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Angelika
I would recommend reading Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility first. All of Austen's books are great, but those two are my favorite and what I would recommend for someone new to Austen. Emma is a bit long, and she is not Austen's most likable heroin, in my humble opinion.
Dani
I agree that Persuasion is the best of the Austen novels, but I always recommend Lady Susan as a starter Austen novel.
Kate
Personally I have never been able to enjoy Austen's most cited or popular works (i.e Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, etc...) as the intricacies of the social interaction in the period always started to exhaust or bore me and at times left the novel's narrator feeling a little cold or removed.
As such I have found it hard to bear through many of Austen's novels.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up Persuasion and found myself not only interested in the novel, but thoroughly enjoying it. This novel was Jane Austen's last completed work before her death and she wrote some of it while she was actually ill... It is comparatively short to some of her other works and personally I found it to be one of the most genuine, intriguing, and like-able of all of her works.
As such I have found it hard to bear through many of Austen's novels.
So I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up Persuasion and found myself not only interested in the novel, but thoroughly enjoying it. This novel was Jane Austen's last completed work before her death and she wrote some of it while she was actually ill... It is comparatively short to some of her other works and personally I found it to be one of the most genuine, intriguing, and like-able of all of her works.
Andra
In my opinion, Northanger Abbey is really cute and an easy read :)
Mike Roper
Pride and Prejudice is the ultimate starting point for Austen
Bella (Kiki)
I would read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE first.
Medea
I would say Pride and Prejudice, as that's what really got me hooked on Austen, but Persuasion may be a good starter novel, as it's significantly shorter, and the story is simpler, although it's not quite so witty or amusing as her other works. I wouldn't recommend Emma as a first Austen, I love it, but it's a bit much to start with.
adriana
I love all of Jane Austen's books. Though Persuasion is a masterpiece, my recommendations for the first one to read are Pride and Prejudice, Emma, or Sense and Sensibility. I think Persuasion is harder to read than most of these books, and maybe slower, which is why someone who hasn't read her previous novels perhaps won't appreciate it as much.
Gehan Abouelseoud
Pride and Prejudice first.
Tristan
This is my fifth one, and while I'm not done, I would not pick it for a first read--it does not show off Austen's wit the way Emma and Pride and Prejudice do; its quieter about its satire and is a little darker in timbre if not in actual subject matter.
Natalie Baker
Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are my two favorites, but also the most accessible. If you're new to Jane Austen (or, more broadly, classics from this period in general), the world is a little difficult to navigate, so those two are a good starting place. Emma is great too, but it's pretty long.
I say this because I gave up halfway through this one on my first attempt. And I've read and loved all of the others.
I say this because I gave up halfway through this one on my first attempt. And I've read and loved all of the others.
Kellie W.
I absolutely love this novel, but if you are a first time reader of Austen, I recommend starting with Pride and Prejudice - that one gave me the Austen fever. I loved it so much I read the rest of her novels within the same year. There is a poignancy to Persuasion that isn't there in the rest of her novels. I am a huge fan of this one, but if it's your first you might be deceived into thinking it's her usual style.
Virginia
I hope you went ahead and read it, as well as her others. Good writing, and a window on the times in which she lived!
Katie
It's shorter than the others, so in that way it may be a good place to start. However, I felt that this book's language was less accessible than Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. So if you're not very comfortable with this time period, I personally would start with another.
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