Saturday 13 June 2015

Read in 2015 - 18: Sense and Sensibility

None of Jane Austen's books really needs a review anymore - they are very well known all over the world, they have been reviewed and analyzed to death by countless generations of readers, literary critics, literary scientists and students. But my blog serves various purposes, one of which is a list of books I have read, just so that I can look them up again or check whether I have read something by a certain author before, for instance.


"Sense and Sensibility" was part of the many lovely gifts I received for my birthday this year. It may surprise you to learn that, although I was originally trained at Librarian School and worked at Ludwigsburg's central library for several years, until now I had never read any work by Jane Austen, in spite of knowing of her/about the books, of course.

I was therefore in for a pleasant surprise when I started reading and found that I actually enjoyed the book very much - there is elegance of language, style and wit, there are characters you can imagine rather well, and places described detailed enough to form a good picture in your mind while reading. Conversations and thoughts/feelings/emotions do have a slight tendency to go on a little long, but that is only in contrast to today's writing which is often rather fast-paced and suits the short attention span of the average person somewhat better.

There is no favourite character I have in the book; well, maybe Colonel Brandon and Mrs. Jennings, if I had to settle on a male and female one. And I would have liked to see a little more of Margaret, the youngest sister, who features only marginally. But the book was a delight to read, and I was pleased to come across terms I'd not seen before only once or twice.

The edition I was given (Oxford World's Classics) comes with additional information: There are an introduction, a "Note on the Text", a select bibliography and a chronology of Jane Austen's life and her works. The appendix contains even more information: A chapter about rank and social status (which are all-important to the story), one about Dancing and then a wealth of textual and explanatory notes.
Those explanations are not indispensable to understand the story, but they are very useful in providing some background. For instance, in the course of the book, the amount of money someone has - either as their annual income or their "total worth" - is mentioned frequently. To me, reading that "the living of Delaford was said to be worth around 200 pounds p.a." does not mean much - I have no idea how far 200 pounds would go in the early 19th century towards supporting a family in rural England. But with the explanations given in the appendix, the reader gets a pretty clear idea of what the sums mean, which were of course clear as day to Austen's contemporary readers.

Some words back in 1811 (when the story was first published) were spelled not as we spell them today. For instance, "show" was spelled "shew", "choose" was spelled "chuse", "crowd" was spelled "croud".

If you have followed the link back to my birthday post and looked at the rest of the presents on the table, maybe you have spotted the DVD there. I am really looking forward to watching it, now that I have finished the book, and will be comparing the way the characters look, talk and behave to the way I imagined them while reading.

12 comments:

  1. I'm a great fan of Jane Austen, but Sense an Sensibility is my least favourite. For me, it lacks the depth of Emma, and the wit and characterisation of Pride and Prejudice. But how lovely to discover Jane Austen now, and have all those treats to look forward to!

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    1. Since your last post, Frances, I even know how you came to love Jane Austen so much.
      I guess it will be some time before I pick up the next book by her, but I think they'll be easy to find at the kindle shop - most classics are for free.

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  2. Love Jane Austen, she is among my favorite authors. I've read all of her books several times and find something new each time I read them.

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    1. That's what makes a really good book, isn't it, when it makes us return to it over and over again and we still find something new in it.

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  3. One of my favorite books by a favorite author....Better late than never I always say, and now you have had the pleasure of reading Sense and Sensibility, I hope you will read others of her books..........

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    1. I probably will, Kristi, although I can see it will take me quite a long time before I'll get round to reading the next one.

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  4. I have read and reread Jane Austen’s books over and over and will no doubt have another go soon. Each time I read one I find more pleasures to enjoy.

    She is the greatest as far as I’m concerned. I agree with Frances, you have so much good reading in store.

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    1. You and Mac n' Janet should get together and compare notes, Friko.
      Books like that are truly precious, and after having read my first Jane Austen, I think there will be more.

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  5. I've never read any of Jane Austen's books until about a year ago, when I started Pride and Prejudice. I started it after watching the movie...a really big no-no for me! Needless to say, I still haven't finished it. I have to say though, that's another that was well carried into a movie, based on the little I've read thus far. It's just very hard for me to picture Mr. Darcy as any other than Matthew Macfadyen! I do actually have several of her books though. A friend of my father's had to clean out his mother's home after she passed away, and he knew how much I enjoy reading so I "inherited" all of her books! It was a true treasure trove!

    You'll have to let us all know how well the movie compares to the book! Enjoy!

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    1. I will let you know, Mel!
      Like you, I much prefer reading a book before watching the movie. But sometimes it still happens that I come across a movie I like without having known about the book beforehand, so every now and then, the order of reading first, then watching is turned round.

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  6. I love the British classics...I've read this several times! For once a book that I have read Librarian right?:)))

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    1. Yes, it is nice to see that so many of my readers know and love these books :-)
      But is Jane Austen seen as an author mainly for femaile readership? So far, not one male reader of my blog has commented on this one.

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