Just Finished Reading: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

With the sudden and unexpected death of their father the Dashwood sisters and their mother are reduced to comparative poverty. Forced to move out of their rambling home, now the property of their brother, they find a new home and new friends in the country. Now Mrs Dashwood must find suitable partners for her two eldest daughters, prudent and sensible Elinor as well as flighty and impetuous Marianne. But with nothing else to recommend them except their good name, looks and accomplishments it is surely going to be far from easy to attract men of good standing in society especially when some offers are not all that they seem and when those around them have secrets that have yet to come to light.

This is my fourth Austen book and, unfortunately, my least favourite. This is partially because the tale of poor little ‘rich’ girls looking for love is honestly wearing a little thin. There is some humour here but not nearly enough to make light of a fairly dull story told at a glacial pace. I know from experience that nothing much happens in an Austen novel but this sometimes takes that truism to great lengths. Most of the action takes place in drawing rooms where the main characters converse in hushed tones during and after interminable dinner parties. The main character of Elinor is so prudent and careful of her affections as to be incredibly dull. Meeting her in real life would undoubtedly leave you with the impression of someone either incapable of expressing emotion or incapable of having any. Marianne is more alive and open to new experience but has little common sense although I did enjoy her outburst during a dance meeting where she verbally ripped apart her would-be lover. I had to admire her for that no matter how indelicate it was! One of the things that surprised me was the almost invisibility of anyone who could be called working class. Servants are occasionally mentioned briefly in passing but even the London streets seem to be populated purely by members of society. Austen is clearly no Charles Dickens in this regard – indeed reading this book made me want to read Dickens just to see things from the other perspective! Lastly I thought that the ending was very rushed indeed. For probably 80-90% of the book things plodded along in good Jane Austen fashion. Then in the dying chapters the pace speeded up considerably and within 5-10 pages both sisters are miraculously married (this actually gives very little way). It’s as if Ms Austen either became bored with her novel or was advised to get it ready for publication post haste. Needless to say that, overall, I was rather less than impressed with this effort. Even after having some trouble slogging through the first third of Emma I still rate it much more highly. At least Emma, both the book and the character, had several redeeming features. Frankly this volume has few and although I would never say that this novel should be avoided I would have to say that it is by far my least favourite of hers so far. Hopefully Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey will restore my faith in Jane Austen.