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Sense and Sensibility

by Jane Austen, Tony Tanner (Introduction), Ros Ballaster (Introduction/Editor)

4.05 · Rating Details · 743,411 Ratings · 10,797 Reviews

'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elino ...more

Paperback, Penguin Classics, 409 pages

Published April 29th 2003 by Penguin Books (first published 1811)

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Community Reviews

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Jul 09, 2011 Stephen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, easton-press, audiobook, 1800s, romantical, literature, love-those-words, classics-european

I love Jane Austen.
I LOVE Jane Austen.
I LOVE JANE AUSTEN!!
I…LOVE…JANE…AUSTEN!!
I……LOVE…..JANE..…AUSTEN!!

I still twitch a bit, but I'm getting more and more man-comfortable saying that because there no denying that it’s true. Normally, I am not much of a soapy, chick-flick, mani-pedi kinda guy. I don’t spritz my wine, rarely eat quiche and have never had anything waxed (though the list of things that need it grows by the hour).

But I would walk across a desert in bloomers and a parasol to read M ...more

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Dec 22, 2008 Anni rated it did not like it

Here is this book in a nutshell:
Marianne and Elinor: 'O, why are we not married yet?'
Hot Guy #1: 'Let's get married.'
Elinor: 'Yes, let's.'
Hot Guy #1: 'Nah, forget it.'
Elinor: (pines)
Old Guy: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: 'No, let's not.'
Hot Guy #2: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: 'Yes, let's.'
Hot Guy #2: 'Nah, forget it.'
Marianne: (pines)
Hot Guy #1: 'Hey, let's get married.'
Elinor: 'Hark! Now I may stop pining!'
Marianne: 'This sucks. I am way hotter than her.'
Old Guy: 'Let's get married.'
Marianne: ...more

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Oct 11, 2012 s.penkevich rated it really liked it

Recommended to s.penkevich by: Sparrow

Shelves: classics, austen, love

'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'

What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'? As we are all individuals, with our own needs, is it sensible to always act according to our countenance (to steal a lovely phrase from Austen), to keep true to ourselves, or is there a code of manners that we should adhere to in order to maintain a proper course of action? Austen’s aptly titled Sense and Sensibility, a staggeringly impressive f 'Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience -- or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.'

What does it mean for one to be 'sensible'? As we are all individuals, with our own needs, is it sensible to always act according to our countenance (to steal a lovely phrase from Austen), to keep true to ourselves, or is there a code of manners that we should adhere to in order to maintain a proper course of action? Austen’s aptly titled Sense and Sensibility, a staggeringly impressive first publication from 19 year old Austen, probes the very ideas of it’s title. Told through the juxtaposition of two sisters forging their own sensible rationalities as they find themselves in a society fueled by social standings and money, they discover that love does not always fit pleasantly into such a world.

An impressive feature of the Jane Austen novels is her ability to construct a broad scale society to immerse her heroines. She juggles a large cast of characters, each with a uniquely rounded personality and varied level of likeability, which gives a realistic scope and portrayal to the story. Just like in our own lives, we see Elinor and Marianne dealing with friends, rivals, busybodies and outright scoundrels. Austen manages to flesh her characters out with positive and negative traits, giving even the despicable ones a moment to plead their case. The reader is left to either accept or reject such justifications on their own terms, and, in a way, if even the ‘villainous’ act in what they see to be a sensible manner, Austen calls into question our own ideals and interpretations on the matter. She is clever at keeping an ironic flair to her characters, offering a dark side to ones you initially thought amiable, and bestowing grief of less-than-Prince-Charming characteristics to those who should be the true champion of hearts.

The actions of each character show the variety of ways one can interact and react within society, offering a wide number of actions to decide between when declaring what is ‘truly sensible’. The two sisters experience near-mirrored heartbreak and respond in polarizing manners. Is it more sensible to keep your feelings buried, suffering in solitude, always appearing calm and collect at the risk of seeming cold, or more sensible to wear one’s heart on their sleeve, falling into self-pity while drawing the attention of those who can care and offer support? Even the smallest characters can be looked at in this ways. Is sensibility, to toy with hearts, to stick your nose in another’s business, to marry for love with no money or for money with no love?

Perhaps a proper title could have also been Cents and Sensibility, as Austen takes careful aim at the dominating social constructs. The opinions on money, and it’s unavoidable, necessary power over society and the not-so-well-off Dashwood’s particularly, is a crucial element to what is sensible. The social commentary is thick and delicious. We witness many broken hearts in the name of money, and many hearts set on love faced with crippling financial consequences. The final results of the novel however, goes to prove the lyrics 'you can't always get what you want, but when you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need.'

While I began reading the Austen/Bronte novels feeling like it is something I should know going into a literature degree, thinking ‘oh well, I guess I should know these’, I’ve come to discover I really enjoy them. Especially reading them alongside so many post-modernist works of genius; Austen has been the anchor keeping me from being lost in the Zone. Occasionally it is nice to escape the bells and whistles of modern lit, to step out of the multi-layered metafiction and swirling narratives that I so love, and read a novel that is just as incredible on a powerful but elegant voice, ironic wit, and an acute sense of society alone. I highly recommend Jane Austen to anyone. I want to show up with flowers for Elinor and spend all day sipping tea with her from dainty cups and sighing about weather and society. However, I would be doing a great disservice to you and two the two fine reviewers I am about to speak of, to continue keeping your time and not sending you to these two outstanding reviews: Liberty’s, who I’ve come to consider my professor in all that is Austen/Bronte/Woolf, etc, and the wonderful Kelly, who has said everything I wanted to say and more, but far better. Austen’s world makes us all question our morality and actions, and the world is a better place for it.
4/5
...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Barry Pierce rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, read-in-2015

Sense and Sensibility is dense with inactivity.

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Sep 07, 2015 Carmen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of Classic Literature

Shelves: fiction, classics, favorites, traditionally-published

RE-READ September 6, 2015

This is one of my all-time favorite books. I like it even more than I do Pride and Prejudice.

Everyone goes crazy over Lizzie Bennett and idolizes her, but my role model will always be Elinor Dashwood. She is a great sister, a trustworthy confidante, someone who always acts with honor and compassion. She is smart, fiscally responsible, stoic, and strong. I admire her so much and wish I could be more like her in real life.

I hate John Dashwood and want to punch him in the t ...more

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Aug 20, 2008 Kerry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fromthelibrary, audiobook, chick_lit, romance, about-a-woman

This my first Jane Austen.

Okay, I LOVED this book. I don't even know why. It's about . . . girls who like boys! Who are jerks! Um, the end! But it was funny. But clever funny, which is my favorite kind. And I enjoyed deciphering the late 18th century prose. It made me feel smart, just to figure out what she was saying half the time!

Also I love all the wacky British society stuff. Like sending notes! And walking places! And having breakfast at other peoples' houses! And I enjoyed figuring out the ...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Kelly rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Austen fans, women

Shelves: fiction, brit-lit, regency, owned, 19th-century, mawwiageiswhatbringsustogethertoday, its-the-quiet-ones

New review to come eventually. Can't quite put it all into words yet.
* * *
ORIGINAL:Ah, the third member of the Holy Trinity of Austen. Also deservedly so. This is my intellectual favorite of the Austens. By that, I'm not calling it "intellectual" I'm just saying that taking emotional attachment to other books out of it, this is my objective favorite Austen. I actually believe that the story of the women is better than Pride and Prejudice. Go on, shoot me for that one. I've taken it before for t New review to come eventually. Can't quite put it all into words yet.
* * *
ORIGINAL:Ah, the third member of the Holy Trinity of Austen. Also deservedly so. This is my intellectual favorite of the Austens. By that, I'm not calling it "intellectual" I'm just saying that taking emotional attachment to other books out of it, this is my objective favorite Austen. I actually believe that the story of the women is better than Pride and Prejudice. Go on, shoot me for that one. I've taken it before for that. The romance might be better, more tight, more like one would idealistically want in Pride and Prejudice, but the ones here are more realistic and would have a better chance of lasting in real life. Colonel Brandon and Marianne are one of my favorite flawed couples of any piece of literature. This book finds faith in romances that are less than perfect, heroes who don't act like heroes (Colonel Brandon wins over the romantic figure of Willoughby in the end), and heroines who are at times geniunely ridiculous in the things they choose to do. Not because Austen writes them ridiculously. All women do things like that, and these girls find their way to love anyway. And not with the people conventional plotlines or even gothic strangeness would normally put them with either. By all rights, Eleanor and Colonel Brandon should make a quietly sensible couple, if one thinks about it. But that's not how this ends. There's enough romance left in it for some poetry to how the story ends. None of the men are one or even two dimensional, either. They don't merely serve as the means to the narcissitic heroine's end. No cardboard Prince Charmings with one ridiculous flaw here. They're very believable. I've always thought one of the strengths of Austen is that she writes novels that are undoubtably marketed to women, but men can still see themselves in her heroes if they read them.

The movie is my favorite Jane Austen movie, as a side note. And one of my favorites in general. I've been watching it since I was about 13. It's beautiful. So is the soundtrack. Emma Thompson's performance alone is worth the viewing. Ang Lee.. before he switched over to gay cowboys. Yes, he did period pieces. Who would have known, right? ...more

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Sep 29, 2015 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: regency, classics

Jane Austen’s first published work, Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, is more straightforward than most of her later works. The story focuses on two sisters, ages 17 and 19, and how their romantic interests and relationships epitomize their different approaches to life. The older sister Elinor embodies sense, good judgment and discretion.
description

Her sister Marianne is emotional and volatile, following her heart with a supreme disregard for what society might – and does – think.
description

Elinor is pretty m ...more

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Sep 14, 2016 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The story of two teenage girls with romantic troubles, caused by unreliable men (they have dark secrets, but who doesn't ? ), in 1790's England, calm Elinor Dashwood 19, and her younger sibling , by a couple of years, the emotional, Marianne, 17. When their father is no longer living, all the family, including the mother, Mrs. Dashwood and third sister, Margaret, 13, must vacate their mansion, in Sussex, Norland Park, a large estate, which many generations of the quiet, respectable Dashwoods, ha The story of two teenage girls with romantic troubles, caused by unreliable men (they have dark secrets, but who doesn't ? ), in 1790's England, calm Elinor Dashwood 19, and her younger sibling , by a couple of years, the emotional, Marianne, 17. When their father is no longer living, all the family, including the mother, Mrs. Dashwood and third sister, Margaret, 13, must vacate their mansion, in Sussex, Norland Park, a large estate, which many generations of the quiet, respectable Dashwoods, have resided. Only men can inherit this property says the law, then, ( a rich uncle, they received it originally from, insisted in his will this provision), and relatives can be greedy. John Dashwood , their half - brother, has little family feelings and his cold-heart wife, Fanny, none, take over. Breaking his promise to his dying father, to help his sisters and stepmother, financially, selfish Fanny, persuades him, with not too much effort, that these women can survive, very well, without any assistance, she tells her wealthy husband ... And money is money, and promises just words (otherwise, the couple's child, " poor little Harry", would starve ! ). Sir John Middleton, a kindly cousin, of the mother's, offers the Dashwood's, a small cottage, low rent, to live, close to his big house. Desperately wanting to leave the hostile environment of their former home, they relocate there, in far away, Devonshire, by Allenham village. Being very pretty women, the sisters, soon attract admirers, the shy Mr. Edward Ferrars, the eldest brother of Fanny, who likes Elinor, unlike his sister, Miss Dashwood, thinks, but she can never be sure, he doesn't speak much. On a rainy day the two girls, imprudently are walking outside, over the country hills, they enjoy exploring the beautiful area, but the weather becomes too much, running, for shelter, Marianne takes a tumble, hurts her leg, and unable to go any further and still some distance, from Barton Cottage . What to do ? Elinor can't get her home. Mr. John Willoughby, hunting with his dog, in the rain, comes along and carries Marianne back to the cottage. The amazed mother, Margaret and the whole family are speechless. Handsome, charming, well spoken, Mr. Willoughby, visits the injured girl every day, to see that everything's all right ... But he doesn't fool anybody ... the youngest sister falls madly in love and he appears also, to experience the same emotion. He's a good , fun loving friend, of Sir John's, well known and liked in the neighborhood, with a rich old relative he wisely sees, often, nearby, Mrs. Smith. The perfect man, has a rival, Colonel Brandon, more than ten years older, at 35, with a huge house, a lonely , honorable gentleman, but Marianne has eyes only for Mr. Willoughby ( a secret libertine). And Mr. Ferrars has a fiancee, he never mentions ... Even the Colonel, might have skeletons, in his closet... A great book by the incomparable Jane Austen, her likes will never arise again, years go by, relentlessly, customs and technology changes the Earth, either for better or worse, but there will always be her words. ...more

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Aug 20, 2007 Eric Althoff rated it it was ok

Hmmm, how to critique one of the most revered writers of romance literature? Now, before all of your Jane-ites get on my case for being unromantic or whatever, let me say only that unfortuantely, I read "Persuasion," Austen's last novel, and found it to be one of the best books I've ever read. Now having read "Sense and Sensibility," I will say that it truly doese feel like a first novel, as if the author was still trying to find her voice. So I've done the bookends of Austen, much like a concer ...more

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Nov 21, 2014 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: vagina-soliloquies

Call me Elinor.

Being the older sibling, while growing up I often felt like I was shoved into the role of being the sensible one, the reasonable one, the responsible one. That is how I was seen. That is what people believed of me. Underneath the skin of the rational, reserved tut-tutter writhed an often non-sensical, unreasonable, irresponsible being. But it took the occurrence of extreme circumstances for others to see it.

Such is the life of Elinor Dashwood, the elder sister in a small, displac ...more

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Jul 31, 2015 Diane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, british-charm, love-stories, jane-austen, movie-adaptation

Rereading Sense and Sensibility was a joy and a delight. It was also surprisingly enlightening.

Wait, enlightening? Seriously? Isn't that a bit much for a girly romance story?

Well, I think reading a Jane Austen novel can be enlightening because the characters are drawn so well that they resemble real people. I've been slowly rereading Austen's novels, and I am constantly impressed by her powers of observation and description. Even though she was writing 200 years ago, her stories remind me of man Rereading Sense and Sensibility was a joy and a delight. It was also surprisingly enlightening.

Wait, enlightening? Seriously? Isn't that a bit much for a girly romance story?

Well, I think reading a Jane Austen novel can be enlightening because the characters are drawn so well that they resemble real people. I've been slowly rereading Austen's novels, and I am constantly impressed by her powers of observation and description. Even though she was writing 200 years ago, her stories remind me of many people I know, and I even see parts of myself in them. She had tremendous insight into human behavior.

I think one of the things that makes S&S so compelling is that the two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, are so opposite in how they approach the world. Elinor favors order and restraint, and when she falls in love with a man, Edward Ferrars, she does so quietly and she follows good reason. She understands that there will be opposition to the match, and that Edward is unlikely to propose to her.

In contrast, when Marianne falls in love with the dashing Willoughby, she is not shy in her affections and spends all her time with him. She recklessly follows her heart, and is nearly destroyed when he abandons her and marries another.

(Personal note: It has probably been a decade since I read S&S, and I think I used to identify more with Elinor, or at least aspire to be like Elinor, but with this reading, I had to admit that I have always been more like Marianne. That is to say, I fancied myself a romantic, I threw myself into relationships, and I had trouble concealing my emotions. I think age has cured most of this, but I kind of wish I had read S&S when I was a teenager, you know? Maybe the wisdom would have come earlier.)

What I especially loved about reading S&S were the put-downs of anyone who was silly, mean or vain. Jane Austen did not suffer fools gladly. Here is a favorite description:

Mrs. Ferrars was a little, thin woman, upright, even to formality, in her figure, and serious, even to sourness, in her aspect. Her complexion was sallow; and her features small, without beauty, and naturally without expression; but a lucky contraction of the brow had rescued her countenance from the disgrace of insipidity, by giving it the strong characters of pride and ill nature. She was not a woman of many words; for, unlike people in general, she proportioned them to the number of her ideas; and of the few syllables that did escape her, not one fell to the share of Miss Dashwood, whom she eyed with the spirited determination of disliking her at all events.

And here is another:

John Dashwood had not much to say for himself that was worth hearing, and his wife had still less. But there was no peculiar disgrace in this; for it was very much the case with the chief of their visitors, who almost all laboured under one or other of these disqualifications for being agreeable — want of sense, either natural or improved — want of elegance — want of spirits — or want of temper.

Jane Austen's writing is so delicious that I savored this novel for days, not wanting it to end. My only complaint about S&S is its poor opening. It starts with several pages of family exposition, about how the father of Elinor & Marianne died without being able to leave them much in his will. The story doesn't get going until you get past that background info. But otherwise, this novel is such a delight that I highly recommend it. ...more

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Sep 26, 2015 Apatt rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics

Sense and Sensibility is a lot like a Fast & Furious movie, except there are no supercar races, gun fights, fist fights, robbery, and scantily clad girls. Come to think of it Sense and Sensibility is nothing like a Fast & Furious movie. I just had no idea how to start off the review.

Actually Sense and Sensibility is (seriously now) a lot like Pride and Prejudice. What with the sisters, one stoic and worldly, one a little wild, impulsive and naive, not to mention the youngest one who is ...more

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Apr 13, 2016 Ashley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, classics, satire, 1700s-1800s, anglophilia, audiobooks, lit-fic, swoon-me-dahling

February 2016, Part II: A couple of years ago, I re-read Jane Eyre, and because I was overwhelmed with the task of writing a review for such a classic book, I decided to get weird and write the review in the form of letters to the characters. Since then, with an eventual plan to re-read all of Jane Austen's books, I've had it in the back of my mind that I'd do the same with as many future classic books that I could. So. This is me doing that. And I'll be doing it all year for the rest of Austen' ...more

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May 25, 2011 RandomAnthony rated it really liked it

A couple summers back I abandoned Emma after thirty pages. I assumed I'd fall on the “overwritten drama for women who like Colin Firth” side of the Austen conflict, but, after hearing readers I respect praise Ms. Austen and snagging a high-quality Penguin edition at a Borders closing sale, I tackled Sense and Sensibility over the late rainy spring. Now I'm wondering from where my Austen misconceptions emerged. What made me think Austen was boring? Where did I get that idea? Sense and Sensibility A couple summers back I abandoned Emma after thirty pages. I assumed I'd fall on the “overwritten drama for women who like Colin Firth” side of the Austen conflict, but, after hearing readers I respect praise Ms. Austen and snagging a high-quality Penguin edition at a Borders closing sale, I tackled Sense and Sensibility over the late rainy spring. Now I'm wondering from where my Austen misconceptions emerged. What made me think Austen was boring? Where did I get that idea? Sense and Sensibility is funny, hilarious, even, and remarkably insightful. I'm switching teams.

Austen's myriad talents surprised me. This surprise is a discredit to the reader, not the author. She writes complex, multi-layered characters and exhibits a scary aptitude for the male perspective. The characters make mistakes and struggle within their entanglements. Sense and Sensibility displays, over and over again, the intricate psychology of desire, morality, and appearances. The last few pages resolve the storylines a little too easily for me, I must admit, but at least the resolution emerges with an assured grace.

Did I mention this book was funny? How come I approached Sense and Sensibility as if the novel was deadly serious from the first page to the last? Austen frames nuanced exchanges, esp. between Elinor and different figures she encounters through polite society, so readers perceive the subtle mockery and sarcasm while the targeted characters (at least those on the wrong end of the sarcasm) do not. A writing teacher wanting to exemplify the “show, don't tell” concept would do well to give the students Austen's portrayal of shallow Mr. John Dashwood and his sneaky wife, Fanny. Austen doesn't shy away from taking shots at good-hearted characters, either. Sir John's inability to talk about much other than hunting and Anne Steele's strategies for getting teased, despite her protests otherwise, are top notch examples. This book made me laugh out loud. Jane Austen made me laugh out loud. I didn't see that coming.

Sense and Sensibility also opens a window into the interactions between sisters and daughters and mothers. This is terra incognita, personally, so I read these passages closely. The Dashwood women know and love each other with a familial intensity I respected but didn't recognize.

You know why Austen's important? I'm not saying this to sound sensitive or get Elizabeth to vote for this review. I could see smart women encountering the latest Kathryn Heigel romantic comedy trailer and thinking, “FUCK! Do people think this is what all woman want and think and believe? Fuck that. Stop representing me as a fucking asshole.” Ok, maybe smart women don't swear that much. But I hope they do. Anyway, Sense and Sensibility is a much more thoughtful and substantial portrayal of wonderful women than I can remember in the recent popular media. Austen doesn't turn these women into proud, faultless characters but brings them alive, gets into their heads, and shines an intimate light on their abundant, intricate energies. I may not return to Emma soon but I'll check out Pride and Prejudice maybe later in the summer and watch that Ang Lee version of Sense and Sensibility about which a few friends raved. My previous dismissal of Austen's work was a mistake. I acknowledge my error and urge readers to resist the pigeonholing of her work into the “for girls who like Colin Firth” category. She deserves better than that. Way better.

...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Madeline rated it it was ok

Shelves: the-list, ugh

I hate romantic comedies.

I hate them for a wide variety of reasons - I hate their formulaic plots, their repeated character tropes that never seem to change (hmm, will this one have a sassy best friend who only exists to dispense advice?), I hate their consistent failing of the the Bechdel test, and I hate the way they try to make me believe that a skinny and gorgeous woman is incapable of finding a man because she's clumsy or has a job or something.

But mostly, I hate them because their plots I hate romantic comedies.

I hate them for a wide variety of reasons - I hate their formulaic plots, their repeated character tropes that never seem to change (hmm, will this one have a sassy best friend who only exists to dispense advice?), I hate their consistent failing of the the Bechdel test, and I hate the way they try to make me believe that a skinny and gorgeous woman is incapable of finding a man because she's clumsy or has a job or something.

But mostly, I hate them because their plots revolve entirely around what boy likes what girl and vice versa, and nothing else ever happens. Sure, there can be subplots, and yes, brilliant romantic comedies do exist, but I want my movie protagonists to do more than worry about who they're going to marry.

Reading Sense and Sensibility made me realize why I don't like Jane Austen's books, and probably never will: she was a brilliant author, and her novels are funny and well-written, but at the end of the day, her characters spend 90% of their time talking about boys. Nothing else happens: they go to a ball, where they worry about which boy isn't dancing with them; they have tea, where they talk about which girls have snagged which boys; and they write letters about which girls have done scandalous things with boys. It's just pages and pages of "I like you but you hate me!" "No, I really love you, you were just misinformed!" "My, what a silly misunderstanding!" "I agree! Let's get married!" and all its variations and it bores me to death. I love the humor, and I love the characters, I just want them to do something interesting. This is probably why Pride and Prejudice and Zombies resonated so well with me - finally, the Bennett sisters got to do something besides sit around and mope about the various boys who weren't talking to them for whatever reason!

Sense and Sensibility is one long slog of "I love this boy! But oh no, he's engaged to someone else!" and "This boy acted like he loved me but he really didn't and now I am sad and will ignore the other boy who has clearly been meant to marry me all along!" It's for this reason that, when faced with the prospect of reading the last 70 pages of this book in order to finish it, I was filled with dread and realized that I do not give a single flying fuck who the Dashwood sisters end up marrying. The only thing that would make me want to finish the book is if the story ends with Elinor and Marianne deciding to go off to college or travel to China or fight zombies or do something besides get married. But I know they won't, because this is an Austen novel, and things only end one way here.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with romantic comedies - they're funny, lighthearted entertainment where everyone is beautiful and nothing hurts, and the people who get unhappy endings were mean people and deserved it anyway. I do not begrudge anyone for liking this kind of entertainment - it's just not my taste, and I won't waste any time feeling bad about this.

Sorry, Ms. Austen. I gave it my all, but it's just not going to work out. But don't worry: it's not you, it's me. ...more

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Nov 23, 2015 Heba rated it liked it · review of another edition

المعركة التي تدور بين العقل والقلب دوماً خاسرة ..لا يُمكن لاحدهما أن يُعلن فوزاً مُحققاً..
أيمكنك أن تحيا بعقلك فحسب دون أن ترتكن الى قلبك؟!!..
إن أجبتني بنعم ..عُذراً أنت لا تُصدق قولاً :)
ستكون حياتك مادية لا حراك فيها ..أشبة بالماء الراكد الذي لا يُلّوح لنسمة عابرة أو يُصافح تياراً عاصفاً..
مهما كان ما تتحلى به من هدوء الطباع والرزانة وانضباط النفس لن يمكنك أن تتخلى عن قلبك
حسناً ..وهل يُمكنك ان تحيا بقلبك فحسب ؟!!!...
قبل أن تُجيبني ..لن يمكنك لأنك لن تستمر طويلاً ..ستهلك لا محال
ستؤلمك حماقاتك و ...more

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Apr 26, 2016 Aubrey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-star, reviewed, reality-check, 1-read-on-hand, virago, r-2013, r-goodreads, antidote-think-twice-read, school, antidote-think-twice-all, r-2016

3.5/5

My doctrine has never aimed at the subjection of the understanding. All I have ever attempted to influence has been the behavior. You must not confound my meaning. I am guilty, I confess, of having often wished you to treat our acquaintance in general with greater attention but when have I advised you to adopt their sentiments or conform to their judgment in serious matters?

Two-and-a-half years and two Austen lectures regarding the title at hand on (with a further one to come), my thought ...more

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Feb 27, 2016 helen the bookowl rated it liked it · review of another edition

Another great story from Jane Austen; this time about the three sisters, Elinor, Marianne and Margaret, and their mother who settle themselves in a small and charming cottage in England. "Sense & Sensibility" is mainly about the two elder sisters, Elinor and Marianne, and their journey of falling in love and finding a husband.
I liked the sisters a lot and I enjoyed reading about their experiences in the world of love. They go through ups and downs, and Jane Austen constantly create surprise ...more

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Apr 05, 2016 Shannon (leaninglights) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Actual rating 3.75 stars!

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Jun 05, 2014 Anthony Vacca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For years I have (wrongly) avoided Austen’s works due to some (idiotic) teenaged, testosterone-fueled notion of not wanting to read “dumb books for girls,” and also because of my loathing for the endless diarrheic output of fetishistic fanfiction disguised as unnecessary sequels or unimaginative reinterpretations of Austen’s work that seem to offer no purpose but to do the disservice of making such a talented author’s oeuvre seem little more than chaste and mannered bodice rippers. Now that we h ...more

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Aug 10, 2016 Aimee rated it did not like it

Shelves: school-reads, snore

***Disclaimer: I only read until about 80-90 pages (which is a damn lot) then read the summary of the rest.

Normally I wouldn't review school reads because technically I've only been forced to read them, but I need to express my frustrations over Sense and Sensibility. So here are the top five reasons why I decided to give up on the book completely:

1.) The writing style was too flowery. And y'all know I hate flowery writing. Okay, fine, this book was written decades ago, and I probably should've ...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Ariel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I DID IT. WOOOOOOOOOO! ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!

Not going to lie, the middle was rough.. quite tedious and slow, BUT, the character development in this book was just fabulous; Austen truly understands the human condition.

Next? PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!

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Feb 02, 2016 Alex rated it really liked it

Shelves: rth-lifetime, 2016, 2016-bingo

"Why should I read Jane Austen?" asked my wife. I've read all of Jane Austen now - this was my final one - so I was ready to answer.

The 1800s were all about a shift from Romantic to Realist literature, I said. Romantic novels are full of telepathy and crazy ladies in attics, and bizarre plot contrivances, and orphans who turn out to be the long-lost sons of the noblemen who happened to be acquainted with pretty ladies. Only toward the end of the century did it occur to authors like George Eliot ...more

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Sep 09, 2016 Mahsa.Rmt rated it liked it · review of another edition

کتاب خوبی بود اما وقتی یه لیست بلند بالا از کتابای مهم تر داری خوندنش عاقلانه به نظر نمیرسید یا بهتره بگم خیلی ضروری نبود.
زندگی و روابط عاشقانه دو خواهر با خصوصیات مختلف بود یکی احساسی و بی قرار و دیگری عاقل و منطقی. یه جورایی جین آستین میخواست بگه 'دخترا سعی کنید خویشتن دار و عاقل باشید' :)

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Jan 24, 2009 Tatiana rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Smug older sisters

Recommended to Tatiana by: My older sister, hah!

Shelves: classics

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. SPOILER WARNING: The thing I did like about this book is that it's Jane Austen, and she always will entertain you without dragging you through any horrible ordeals. If there's a war going on, we won't hear the heart-wrenching stories of orphans, squalor, and agony. The only way we 'll know about it is that soldiers look so handsome in their uniforms and some girls flirt with them shockingly. In the end, we always know that our heroine will get married and live happily ever after. Sorry if that s SPOILER WARNING: The thing I did like about this book is that it's Jane Austen, and she always will entertain you without dragging you through any horrible ordeals. If there's a war going on, we won't hear the heart-wrenching stories of orphans, squalor, and agony. The only way we 'll know about it is that soldiers look so handsome in their uniforms and some girls flirt with them shockingly. In the end, we always know that our heroine will get married and live happily ever after. Sorry if that spoils them for anyone.

What I *don't* like about this one is that the sensible steady Elinors of the world don't really understand the passionate impulsive Mariannes at all, and so they're quite ungracious to them. This is definitely written from the point of view of an Elinor. I suppose since so many novels are written by the Mariannes, it's only fair for the Elinors to have just ONE from their point of view, still, as a Marianne myself I think Jane got it all wrong here. To me the ending stank horrifically. The "answer" was for Marianne to become someone she wasn't and marry someone she didn't love and be content with that. It makes me choke to think of it. The suicide at the end of "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", which the director called "the Chinese 'Sense and Sensibility'", was much truer to what the Marianne character would have done, I think. In the novel, though, she chose to do it by killing her true self and living a lie. Colonel Brandon deserved better than that, I think, and so did Marianne herself.

Not all Willoughbys turn out to be bad hats, in other words. The answer, in my opinion, was for her to find a good Willoughby.

Thinking about this novel has made me revisit the silly simpering flirty flighty girls that Jane is always showing us we DON'T want to be like. The mother and the sisters, for instance, in Pride and Prejudice. I think Jane paints them as though they aren't real people at all, as though their thoughts and dreams are somehow those of lesser beings. I think there's a great deal to question there, and perhaps the lack of understanding on Jane's part is as much the problem as the girls' behavior. Sense and Sensibility shows that struggle directly, as we're given a much fuller portrait of Marianne's personality than we ever are of the Bennett younger sisters. ...more

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Jennifer Goodness, you give yourself far too much credit! You have served no personal hurt to me. There is no hurt to be resolved. I have been pointing out the ...more
Jan 20, 2013 02:23PM

A C Tatiana, your review perfectly portrays my disappointment after reading Sense and Sensibility! "To me, the ending stank horrifically." My sentiments e ...more
Oct 08, 2015 10:33AM

May 12, 2016 Kenchiin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Charming.

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Apr 05, 2016 Dylan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, read-2016, romance, classics

My first ever Austen book! I feel so accomplished right now, I probably wont do anything for the rest of the day.

I really liked the writing, it kept me invested and interested in the story. When the story itself was a bit slow. I also really enjoyed the characters, most of all the sisters and Mrs. Jennings. The humor was definitely one of my favorite things about the book. It would appear when I least expected it, and was often in the form of passive aggressive conversations. Which I LOVED readi ...more

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Sep 06, 2016 Lizzy rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics-literay-fiction, to-review, historical-fiction, stars-4, read-2016

Ah, the horror to be a woman in the beginning of 19th century England! One more for me to review. Soon, I hope.

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Dec 03, 2016 Emer (ALittleHaze) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: 5stars, the-boy-is-mine, the-chosen-ones, read-in-2016, read-in-2011, a-to-z-challenge, reviewed

It's a Jane Austen novel so this is obviously brilliant and should be read by everyone!!!! Duhhh!!!!!!

"And books!—Thomson, Cowper, Scott—she would buy them all over and over again: she would buy up every copy, I believe, to prevent their falling into unworthy hands; and she would have every book that tells her how to admire an old twisted tree."

Oh if only I could go back and read this for the first time all over again....
Would my first impressions be different if I hadn't read this as a ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Austentatious Boo...: * Part One: Chapters 1 - 10	10	75	19 hours, 39 min ago
Austentatious Boo...: Part Seven: Chapters 44 - END	5	36	Jan 14, 2017 07:50PM
Austentatious Boo...: Part Six: Chapters 38 - 43	3	30	Jan 14, 2017 11:54AM
Austentatious Boo...: Part Five: Chapters 33 - 37	3	24	Jan 14, 2017 02:58AM
Austentatious Boo...: Part Four: Chapters 26 - 32	4	26	Jan 13, 2017 06:53PM
Which one do you like better, S&S or P&P?	22	20	Jan 11, 2017 04:14AM

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About Jane Austen

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.

Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry ...more

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“The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!” — 7575 likes

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