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Persuasion
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YEESSSSS, I am so excited to read this one with you all!
I am excited to read Persuasion with you all. Great choice... I just ordered my copy.
This one is on Scribd! Audiobook and print!
Who's planning on joining in for the read this month? Give us a shout out here.What are you looking forward to with this book?
What kind of book format are you using? Hardcover, e-book, audiobook?
Have you read anything else by the author or plan to?
Jane Austen was a woman before her time and reading her novels is always a fun way to get into a classic.
AmazonClassics has a free version for the kindle app!
I have just recently reread Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, but this will be my first time reading this particular Austen. I don't know much about it, so I'm excited to get into this storyline. I'm curious to know if there is a screen adaptation worth watching.
I’m looking forward to this one. I loved Emma but I’ve heard this one is quite different to that one. I’m going to read hard copy cause I have one with all the Jane Austen novels in one. I have no expectations of it yet but have a feeling I will love it as much as I did Emma.
Has anyone started? I’m switching between several books at the moment and I always try not to read old classics right next to each other cause I don’t want to grow tired of them.
Starting it today ☺️📖
Hello Lovely Well Read Women, I just got my copy of Persuasion. It is a beautiful paperback cover with a lovely young woman. I like to read Classics in book format to annotate and hold the work in my hands as it helps me feel more connected. My expectations are that it will be a satyrical look at women's pressing issues in Austen's time period and that I will enjoy reading what the author is trying to tell me. I am going to start it today and look forward to reading along side with you all. Cheers!
I also have a really nice hard cover one. It’s heavy even though it’s a beautiful edition cause it has all 7 Jane Austen novels in one. I prefer the hard copies, but I do read some books on kindle or listening to audio books cause it can be more convenient. The one I have is more than 1000 pages long. But it will look gorgeous in the bookshelf even though I might accidentally drop it in the bath tub at some point 😂 I’ve not gotten far in the book but I get the impression everyone kind of forgets about Anne. That she is left behind and rarely consulted. That she was young when she got engaged and let herself be peer pressured into letting go of the man she loved because she had love and respect for the people giving her advice, but is now suffering the consequences. I haven’t even read the synopsis of this book, but it seems a bit darker and a bit mature than Emma which is what I’m comparing it too even if they’re not the same.
I’m loving this book so much. It is very different to Emma I think. Emma has more lighthearted humor in it, and I find that this one is more mature, serious and a little bit of a villain as well. Now I’m nearing the end and I really can’t wait to see what happens. I find our Anne to be a genuine, compassionate woman that goes unnoticed, and her sister Mary a spoiled and jealous spiteful woman who couldn’t deal with anyone preferring Anne to her. By the way I loved Emma just as much as this one but I find them to be very different books. Jane Austen is such an excellent writer and gives so much description and poetry to her work that you can’t help but be drawn into it. I would love to see a film adaptation of this book but don’t know if there is one yet. Hope someone else are ready to discuss this book soon 😂 *bursting*
This is going to be my last read for the month, I'll be listening on an 8-hour round-trip this weekend! I have an Audible copy with the complete set of Austen's novels included. I always prefer a hard copy to annotate and make note of anything that hits me in any particular way, but I'll be glad to have this accompany me.I do love the Regency period, so I'm excited to get another Austen down! I love it when everyone else is excited about a book collectively. I can't wait to talk about it with you guys, so hopefully I'll be finished by Monday!
*Side Note: you can always mark any spoilers starting with "<"spoiler">" and ending with "<"/"spoiler">" without the quotation marks to be able to speak freely during any point of the month and your reading!*
In a particularly famous passage Anne Elliot says that men have had the pen in their hands when assigning strengths and weaknesses to the sexes. Now that the pen is in Austen's hands what does she use it to say about men and women?What do you think of the title?
Do you think was a romantic story?
This was Austen’s last novel, one she wrote through a debilitating illness, do you think this is reflected in her writing?
I’m looking forward to hear what you guys think! It’s officially time to talk spoilers! Feel free to mark them as so.
I did read that she was ill while writing this book, but I don’t feel like it made an impact in a negative way. Her words are beautiful and even though I would have liked a little more at the end I didn’t feel like it felt rushed to be finished. I think Jane Austen’s women though they obviously live in a time where women are still thought that they can’t be and think like a man, I feel like her women are strong. She wrote heroines who where true to the time but fought to make their own way and stood by their own mind. Meaning they could think for themselves and not just be an empty shell hanging on a mans arm. I really loved persuasion and felt like it had several layers and the side characters weren’t just there in the situation but had their own stories, minds and depth. Some books it’s like the side characters only have a life when they are with the main characters. I didn’t think that was the case here.
But I also think that she was young when she was first proposed too and hadn’t grown quite strong enough yet to stand her ground and listened to the advice that was given. But Anne says herself later in the book that lady Russels advice was right and didn’t regret it.
I would love to hear what you guys think 😊
How did everyone do this month? Are you still working on your copy or did you put it on hold for the month? Who else has finished - what is your final rating?
I finished Persuasion over this past weekend. I really enjoyed the novel. I found it to be a wise Austen wilding her pen and writing about her characters with that ever ironic message that as silly as situations are they must still live within the constraints of what is socially acceptable. (Spoilers coming up, stop reading if you have not finished)During Austen's time women were not business owners or professionals. Marring well was very important to a woman's status and livelihood. There were temptations to follow your whims, but ever present where the Lady Russells who would offer their persuasive points of view in matters of the heart. I found Anne to be kind and smart. Her younger sister Mary was silly and self consumed. Elizabeth was the mean girl, one of the plastics of our era. And Sir Walter an imbecile who squandered his wealth, but kept up airs as if he had money to throw around because he's a Baron after all.
The men of Austen's era could do what they wished as long as they had money and a title. Mr. Elliot the rat of all rats was only out for himself. He seemed the perfect gentleman and a favorite of Lady Russell. It was after much persuasion that Captain Wentworth came to his senses and finally professed his feelings for Anne. What a long way to go about things, but then again that was the era of Austen. The women of the era lived in cages dictated by society. Look at poor Mrs. Smith. She found herself in a most difficult financial situation and because she's a woman could not go after her husbands land in the West Indies. She had to have Mr. Elliot, the rat, to help her and he was not going to do it. Anne intervenes on her behalf with Captain Wentworth to secure what is owed to her. Anne was a lovely person.
Overall a very entertaining book that puts the reader in those parlors of old observing all the manners and what nots of the era. I do believe Austen was the ever optimist in furthering women's plight for the future. Look at us today. We have dominion over our bodies and ourselves and we can marry as we well damn choose, man or woman, rich or poor, and we are strong and capable to handle our consequences. Society on the other hand may look down their nose at our choices, but screw them, live your true life.
The Well-Read Woman Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Pride and Prejudice (other topics)Persuasion (other topics)
Sense and Sensibility (other topics)
Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?