I've been a Jane Austen fan for a long time. I've read her six completed novels and have loved all of them, but in very different ways. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility introduced me to the brilliant author. They are beautiful odes to love conquering all and the huge blessing it is to have a sister you love, no matter how different you are. Their main characters are shaken by misunderstandings and steered by naïveté.
Northanger Abbey and Emma feature somewhat silly girls that let their imaginations run away with them. You somehow still love them, because though they may be simple or selfish, they really do have good hearts. Mansfield Park is Austen's picture of perfecting one's character. Fanny is just so damn good that it's a bit frustrating.
Of course all of these books are much more complicated than my quick sentences allow me to explain. So you should read all of them!
But Persuasion, this book is different from all the rest. Maybe it's because it was the last full novel she wrote. Maybe it's because she had experienced a bit of love in her life by that point. Whatever it is, it gives this book a depth and soul-shaking intensity that makes it my favorite.
The premise is simple. Anne falls in love with Wentworth, but her family says he's too poor and persuades her not to marry him. All of this happens before the book begins and in the opening chapter we are 8 years in the future. Anne is still single and Wentworth returns to her town. Now they are both older. Any feelings they share or don't share aren't based on infatuation or young love. They are both mature and have had years to decide what they really want out of life. This slow burn is intoxicating.
If you've never read Persuasion you're missing out. I love Austen's more celebrated novels (P&P and Emma), which have been made popular by movies and modern remakes (aka Clueless), but it's Persuasion that won my heart.
7 comments:
I want to read this one; I really do! It's just that.. well, I've read Pride and Prejudice (which I loved!) and Northanger Abbey (which was good, too).. and .. she's only got a few more novels.
So silly me, I feel like I should spread them out through my lifetime. Read one Jane Austen novel every.. 5 years? 10? That way, there's always one I haven't read.
Only, what if I die a tragic, early death?
Oh, the challenges of being a book lover..
I also like Jane Austen not just her books but the area where she spent her life in the UK also.
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I feel the same way about my favorite authors. Instead of bingeing and reading everything by them, I ration their books and read only one a year. I especially do this with authors that are already dead. I hate the thought of having nothing new to read from them.
Can you believe I am reading (actually listening) to my very first Jane Austen book now? (P&P). I'm sure I'll be back for more.
Yay Jenners! I can't wait to hear what you think. P&P was my first Austen too.
Persuasion is my very favorite Jane Austen novel...although poetic license is taken with the films, they are still wonderful versions of the story behind this touching novel...all the more if you have your own Captain Wentworth in your past...
M - The movies are great if you've already read the book. But I'd hate to see anyone miss out on the story because they think the movie captures it all. There's so much that goes on in Anne's head.
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