Henry Avila's Reviews > Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility
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The story of two teenage girls with romantic troubles, caused by unreliable men (they have dark secrets, but who doesn't ? ) in 1790's England, calm Elinor Dashwood 19 and her younger sibling , by a couple of years the emotional Marianne, 17. When their father is no longer living, all the family including the mother, Mrs. Dashwood and third sister Margaret 13 must vacate their mansion in Sussex, Norland Park a large estate which many generations of the quiet respectable Dashwoods have resided. Only men can inherit this property says the law then, ( a rich uncle, they received it originally from, insisted in his will this provision) and relatives can be greedy. John Dashwood their half - brother has little family feelings and his cold-heart wife Fanny none, take over. Breaking his promise to his dying father to help his sisters and stepmother financially, selfish Fanny persuades him with not too much effort, that these women can survive very well without any assistance, she tells her wealthy husband ... And money is money and promises just words (otherwise, the couple's child, " poor little Harry", would starve ! ). Sir John Middleton a kindly cousin of the mother's offers the Dashwood's a small cottage low rent to live, close to his big house. Desperately wanting to leave the hostile environment of their former home they relocate there in far away Devonshire, by Allenham village. Being very pretty women the sisters soon attract admirers, the shy Mr. Edward Ferrars the eldest brother of Fanny who likes Elinor, unlike his sister, Miss Dashwood thinks, but she can never be sure he doesn't speak much. On a rainy day the two girls imprudently are walking outside, over the country hills they enjoy exploring the beautiful area, but the weather becomes too much, running for shelter Marianne takes a tumble hurts her leg and unable to go any further and still some distance from Barton Cottage . What to do ? Elinor can't get her home, Mr. John Willoughby hunting with his dog in the rain, comes along and carries Marianne back to the cottage. The amazed mother Margaret and the whole family are speechless. Handsome, charming well spoken Mr. Willoughby visits the injured girl every day to see that everything's all right ... But he doesn't fool anybody ... the youngest sister falls madly in love and he appears also to experience the same emotion. He's a good fun loving friend of Sir John's, well known and liked in the neighborhood with a rich old relative he wisely sees often nearby, Mrs. Smith. The perfect man has a rival Colonel Brandon more than ten years older at 35, with a huge house, a lonely honorable gentleman but Marianne has eyes only for Mr. Willoughby ( a secret libertine). And Mr. Ferrars has a fiancee, he never mentions ... Even the Colonel, might have skeletons in his closet... A great book by the incomparable Jane Austen, her likes will never arise again years go by relentlessly, customs and technology changes the Earth either for better or worse, but there will always be her words.
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Reading Progress
July 24, 2013
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July 24, 2013
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June 3, 2014
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June 11, 2014
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Jun 12, 2014 02:33AM

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I still have 3 books of her's to read.

But she also wrote the novella Lady Susan, one of my favorites of her works. It's quite short and very different than her other works.


Yes! Better than Emma and much better than Mansfield Park, IMO. I got three-fourths of the way through Mansfield Park, and I couldn't finish it. Fanny's such a prig!


I smiled with recognition when I read that sentence, so much Austen-like. I don't know if you are into series, but I would recommend the 2008 BBC adaptation (3 episodes of 45 minutes each) which I found faithful to the novel and very well acted. Always a pleasure reading your vivid reviews, Henry.

I smiled with recognition when I re..."
What can I say ? But thanks,Dolors,for enjoying my reviews.


I was on the underground once in London and this very handsome young man of about twenty-five was reading "Persuasian". I went up to him and he actually blushed and I said, "are you actually enjoying that book?". He smiled in a rather lazy fashion, "actually it's a lot of old rubbish but it makes me look romantic, don't you think?" And did I laugh...

I like Persuasion very much, but, in some ways, it reminds me more of Great Expectations than of standard Austen fare. As in Great Expectations, there are a lot of sly satire of people judging others by money and status rather than character.
My favorite Austen novel is Northanger Abbey, which I know is an anomaly. My next favorite is probably Persuasion followed by Lady Susan, then Pride and Prejudice and then Sense and Sensibility.

I like Persuasion very much, but, in some ways, it reminds me more of Great Expectations than of standard A..."
Read Great Expectations, which I enjoyed, Abbey too, a satire on Gothic novels,of 18th century , the British kind . Also have read quite a few of those.


I almost never say this, but skip the novel and see the film Mansfield Park. It's much better, and Fanny isn't such an insufferable prig in the movie.
Jane Austen is so accomplished in her analysis and description of the differences in the sisters, Nice review, but what do you think about Emma?