What do You think about Sense And Sensibility (2003)?
“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.” Marianne and Elinor are two halves of a whole-one is proud of her feelings,the other one is proud of her mind and sense.But to understand the actions of one of them,you have to understand the actions of the other one.Their bond is strong,their love for each other is unconditional,their happiness also depends on the happiness of the other one.That's what I loved about this book.But,when it comes to romance...What do you mean I wanted Elinor and Brandon to end up together even though I knew it was impossible? I totally didn't love them together. I totally wanted foolish Marianne to be "oh,well,I'll just have to settle with Brandon because he's nice and whatever." .I totally wanted those things to happen...But to be completely honest,I like Edward.I do think,however,that this book was too long.I mean,the whole thing resolves in the last 20 pages.I read 100 pages a month ago but I was too bored to continue with the story.I am glad that a couple of days ago I got the urge to finish this book,it was much more fun than I thought it was a month ago.Favourite quotes:“Mrs. Jennings was a widow, with an ample jointure. She had only two daughters, both of whom she had lived to see respectably married, and she had now therefore nothing to do but to marry all the rest of the world.” “Sometimes one is guided by what they say of themselves, and very frequently by what other people say of them, without giving oneself time to deliberate and judge." “He listened to her with silent attention, and on her ceasing to speak, rose directly from his seat, and after saying in a voice of emotion, 'To your sister I wish all imaginable happiness; to Willoughby, that he may endeavor to deserve her,' took leave, and went away.”
—Norah Sumner
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 Ms. Austen. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorite books and Sense and Sensibility is certainly up among the elite. Jane can absolutely bust me when she starts penning that snappy prose laced with all those sly, subtle, sarcastic phrases. She’s like prim and proper meets saucy and bossy. I find it interesting that the "descriptions" of her books never seem very appealing to me before I begin them (I would direct your attention to the non chick-flick portion of my “I’m a Man Intro” above). For example, Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters, one emotionally reserved (to put it mildly) and proper and the other emotionally volatile and prone to disregard convention, as they struggle with life and relationships following the death of their father. Doesn’t it sound kinda Hallmark Networky? While I can appreciate that stuff, it doesn’t generally produce boat float with me. However, the quality of the writing and the nuanced sassiness of the dialogue just warms my cockles and makes me prone to bouts of squealing. Her characterization, primarily the two sisters, but true for the rest of the cast as well, is so impeccably done that I keep expecting one of them to tap me on the shoulder as I’m reading…..don’t worry, none of them have yet but I’m still hoping. Probably the most appealing aspect of Jane’s novels is the need for her intelligent, strong-willed female characters to move through the emotionally stifling requirements of “Victorian” society. So much of the charm of Jane’s writing revolves around the characters being forced to find an “acceptable” mode of expressing raw emotions when “bitch slapping” and “Fuck offing” just won’t do. I love watching the characters having to comport themselves so “correctly” as they explain to each other that they are going to ruin their families, steal their lovers, etc. I love the roadblocks that the Victorian setting erects in the emotional road of the story and how effortlessly Jane navigates around them. She draws her characters feeling the deepest and rawest of emotions while having to maintain an outward appearance of dignity and respectability. The fact that she is able to convey that crushing sense of emotion to the reader without depictions of expressive behavior is just another example of her boggle the mind brilliance. Okay, the gush must end and here is as good a place as any. You should really read this one. It’s good. 5.0 to 5.5 STARS. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!P.S. I listened to the audio version of this narrated by Juliet Stevenson and she was superb.
—Stephen
3.5/5 The whole of Lucy's behaviour in the affair, and the prosperity which crowned it, therefore, may be held forth as a most encouraging instance of what an earnest, an unceasing attention to self-interest, however its progress may be apparently obstructed, will do in securing every advantage of fortune, with no other sacrifice than that of time and conscience.I will admit to thinking long and hard on whether to delegate this book's rating to a mere three stars in the standardized counter, detailing to be in reality a 3.5 within the review. However, every time I came close to deciding on that for good, a feeling was produced akin to as if I had watched the most adorable of puppies cavort in an elegantly precise fashion, a puppy that upon sensing my being unimpressed with said cavortings hid itself in a corner and curled into a ball of sadness. Needless to say, I reconsidered my decision, and while I ultimately decided to go through with it, I must say I am confident that most would find it a four star.Call me overly vindictive, but I extremely dislike it when ganky prats don't get their comeuppance in any sort of fiction. To be fair, I am likely to forgive them their insipid brattishness if the author expands on the realities of the society and/or the character's first point perspective motivations to a decent enough extent for their actions to make sense. Austen made an effort with both, fortunately with the former far exceeding the latter to the point that I decided not to lower my rating simply because a few of the snobs could have benefited from some therapy of the vivisectional kind. A bit brutal, to be sure, but true. Also, the plot and all its convolutions in an effort to adhere to ridiculous principles of the time was a bit much, but as I'm not a big fan of reasonable plots in general, that point of discontent is on my head entirely.Despite all that, I have to consider the time and place of Austen's writing. The above quote pretty much sums up the reality of her situation, which I must recognize as historical fact as much as it grates on my nerves to do so. And if there's one thing she does exceedingly well, it is her weaving of stories as closely within the web of conventions and social sensibilities that existed in her time period as satire does, without breaking any of the lines. Mocking something is easy. Mocking it in such a smartly sensitive and hilarious sensible manner is another thing entirely, no matter how much acquiescence to certain past customs rubs me the wrong way. Also, her prose? Well structured to a delicate laced and filigreed tee, without a loose thread or runny stitch to be seen. While I do love my rambling crescendos of prose whose glorious profundity is tied up with its intrinsic chaos, I have to give a nod to masterful efforts of making sentences cooperate with each other in such well behaved fashions. Every time I happened to wonder on a particular tidbit that hadn't been fully explicated, behold! It appeared by the end of the paragraph. Didn't leave much room for anchorless contemplation, but that's hardly a matter for faulting a piece of literature.And finally, it was witty, it was adorable, there was a happy ending, and ultimately I was left with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Considering how many issues I have with achieving said warm and fuzzy feeling, I'm not about to criticize something that enables such any more than I need to. That would not only be a case of being unimpressed with the puppy, it would be one of kicking the puppy. As vindictive I am, that is simply not cool.
—Aubrey
