Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Publisher: Starbooks Classics Publishing (2013)

325 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $1.99)

Book Rating: 4 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

After the death of their father, the Dashwood girls (Elinor, Marianne and Margaret) along with their mother are forced to leave the only home they had ever know to the possession of a half-brother and take up residence in a small cottage on a greatly reduced income, their lack of fortune interfering with the romantic prospects of the two eldest girls.

My Thoughts:

This was the first Jane Austen book I ever read. I was first introduced to it by an English teacher in 10th grade, and it marked the beginning of my love of reading and opened up the world of the classics to me in a way that I will never forget. This is the third time I’ve read it, and I was struck by how little dialogue it contains. Much of it was told through narration, much like a story would be told to you by a person passing along a good bit of gossip. Of Jane Austen’s stories, I believe this one to be the most realistic and its ending to be least like a fairy tale. This whole idea of hiding one’s feelings in conjunction with the guarded nature of conversation via the rules of proper behavior at the time, that is so central to the story, I don’t think plays well with modern society . . . or maybe it’s just me, but by the end I was quite disgusted with the notion. So many people were so unhappy and all they need do was sit down and have a real conversation for once. I think of all the central characters, Colonel Brandon comes off by far and away as the best and most interesting of the bunch, and it was hard to see him suffer through so much of it. And despite the females in the story thinking better of Willoughby in the end for his sob story, I still find him a rogue and have little sympathy for him.

Edition Notes:

This Starbooks Special Illustrated Edition with Literary History and Criticism is the best ebook version of Sense and Sensibility that I’ve found. It is organized for optimum maneuverability, is prettily arranged, very readable, includes illustrations by the Brock brothers combining the illustrations from their various editions, and includes the literary history and criticism section from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. My only complaint with this edition is that the illustrations often were not opposite the passage they illustrated, and they would often pop up now and then, seemingly out of the blue. 

Cover Art Favorites:

Quotes:

“—his will was read, and like almost every other will, gave as much disappointment as pleasure.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“On every formal visit a child ought to be of the party, by way of provision for discourse.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“When is a man to be safe from such wit, if age and infirmity will not protect him?” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“Is there a felicity in the world—superior to this?” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“—just the kind of man—whom every body speaks well of, and nobody cares about; whom all are delighted to see, and nobody remembers to talk to.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“—he threatened me with rain when I wanted it to be fine—“-Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“No, not all—we could not be more unfortunately situated.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“He had just compunction enough for having done nothing for his sisters himself, to be exceedingly anxious that everybody else should do a great deal.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

“I am excessively fond of a cottage.” -Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Movie Adaptations:

Sense and Sensibility (TV Mini-Series 2008)

Dan Stevens, Hattie Morahan, Charity Wakefield

TV Rating: NR

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman

TV Rating: PG

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry