffiness! How enlightening, from someone who knew how society acted. We still observe morals and manners, as we should but there was scarcely any unreasonable mindset. I followed this Mother and daughters right along, who loved each other and had fun. Quite unforeseen relief is that “Sense And Sensibility” is supposed to be about two who are different but Elinor & Marianne are loving and loyal. There was no antagonism. They had respectfully different attitudes and coping mannerisms.

Another striking aspect is that this family quartet of women, including young Margaret, needed a financial lift only as much as some men. They were content on their own. Even though they were aware their step-brother promised to share his male-structured inheritance, they did not challenge him and his selfish wife. The largest surprise, is that I expected a social commentary and found a veritable novel: with a story that goes somewhere and plot twists I did not dream it would yield.

Even though I am a linguist, I had to pause and absorb pages properly because they are stuffed full of intelligent language, with eloquently impressive turns of phrase but I praise this. Part of the point of sampling Jane, is to broaden my vocabulary and literary palate. However any modern person wondering if they will relate to Marianne and Elinor and find an enjoyable story, must be encouraged. I am glad I have read the first of her books! It is a due I felt it right to grant this lady, for an unusually personal reason. All the way from Canada, I have visited her house! ...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Ariel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I DID IT. WOOOOOOOOOO! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

Not going to lie, the middle was rough.. quite tedious and slow, BUT, the character development in this book was just fabulous; Austen truly understands the human condition.

Next? PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!

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Mar 13, 2012 Madeline rated it it was ok

Shelves: the-list, ugh

I hate romantic comedies.

I hate them for a wide variety of reasons - I hate their formulaic plots, their repeated character tropes that never seem to change (hmm, will this one have a sassy best friend who only exists to dispense advice?), I hate their consistent failing of the the Bechdel test, and I hate the way they try to make me believe that a skinny and gorgeous woman is incapable of finding a man because she's clumsy or has a job or something.

But mostly, I hate them because their plots I hate romantic comedies.

I hate them for a wide variety of reasons - I hate their formulaic plots, their repeated character tropes that never seem to change (hmm, will this one have a sassy best friend who only exists to dispense advice?), I hate their consistent failing of the the Bechdel test, and I hate the way they try to make me believe that a skinny and gorgeous woman is incapable of finding a man because she's clumsy or has a job or something.

But mostly, I hate them because their plots revolve entirely around what boy likes what girl and vice versa, and nothing else ever happens. Sure, there can be subplots, and yes, brilliant romantic comedies do exist, but I want my movie protagonists to do more than worry about who they're going to marry.

Reading Sense and Sensibility made me realize why I don't like Jane Austen's books, and probably never will: she was a brilliant author, and her novels are funny and well-written, but at the end of the day, her characters spend 90% of their time talking about boys. Nothing else happens: they go to a ball, where they worry about which boy isn't dancing with them; they have tea, where they talk about which girls have snagged which boys; and they write letters about which girls have done scandalous things with boys. It's just pages and pages of "I like you but you hate me!" "No, I really love you, you were just misinformed!" "My, what a silly misunderstanding!" "I agree! Let's get married!" and all its variations and it bores me to death. I love the humor, and I love the characters, I just want them to do something interesting. This is probably why Pride and Prejudice and Zombies resonated so well with me - finally, the Bennett sisters got to do something besides sit around and mope about the various boys who weren't talking to them for whatever reason!

Sense and Sensibility is one long slog of "I love this boy! But oh no, he's engaged to someone else!" and "This boy acted like he loved me but he really didn't and now I am sad and will ignore the other boy who has clearly been meant to marry me all along!" It's for this reason that, when faced with the prospect of reading the last 70 pages of this book in order to finish it, I was filled with dread and realized that I do not give a single flying fuck who the Dashwood sisters end up marrying. The only thing that would make me want to finish the book is if the story ends with Elinor and Marianne deciding to go off to college or travel to China or fight zombies or do something besides get married. But I know they won't, because this is an Austen novel, and things only end one way here.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with romantic comedies - they're funny, lighthearted entertainment where everyone is beautiful and nothing hurts, and the people who get unhappy endings were mean people and deserved it anyway. I do not begrudge anyone for liking this kind of entertainment - it's just not my taste, and I won't waste any time feeling bad about this.

Sorry, Ms. Austen. I gave it my all, but it's just not going to work out. But don't worry: it's not you, it's me. ...more

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Sep 02, 2015 Cyndi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Although I have read this book countless times, this time I noticed something I hadn't actually noticed before...a lot of Man-Bashing. Makes me wonder if Jane wrote this at a time when she was at-odds with most of the men in her life. It starts with an old uncle who allows the family to live with him, but, takes advantage of full time care, then leaves the whole estate to a horrible little boy, the son of the main heroines half-brother. Their father stupidly asks (from his own death bed) the hal Although I have read this book countless times, this time I noticed something I hadn't actually noticed before...a lot of Man-Bashing. Makes me wonder if Jane wrote this at a time when she was at-odds with most of the men in her life. It starts with an old uncle who allows the family to live with him, but, takes advantage of full time care, then leaves the whole estate to a horrible little boy, the son of the main heroines half-brother. Their father stupidly asks (from his own death bed) the half-brother to take care of his step mother and sisters, but, he drops the ball. So, after spending years in 'the lap of luxury' the 4 females find themselves as the 'poor relations'. Now, the only guy who is half-way nice, Sir John offers them a wee house far away and they are forced to accept. I happen to like this guy, but the girls find him to be garrulous. Then, there is Edward Ferrars. He leads Elinor on while engaged to another girl. His brother, Robert is a jerk who ends up stealing his brother's fiancée. Colonel Brandon goes off to 'the war' and leaves a girl he 'loved' to be abused by his brother who she was forced to marry. After her death he takes on the support of her daughter, then leaves her to be watched after poorly. He chases after Marianne because she reminds him of his lost love. Creepy. Mr. Palmer treats his wife like she's an idiot. And then there's Willoughby, the true villain of the piece. Anyone who has ever read the book knows what a bad guy he is. That's all the guys I can remember. But, makes you think, doesn't it?

Read, again...1/28/16

September 2017
Another year has passed so it must be time to read Jane Austen again.
So, this is what I noticed this time: A nineteen year old girl sees her whole life stretching out in front of her. She knows that she is a bit more educated and bookish than other girls, and she has a more cutting wit. But surely those things won't prevent her from landing a husband.
The girl likes to write stories that she shares with her family sometimes, but its her older sister, Cassandra that really loves to listen to them.
Yes, I'm talking about Jane Austen. She was nineteen when she wrote Sense and Sensibility (or Elinor and Marianne. The title she gave it at the time.) At the time she never imagined she, her sister and her mother's lives might mimic the book so closely. That her sister would experience a broken heart that she never recovered from, or that the three of them would find themselves looking for a place to live after their father died and their home went to her brother and his family. Which is what happens to the Dashwoods.
No, she just sat at her little writing desk or pulled out her little lap desk and took out her ink bottle with her quill pen to write some of the most amazing novels ever written. These novels are still loved over 200 years later. Amazing!

April 2018–I noticed something new, again, with this book. Both of our heroines, Marianne and Elinor, fall in love with unattainable men that they think are free. What’s with that? Was Jane suffering from that herself or did she see a lot of it in her daily life? Hmm. 🤔 ...more

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Classics Book Club: February 2019 Book!	3	7	Feb 14, 2019 01:04AM
The Rory Gilmore ...: Sense and Sensibility	17	85	Feb 13, 2019 09:18PM
Reading 1001: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen	2	12	Feb 13, 2019 11:47AM
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Goodreads Librari...: Wrong book cover	2	13	Dec 30, 2018 12:52PM
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About Jane Austen

Jane Austen

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Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.

Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry ...more