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Persuasion

Jane Austen

Start date: April 1, 2022

Finish date: May 1, 2022

Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2022

Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2018

Previous Reads:
Old School Classi…more
[close] Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2022

Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2018

Previous Reads:
Old School Classic, August 2015

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Jan 06, 2010 Teri-K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: z-permanent-bookshelf, classic, 1800s, amusing-to-funny, historical-romance, zz-2023-my-book-club

I love this book! It may be my favorite Austen, I'm never sure. At the very least it's tied with P&P for the top slot, and perhaps that's fitting as they are two very different books. That said, I'm letting a review I wrote some years ago stand below, because it reflects how many readers feel when they first try this book after reading some of her better known ones. But here's the note I added later:
Now that I've "broken through" with this novel, I find I enjoy reading it a lot. It's just differ I love this book! It may be my favorite Austen, I'm never sure. At the very least it's tied with P&P for the top slot, and perhaps that's fitting as they are two very different books. That said, I'm letting a review I wrote some years ago stand below, because it reflects how many readers feel when they first try this book after reading some of her better known ones. But here's the note I added later:
Now that I've "broken through" with this novel, I find I enjoy reading it a lot. It's just different enough from her better known books that I think I needed to shift my mindset a little. Whatever the reason, as time goes on this has become one of my favorite of her books. :)

Yes, Anne is a quieter heroine, and there is a lot less dialogue. Instead of the witty remarks in her earlier books we get to enjoy the inner thoughts of Anne and Captain Wentworth. In fact, it seems to me that the more talkative a character is in this book the less they have to say of any value. And the romance is very subtle. But Austen's keen insight into people, their relationships and the social conventions of the times, is just as sharp here, maybe more. So I recommend managing your expectations and reading this slowly enough to savor. It may become your new favorite, too.

In fact, it occurs to me that Persuasion is Anne Eliot to my Captain Wentworth. When we first met, I wanted it to be something different - witty and fast-paced, like P&P that I admired so much. Only with the passage of time and experience in the world of books was I able to see the slow, quiet strength and beauty of this book. At first "I did not understand (it) or do it justice". Later, I had to admit that "I have been grossly wrong, and must abide the consequences." Fortunately for me, the only consequence here is falling in love with this book, and the subsequent hours of rereading pleasure.

Earlier review:
I love Jane Austen, but this has never been my favorite of her books. I reread "The Big 3" often, but only this year decided to revisit this one and NA. Problems adjusting to bifocals meant I had to stop reading my pb edition and switch to the audio-book instead, and I'm glad I did. This version, narrated by Juliet Stevenson, is wonderful. I generally find this book slow in parts and I keep wishing for more of Anne and Wentworth, but the narrator makes everyone quite amusing and entertaining. I always miss Austen's lovely dialogue in this book, too, but again hearing it well read helps make up for that.

It's significant that, though she had completed this book before her death, Austen hadn't finished her normally extensive revisions. I like to think she would have brought Anne's character into stronger focus and given us more of her wonderful dialogue if she'd lived long enough. Still, I'm very glad I listened to it and expect I'll revisit it several more times. I really felt the narrator added an energy that is missing when I read it and I quite enjoyed it. ...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Stephen Hegedus rated it did not like it

Honestly, I couldn't get through it.

Jane Austen has a huge problem, in my opinion, when it comes to her novels. That is: THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THE SAME THING!! A young woman meets a guy and for one reason or another can't be with him (in this case because Wentworth didn't have enough money, with Pride and Prejudice it's because Elizabeth can't stand Darcy's behaviour). Guess what? They also end the same way - with marriage.

It's boring reading the same plot over and over again. I am finished with J ...more

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