Customer Reviews
"Sense and Sensibility" - a must-read 
2008-08-29
One of the best things you can do for yourself is to read or reread one of Jane Austen's books. Any one will do, if it's for the first time or the 25th. It always gives the same energising feeling, like listening to a Beatles song or going on a successful shopping spree.
"Sense and Sensibility" from 1811 is Jane Austen's first published book and has all the characteristics of her entire authorship: A lively delineation of character and a plot that zooms in on relations between people - and luckily often the most mysterious, satisfying, dramatic and confusing - love in its most exciting phase: falling in love. Language and style are elegant and intelligent and imbued with a deep ironic humour, which comes from a keen eye for tensions between opposites.
Five stars, always, for Jane.
Loving Tension and a Fine Balance 2008-07-29
Jane Austen's comforting classic is based on the dichotomous relationship between reason (Elinor) and emotion (Marianne). Austen's greatness lies in her backing out of the box of 19th-century literary moralism and seeing the areas of gray in human relationships and within the individual. Over and over again in this "early" work (Austen was only 41 when she died) we see characters acting in unexpected ways, even while social strictures are so much in evidence. The most outstanding characters are those who go against the social grain, and Austen unfailingly creates classic foils against whom these interesting individuals can stand out. Entertaining, existing in a stable social world, clever, and funny, this novel is like "comfort food." If you're in the mood for a diverting stroll into another century, let this book be your guide. I also highly recommend the Penguin Classic that has an introductory section by Tony Tanner (if you can find it). Tony Tanner's brilliant insights into Austen and this work deeply enriched it for me. But this section must be read after you read the book.
Elinor and Marianne....What great sisters! 
2008-07-14
The dual natures of these sisters is what truly makes this novel special. Their natural differences and their abilities in the end to overcome their inborn instincts demonstrate Austen's talent in creating interesting and dynamic characters. For me, this is Jane's best novel (I have not read them all). There is so much to learn from these characters! The men in the novel are complex and interesting as well. Recommended reading. (and yes, the 21st century reader will need to be patient with the language, but the novel is well worth it.)
An enduring classic 2008-07-02
When Mr. Dashwood dies, the family estate passes to his son, John. The widowed Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters are left homeless and with little money. A kind relative offers to rent them a small cottage on his property.
The two eldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, find both romance and heartbreak in their new home. Elinor is sensible and restrained, so that even when she falls in love with Edward, she keeps her feelings to herself because she knows that marriage is not a possibility. She has no money for a dowry.
Marianne, on the other hand, wears her heart on her sleeve. When she falls in love with handsome playboy Mr. Willoughby, she doesn't care who knows about it.
Both sisters experience heartbreak before they find love and happiness.
Sense and Sensibility Review- Arghavan 2008-06-05
Taking place in Norland, England, in 1811, Jane Austen astounds her wide audience with yet another uplifting and eye-opening novel. Sense and Sensibility explores the life of the Dashwood family, consisting of the new widow Mrs. Dashwood and her two daughters, the composed and affectionate Elinor along with the sensible and spontaneous Marianne. Inheriting all of his father's money, John Dashwood visits his sister Mrs. Dashwood and gives the three devastated ladies a good share of his inherited money. During the visit, John Dashwood's wife, fanny, brings along her sensible older brother, Edward Ferrars, who develops a very close relationship with Elinor Dashwood. Although they are given a hard time by Fanny, Mrs. Dashwood, and the later promiscuous old friend Lucy Steele, Elinor and Edward establish and progress their love throughout the entire novel. As their love grows, Austen compares and contrasts the trait of sensibility, possessed by Marianne, and the trait of sense, possessed by Elinor. She does this through the two sisters' interactions with their significant others.
Just like almost all of Jane Austen's preceding novels, Sense and Sensibility dives into the themes of love and judgment. The reader learns how the characters in the novel become blind when they are in love, and the effect this has on their judgment.
Although it is a great read, I do not recommend it to just anybody. Readers must stay attentive to the multiple characters that are introduced throughout the novel; readers must also have strong patience because the novel is written with the old English dialect of the early 1800's. This is one of Jane Austen's best novels, in my opinion. In her novel Mansfield Park, she merely spends the whole novel demonstrating the progression of love in a New England town. In Sense and Sensibility, however, not only is the reader able to explore the development of love in a relationship between two people, but also the progression of individual character qualities, such as those of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. In totality, this novel is one of Jane Austen's best works.
Wonderful Austen Novel, Despite What Critics Say 2008-05-28
New chronology and further reading; Tony Tanner's original introduction reinstated
Edited with an introduction by Ros Ballaster.
Slow but Steady 2008-05-22
Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, guided respectively by rational sense and passionate sensibility, navigate love and heartbreak together in their own inimitable styles. The plot is simple and straightforward, with only a couple of surprising twists. This is good, though, serving only to clear the stage of contrivances and to give plenty of room for the entertaining and memorable characters to play out their schemes, hopes, follies, and humanity. It's this latter quality that breathes life and interest into characters who could in less capable hands have been reduced to paper-thin archetypes. In Jane's hands, her characters feel like someone you might still meet in a corner of England that time forgot.
4.5 billion stars 2008-05-13
I have no right to review Jane Austen. I give this book 4.5 billion stars.
Not Bad for 1811 2008-03-28
Two sisters have come of marrying age. One loves rashly and deeply, the other cautiously and with no little reserve - the sense and the sensibility. The contrast set up, Jane Austen takes the two young women through nearly the same set of events. Through love's introduction, intervening conflict and ultimate disappointment, we observe the impacts and the results of these two disparate manners of dealing with the opposite sex. This being a Jane Austen comedy, don't be surprised if things work out for someone in the end.
While obviously very well written and full of interesting characters and insights, this, like most of Jane Austen's work, simply "doesn't do it for me." Certainly Ms. Austen is not without her modern relevance, but many of the important ideas running through her novels, including this one, are foreign and even offensive. For example, her casual indifference toward the unmoneyed, her obvious belief in the natural limitations of the female sex and the importance she sets on formality set my teeth a-grinding. She writes, as they say, of a different time. Similarly, her writing style is often, including in this book, tedious and opaque. Economy of words and clarity are not so important as obeisance to formality and avoidance of perceived impropriety. As I said, writing of a different time. As one can likely see, my complaints about Jane Austen are more due to my own predilections than any shortcomings of the famed authoress.
That said, I do believe that reading this book is good for a person - it will make you more informed and provide material worth thinking on. Several of the characters will stick with you. Ms. Austen has a way of making her characters very distinct despite the smallness of her authorial world. The characters are not Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy, but the Dashwood girls are worth remembering. Furthermore, the major themes, while not "big ideas" are relevant to most everyone and persuasively resolved. Sense and sensibility was for me, however, less enjoyable reading than I would prefer. The plot line moved slowly, the ideas seemed dated and the language obscured rather than revealed.
Miss Austen's first published novel... 2008-02-18
"Sense and Sensibility" was first published in 1811, although it appears that Jane Austen had worked on various versions of the novel since the 1790's. It is less polished than the later, classic "Pride and Prejudice", but it contains all the familiar elements we expect and enjoy in an Jane Austen novel.
The novel is built around the two Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, whose contrasting styles are the "sense and sensibility" of the title. Elinor is the elder sister, patient, considerate and practical. Marianne, on the other hand, knows no halfway love of anything in life.
As the story opens, their father has just died, leaving the family estate to his son by a first marriage and his second wife and three daughters in near destitution. The widow and three daughters move to a small cottage on the estate of a distant kinsman in Devonshire. Elinor leaves behind the cherished Mr. Edward Ferres, a shy but loyal and seemingly compatible friend, who has however strangely not offered marriage to Elinor. The beautiful Marianne attracts two suitors soon after their arrival in Devonshire, the older, sober and respectable Colonel Brandon, and the young, handsome, and charming Mr. Willoughby. Willoughby wins Marianne's heart, and an engagement is expected momentarily.
To Marianne's immense disappointment, Willoughby unexpectedly departs for London without proposing. The two sisters are persuaded to travel with an aunt to London to take part in the social scene. In London, the sisters will learn shocking news about their respect suitors, and each will learn to cope with the help of the other. The journey back to Devonshire will set the stage for dramatic developments for Elinor and Marianne.
Austen's sense of dialogue and ability to set up scenes staging are less acute in "Sense and Sensibility" than in later novels, but she makes up for it by a more emotional approach to the characters and some savage if indirect commentary on the social customs of the day. Those readers whose introduction to the story is the excellent 1995 movie "Sense and Sensibility" will find a longer, more subtle, and complex story in Austen's novel. This novel is very highly recommended to fans of Jane Austen.
