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Wondeful. Marianne and Elinor are both fascinating, complex, endearing characters. Austen really makes you care about both of them. You feel Marianne's heartbreak at the perfidy of Willoughby, and understand Elinor's pain every time Lucy Steele talks with her. As usual, it all works out, but there is much trial and hardship along the way. I love Colonel Brandon and wish him very well. The interplay of Marianne's excessive sentimentalism and Elinor's insistence on total rationality is perfect, especially as, by the end, both characters have gained just enough of the other's primary attribute through her own suffering to assure them of a happy life that includes both sense and sensibility.
The only reason this received four stars instead of five is because of its comparison to Pride and Prejudice and Emma both of which were fabulous. Sense and Sensibility contained some lovely moments of wit and some fantastic satire, but it lacked the endless sparkle of the first and the perfect polish of the second. I also really hated a number of characters that were not, of themselves, truly loathsome. Unlike the blathering Miss Bates in Emma who, though insipid, is pitiable, Mrs. Palmer is the single most annoying character I have ever read about, and every time she opened her mouth I was on the verge of throwing my book across the room. I also found that I strongly disliked Miss Steele (not Lucy, her sister, who appears to be mentioned as Anne and Nancy in turns), who was also annoying and inane. Despite the problems of these characters, the book is heartily recommended and I am glad to be continuing with Miss Austen's work.