Book Review - Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Published by: Max Press
Publication Date: 1811
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
(different edition than one reviewed)
Elinor is pragmatic about the death of their father. They have lost their home and they will find a new one and carry on. Her younger sister Marianne has opted for another approach, misery exponentially increased by any dear memory of her father and the beloved house they all shared. Their mother is perfectly happy wallowing with Marianne while watching her step-son and his odious wife Fanny destroy Norland Park, that is until that odious Fanny insinuates that Elinor isn't good enough for her brother Edward Ferrars and Mrs. Dashwood can not remove them fast enough from Fanny's presence. Thanks to kind relations they are able to leave the odious Fanny behind and settle at Barton Cottage, part of Barton Park were Mrs. Dashwood's cousin, Sir John Middleton, resides. There they have a new social circle of relatives and friends, from a Colonel Brandon to a certain Lucy Steele, who might just destroy Elinor's heart unknowingly. Marianne is drawn to one person in particular, Willoughby. Willoughby is the same in all her sensibilities and they are soon as thick as thieves and their engagement is expected to be announced daily, much to Colonel Brandon's dismay. Yet the announcement never comes and Willoughby takes off to London and they hear no more from him. If only Elinor understood where Marianne and Willoughby stood she feels like she could help her sister, but she is in the dark. So when Sir John's mother-in-law, Mrs. Jennings, invites the two girls to accompany her to London Marianne jumps at the chance, while Elinor views it as an opportunity to get at the truth even if she'd rather stay at home. But London will be a proving ground for the young girls' hearts. Will either of them find a happily ever after or are their hearts destined to be forever broken by their first loves?
It seems odd to me that in a high school that actually had a good English department where I read many classics I never read any Jane Austen. By the friends I made through various bizarre and arcane clubs I was introduced to her via the Colin Firth miniseries in February of my senior year. This was on my level, being more into films than books at the tender age of seventeen. It was the perfect bridge from one art form to another. At that time I was adamant that I wasn't going to college in the fall, and I in fact didn't, but that didn't mean I was averse to learning and reading and I took it upon myself that summer to acquaint myself with the classics, many of which had been made into films starring Emma Thompson. She was a powerful bridge to Austen and also to Forster. The summer of 1996 was spent on my side porch reading classics I never thought I would ever pick up. Though it was to Austen I felt the most visceral a connection. Sense and Sensibility was the first book of hers that I read and I remember towards the end reading it in my bedroom because of the copious sobbing that accompanied my reading. When Edward arrived at Barton cottage to declare his freedom and his desire to marry Elinor, I just sat in my window crying. I never knew a book could do this to me. I was forever converted to Austen and through her I found a love of classics. Though this book now makes me feel a tad old. When I first read Sense and Sensibility I was the same age as Marianne is for most of the story but now I'm older than the flannel waistcoat wearing Colonel at 35 and Mrs. Dashwood at about 40. Which gave me an "oh dear" moment. I am OLDER than Colonel Brandon who was thought too old for love! I will just have to remember, Austen shows us that love can happen at any age, along with the copious weeping.
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