Sense and Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility is not my favorite Austen. It might even be my least favorite Austen. But that's at least partly because I bring a whole lot of emotional baggage to this book.
I first read it at the end of college, when I was visiting Europe on my own. I took an overnight train from Madrid to London. I was in a compartment with three other girls my age. I don't think they knew each other, but they all spoke French and Spanish and none of them spoke English. They had a lively conversation and I read this book and felt an incredible mix of emotions that are, I think, unique to that specific time and place in my life. On the brink of adulthood with no plan for the future off on an adventure and surrounded by people I couldn't communicate with. A mere $150 in my bank account to see me through three days in London.
The other part of my baggage is that the Dashwoods - Elinor and Marianne's half-brother and his wife - remind me strongly of my father and his second wife. At the time I was still raw and hurt by all that they had put me through, just beginning to come to terms with it. Seeing them reduced to comical villains by Austen's wit was cathartic but also not. They're fools, sure, and Austen eviscerates them. But it's not like they ever suffer any consequences. In fact, by the end of the book I believe they are the richest, most satisfied couple in the entire novel.
But all that is background, and for the most part I enjoyed losing myself in the ups and downs of Elinor and Marianne's love lives, knowing everything would work out okay in the end. Revisiting this book has made me want to seek out more contemporary romance. There's something about knowing that everything will be okay in the end that makes the journey there that much more enjoyable. It takes all the stress and anxiety out of it and leaves you with a pure comfort read. Despite all my baggage around this book, it was that for me.
I first read it at the end of college, when I was visiting Europe on my own. I took an overnight train from Madrid to London. I was in a compartment with three other girls my age. I don't think they knew each other, but they all spoke French and Spanish and none of them spoke English. They had a lively conversation and I read this book and felt an incredible mix of emotions that are, I think, unique to that specific time and place in my life. On the brink of adulthood with no plan for the future off on an adventure and surrounded by people I couldn't communicate with. A mere $150 in my bank account to see me through three days in London.
The other part of my baggage is that the Dashwoods - Elinor and Marianne's half-brother and his wife - remind me strongly of my father and his second wife. At the time I was still raw and hurt by all that they had put me through, just beginning to come to terms with it. Seeing them reduced to comical villains by Austen's wit was cathartic but also not. They're fools, sure, and Austen eviscerates them. But it's not like they ever suffer any consequences. In fact, by the end of the book I believe they are the richest, most satisfied couple in the entire novel.
But all that is background, and for the most part I enjoyed losing myself in the ups and downs of Elinor and Marianne's love lives, knowing everything would work out okay in the end. Revisiting this book has made me want to seek out more contemporary romance. There's something about knowing that everything will be okay in the end that makes the journey there that much more enjoyable. It takes all the stress and anxiety out of it and leaves you with a pure comfort read. Despite all my baggage around this book, it was that for me.
Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel.
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