Sense and Sensibility in Classics Without All the Class

Feb 16, 2010 Carol rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, austen-jane, 19th-century, strong-female, strong-female-author

Great start -- my first book by Austin. So much going on, so much secrecy -- loved the characters. I an very happy not to live in 19th cenury. My favorite character is Colonel Brandon! I do think that he and Marianne are a perfect match. At a young age, they both were madly in love but it was not to be. They both suffered greatly over their first loves (Eliza and Willoughby).

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Oct 31, 2012 Toni rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, realistic-fiction, romance, fiction, literature-19th-century

It's a tragedy that an avid reader can reach the age of 29 before even beginning to read many of the classics. On the other hand, however, had I been forced to read this novel as part of a junior or senior high school curriculum, its beauty and simplicity might have been lost on me.

Throughout much of the novel, I felt the storyline was a bit slow and predictable. However, the abundance of proper manners, the existence of true chivalry, the simplistic social hierarchy, and the economic structure It's a tragedy that an avid reader can reach the age of 29 before even beginning to read many of the classics. On the other hand, however, had I been forced to read this novel as part of a junior or senior high school curriculum, its beauty and simplicity might have been lost on me.

Throughout much of the novel, I felt the storyline was a bit slow and predictable. However, the abundance of proper manners, the existence of true chivalry, the simplistic social hierarchy, and the economic structure - which was much different than the current economic situation in the U.S. - were all characteristics which made this novel quite endearing to me. In a modern world that focuses on technology and technological advances; and which encourages individuals (particularly women/mothers) to be on the go at all times, the slower pace of the late 18th century through the early 19th becomes something of an idyllic escape in which I fancy many readers would like to immerse themselves.

While I did find the novel a bit slow and predictable at times, the character development is excellent and the relationships are written strongly so as to be palpable. Without giving anything away, Austen gives the reader an excellent plot twist near the end, effectively remedying any monotony present earlier in the piece.

In all, I enjoyed this novel and may read it again in the future if I find myself longing for simpler times: times when proper manners were imperative, civility was common, self-command was highly valued, and males were not merely men, but gentlemen who were taught chivalry, dignity, decorum, and propriety. Times when these gentlemen possessed and portrayed these traits not for sexual gain but because good-breeding and parenting taught them that ladies should be treated with respect and admiration. I cannot mention the manners of the gentlemen without addressing the ladies for fear of being labeled a sexist. Austen's time was also one in which ladies knew how to conduct themselves properly and with graciousness and eloquence that is very much lacking in today's society.

Through Austen's works, we are transported to a time not so far past, from which so much about society and people can be learned, from which so much could be reintroduced to make our modern world a little bit better. ...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Anthea Carson rated it it was amazing

Reading Jane Austen books is like eating potato chips, you can't read just one. So this is one that I finished on my mad Jane Austen binge after rereading Pride and Prejudice in my mid twenties. I had read it in school, but then reading it on my own I realized what a great writer she was. It's so hard to find good books, so I read all her books in under a month and then had no more to read. ...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Mike Davis rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, romance

I read this book for a library discussion group and it is, admittedly, somewhat outside of my normal genres. Keeping in mind the age of the work, I found the extended, paragraph length sentences tolerable and well crafted. There are lessons to be learned here, and the narration remained interesting with exemplary prose. I realize this is a classic work by a highly respected author, but at the end, I couldn't help feeling that I had just read a Victorian soap opera. ...more

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