“I come here with no expectations, only to profess now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be yours.”
Reading Sense and Sensibility again was like visiting an old friend I didn’t leave on the best of terms. In truth, the idea of the Ardently Austen Book Challenge (visit Paperbackbones on Instagram for the details) was exciting until they announced which book would be first. They could have picked any of the other five books to kick it off with… I guess it could have been worse. They could have started with Emma.
It’s been about 15 years since I last read this classic. Maybe it was the time of my life, or maybe it was the old style writing, but I remember dragging my feet through every page. I wasn’t forced to read it. Being homeschooled I was allowed to pick my own book, and thankfully was on a trend of classics. Still, Sense and Sensibility has sat on my shelf for years as a dreadful reminder.
Good news! I made it through a second time.
After the death of their father, three sisters and their mother establish themselves in a new home at the insistence of a distant relation. Elinor, the sensible one, is forced to not only leave her childhood home to her half-brother but to also leave the man that has stolen her heart. Marianne, yet to see the world past her 17 years, falls into a man one rainy day while exploring her new home. Together the sisters must discern who deserves their love in the twists and turns of 19th century English society.
“I wish, as well as everybody else, to be perfectly happy; but, like everybody else, it must be in my own way.”
Classics are a fickle business. How does one judge something that’s stood the test of time for 200 years. These are the books taught in classrooms, the books that are the basis for literary excellence. Are we deemed incompetent if we can’t see the little nuances or don’t enjoy every word written by the master herself?
This might be a little much, but these thoughts ran through my head when I put my rating on Goodreads. Yes, there are those souls that leave scathing one star reviews, thinking more of themselves as they tear down these beautiful classics, and then there’s everyone else who gives the glowing five starred reviews.
I’m in the middle.
“The more I know the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man who I can really love. I require so much.”
Sense and Sensibility will never be my favorite of Austen’s but I think choosing to do a reread was the best choice I could have made - now the book can be gazed upon fondly. I’ve become a better reader and blew through the pages without struggling over the big words and confusing sentence structures. I’ve fallen in love and have gotten married since the last time I read it, which I think gave me a stronger appreciation for the engagements. And it doesn’t hurt that 19th century England makes me swoon.
Austen has real talent in being able to create books that have withstood the test of time. Without much happening, she spins a tale of two sisters on completely different paths of love. You have Elinor, the steady and cautious one, sitting in silent agony over her Edward. While Marianne is falling head over heels for the first guy she literally fell head over heels into. Austen gives each sister a very different outcome in the end, which might be a cautionary tale. However, I’m still enraptured by the subtle reveals and twists that her imaginations folds within the scenes. I should preface this all with saying that I didn’t remember a thing about the story before my reread.
Without spending long winded paragraphs on the style and life of the times, Austen paints a clear picture of society. She describes a world without using too many words. She assumes the reader has a grasp of the time period and hurries along with everything else that’s important, like the falling in love part. Her clear crisp style can teach readers a lot.
On the other hand, there are issues. The ending wraps up so quickly that I’m still trying to figure out how Marianne went from point A to point B. Austen spends two pages showing her outcome while spending chapters on Elinor’s. Elinor never came across as the main character, and Marianne controlled so much of the middle that it’s hard to believe that Austen didn’t intend each sister to play an even role in the plot.
And probably an unpopular opinion, but I found the sisters to be annoying at times.
“I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself.”
I’ve decided to keep up this tradition. I’ve wanted to read more classic but never seem to find a spare moment to slide one in. This challenge helped me devise a new system where I can do both at the same time. Since I’m reading Pride and Prejudice with my husband, I’m sliding in Little Women next month as well - a book I’ve been eyeing since I was a teenager.
I leave you with this last thought today…. If you have a classic that wasn’t really your thing years ago, maybe you should give it another try. Your time in life might make all the difference.
Happy Reading
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 11/100 (that jumped up fast)