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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9781440469565
ISBN: 1440469563
Label: CreateSpace
Manufacturer: CreateSpace
Number Of Pages: 220
Publication Date: November 22, 2008
Publisher: CreateSpace
Studio: CreateSpace
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
This is a beautiful, large format (6"x9") edition of Jane Austen's classic, Sense and Sensibility.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
This fantabulous classic was part of my read for the Everything Austen Challenge. My love for anything and everything Victorian has helped me embrace this novel set in the Regency Period, and so, naturally I fell in love with this timeless piece. This story of the very different Dashwood sisters and their clashing tastes in their choices of men to love, was endearing as well as very frustrating at times. Just when I thought the obvious about Colonel Brandon, Edward or Willoughby- the story took a different turn just to add to the intrigue of it all; classic Austen at its best.
The story revolves around love-sickness, love-triangles, a marriage of convenience, age and love, differences of choices and opinions, wealth and social status, influence, family conflict, secret-filled pasts and ultimately...and appropriately so: sense and sensibility. I'm still not sure which of the sisters I concurred with the most; Elinor or Marianne... Austen brilliantly shifts us from one perception to the other while embracing both depending on the situation. Ultimately the girls' reconciliation and love for eachother blends the disparities of state helping them come to terms with their own serenity. Love can then be found and accepted under a new light.
Sense and Sensibility is a light read embedded with deeper meaning that brings comfort, peaks interest and offers a colourful variety of figures (the comical busy-body Miss Jennings is indeed very special!) On the whole, this read meshed excitement, passion, drama as well as `sagesse' in the lives of two otherwise very ordinary ladies of the times. The book doesn't skip a beat with essential meanings and turn of events within every paragraph- With this one, you won't want to blink:)
One can never get enough of elegantly written suspense-filled love twists and pangs. At least I can't- Loved it!
Rating: -
Being a Patrick O'Brian fan and knowing he was an admirer of Jane Austen, I gave her a try a few years ago with Pride and Prejudice and found it stunningly good and unforgettable. Sense and Sensibility is my second Austen novel and I hoped for an equally good performance. I would not have had the patience to get very far with Jane Austen earlier in my life. Austen can be stilted, wordy (to say the least), obtuse and just plain difficult to read and understand. She also leaves a lot to the imagination which although frustrating, actually adds depth and emotion. There is also a keen, many-layered understanding of people at their best, worst, and various shades of in- between, along with the associated foibles. Sense and Sensibility is a great story that, at times, had me rushing through many chapters to see the end result. For example, Marianne's encounter with Willoughby in London would make my top ten of dramatic literary scenes (if I were to ever compile such a list). As Sense and Sensibility neared its end, I hoped for and expected the sort of satisfying, happy, and witty ending I enjoyed in Pride and Prejudice, but found an unsatisfying, matter of fact (but perhaps realistic) anti-climax instead. I feel like I am defacing something sacred, but I have to give Sense and Sensibility only 4 stars. It is well worth the time, but if one is to pick their first Jane Austen book, based on my limited experience, let it be Pride and Prejudice. Next on my list is Emma.
Rating: -
This is the first full-length novel that Austen wrote, and - although it's easy to find proof for something you know is true - it shows. This book just wasn't as well-designed as Pride and Prejudice, where it feels like every character and scene has its purpose. But the characters and charming and the story is light and fun, and it's definitely worth the read.
Rating: -
Sense and Sensibility is about a family of women: Mrs. Dashwood, the mother, and Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret, the three daughters, who are made to relocate as a result of their father's death. Their home is given to their gullible half-brother who means well and their manipulative sister-in-law who does not mean well at all. Settling in a cottage given to them by a generous distant relative in Devonshire, the girls experience romance and heartbreak.
I've heard of Jane Austen's work before, and I read this as a prelude before I read Pride and Prejudice. I have to say, even though it was engaging towards the end, in the beginning I had trouble plowing through the introduction. There was nothing there to grasp my interest, only long, insipid descriptions of the surrounding countryside, and a long build-up to the main plot. About halfway through, when Marianne begins her romance with Willoughby, I actually found myself wanting to read the book and thinking with excitement and a feeling of suspense about what would happen next.
The characters weren't perfect, with both flaws and redeeming qualities, such as Elinor, who is very intellectual and polite, but may be missing out on life because she's very reserved, and Marianne, who likes to live life to the fullest emotionally, but is completely devastated when bad things happen to her.
I liked that it gave me a feel of what life was like for people in the moderate and upper end class in the early 1800's, as I'm used to stories such as Oliver Twist, where the main subject is life in the low slums, so it was nice to see the other end for a change. In regard to the storyline, it was very interesting in the latter part of the book, when its it is full of romantic betrayal and unseen engagements, and people turning up unexpectedly.
This was a good introduction to Jane Austen's books, but based upon to the admiration she has received, I don't believe this is her best, and I'm ready to see what she can do in Pride and Prejudice.
Rating:  -
I'm sure if I hadn't seen the movie, (DVD) I wouldn't have had the least understanding of what was going on half the time.
The book was very boring, with long unending sentences and characters that made no sense. Yet, I kept reading and reading until I was done. I think I was determined to make some sense out of it. After words and words of whatever, the ending came to a short, brief end. To this day, I'm not sure if Marianne was ever in love with Mr. Brandon, or she just admired him and married him because her family thought it best. Nor could I find one single reason why Elinor who was to have had some sense would have fallen for an idiot like Edward.
The long silly relationship between Edward and Lucy was ridiculous, and made no sense at all. For the older sister to even care for a nerd like Edward when she was the one who was supposed to have some sense, made no sense. As to the rest of the characters, they were all ridiculous, pompous or stupid, and had no sense or sensibility at all.
The film was much better. Don't bother with the book.
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