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“When so many hours have been spent convincing myself I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?��

Just before reading Sense & Sensibility, I watched the 1995 movie adaptation and am certainly glad I did - having Alan Rickman in mind as Colonel Brandon was perfect when reading the actual book!

Although not quite as much as Pride & Prejudice, this book was so very enjoyable to read! I have liked all novels by Jane Austen I have read so far, but the ones that are more in the vein of Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice are the ones I seem to like best. Both tell of two sisters who are close and whose devotion and care for one another is just so pleasing to read about. I truly liked Elinor and Marianne and thought it wonderful how well they looked out for one another despite their being so different in character.

Surprisingly, this book did not feature any character that truly annoyed me - for up until now, every Austen novel I have read had at least one. Of course, there are several characters who one could get upset about, but none of them annoyed me to the core. Perhaps it is because we either don't get to know them well enough or they have at least some redeeming quality.

I wish we had known more about Edward. I like him just fine but I can't help but feel that I had a lot of movie influence - the novel just did not seem to add much to my already established image of him! I also would not have minded knowing more about Colonel Brandon, but I do feel we learn a good deal more about him than we do about Edward. In any case, I think his character has really grown on me. I quite liked his melancholy air and that he'd do the best for others regardless of his own desires and wishes.

I also loved reading the story from Elinor's perspective - at least for the most of it. All the observations she made in other people and her private remarks on them were hilarious to read about. She is both kind and strong in that she can be just and civil towards others regardless of what she really thinks of them.

I really enjoyed reading this one and my only regret is that the romantic development of the last chapters seemed awfully rash - it almost seemed more like a quick summary. But then, that does seem to be a recurring thing in Jane Austen's works.