Bookish Thoughts

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 w...

I'll admit that it took me several starts to actually get into Jane Austen's Persuasion . It takes a bit to get in the right mindset to absorb the language in the book, and I must have read the first page 4 or 5 times before deciding it wasn't the right time and picking up something else. I finally forced myself to read it by bringing it on a 7 hour flight, and I'm really glad I did. Anne Eliot may just be my favorite of all of Austen's protagonists. This is probably because she's more mature than the rest, but she takes all of their best qualities and adds a few of her own. She's kind and considerate without being a pushover. Well, she was a pushover in her early years and that caused all of her problems, so she's grown out of it. She's perceptive in a way Emma and Lizzie fail to be, picking up on what all of Captain Wentworth's varying moods and interactions mean. And she's patient. She's so incredibly patient and so com...

Pride and Prejudice is a great book. Reading it made me really happy. That may be because I know the story so well. Though I've only read the book once before, I've seen the movie tons of times. The one with Keira Knightley. I adore the cinematography, especially in the party scenes. So I knew exactly what was coming at each turn. But this time through, I gained a better appreciation of Darcy's evolving feelings for Elizabeth. I hadn't really picked up on it in my first read, but the way he starts to fall from her almost from the beginning is well-executed. Of course, if he'd begun to fall for her from the beginning, they could have saved a whole lot of confusion. But then there wouldn't be a book. Really, this is a classic for a reason. Jane Austen is a master of the romantic comedy. You know the characters will all get a happy ending; it's just a matter of watching them get there. And that journey is a lot of fun.