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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.7
EAN num: 9780141439662
ISBN number: 0141439661
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 368
Printing Date: April 29, 2003
Publishing house: Penguin Classics
Release Date: April 29, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 13969
Studio: Penguin Classics
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
New chronology and further reading; Tony Tanner's original introduction reinstated
Edited with an introduction by Ros Ballaster.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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When Mr. Dashwood dies, the family estate passes to his son, John. The widowed Mrs. Dashwood and her three daughters are left homeless and with little money. A kind relative offers to rent them a small cottage on his property.
The two eldest Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, find both romance and heartbreak in their new home. Elinor is sensible and restrained, so that even when she falls in love with Edward, she keeps her feelings to herself because she knows that marriage is not a possibility. She has no money for a dowry.
Marianne, on the other hand, wears her heart on her sleeve. When she falls in love with handsome playboy Mr. Willoughby, she doesn't care who knows about it.
Both sisters experience heartbreak before they find love and happiness.
Rated by buyers -
Taking place in Norland, England, in 1811, Jane Austen astounds her wide audience with yet another uplifting and eye-opening novel. Sense and Sensibility explores the life of the Dashwood family, consisting of the new widow Mrs. Dashwood and her two daughters, the composed and affectionate Elinor along with the sensible and spontaneous Marianne. Inheriting all of his father's money, John Dashwood visits his sister Mrs. Dashwood and gives the three devastated ladies a good share of his inherited money. During the visit, John Dashwood's wife, fanny, brings along her sensible older brother, Edward Ferrars, who develops a very close relationship with Elinor Dashwood. Although they are given a hard time by Fanny, Mrs. Dashwood, and the later promiscuous old friend Lucy Steele, Elinor and Edward establish and progress their love throughout the entire novel. As their love grows, Austen compares and contrasts the trait of sensibility, possessed by Marianne, and the trait of sense, possessed by Elinor. She does this through the two sisters' interactions with their significant others.
Just like almost all of Jane Austen's preceding novels, Sense and Sensibility dives into the themes of love and judgment. The reader learns how the characters in the novel become blind when they are in love, and the effect this has on their judgment.
Although it is a great read, I do not recommend it to just anybody. Readers must stay attentive to the multiple characters that are introduced throughout the novel; readers must also have strong patience because the novel is written with the old English dialect of the early 1800's. This is one of Jane Austen's best novels, in my opinion. In her novel Mansfield Park, she merely spends the whole novel demonstrating the progression of love in a New England town. In Sense and Sensibility, however, not only is the reader able to explore the development of love in a relationship between two people, but also the progression of individual character qualities, such as those of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. In totality, this novel is one of Jane Austen's best works.
Rated by buyers -
Once criticised as being "least interesting" of Auten's works, I entirely disagree. Sense & Sensibility is one of my favourites, if not favourite Austen novel. Perhaps not as "light, and bright, and sparkling" as Pride & Prejudice, it is still a wonderful and enjoyable read, and definitely not as dense as Mansfield Park. Personally, I could not put this book down, when usually with Austen I read a chapter or two a day.
The dual heroines is one of the most interesting literary techniques here, interlaced with the usual infuriating members of society (John and Fanny, Lucy Steele), silly women (Charlotte Palmer) and men (Robert Ferrars).
My only criticism of the plot would be the somewhat rushed ending, but the story goes through regular "ups and downs" and enough changes of scenery to keep interest.
I often prefer the Penguin Classics versions of the Austen novels. They are easy to carry around and have comprehensive footnotes as well as interesting and thought-provoking introductions and appendices. In this version I prefer the original introduction by Tony Tanner, but the introduction by Ros Ballaster is interesting in its discusion of the opposing themes of the novel i.e. very first and second attachments, scream and screen, and of course, sense and sensibility.
My only criticism of the Penguin Classics version is the cover art, which I don't feel encompasses the true characters of Elinor and Marianne. While I appreciate the use of 19th century art on the Penguin Classics covers, I never feel that they truly embody the character (except for maybe sickly Fanny Price). As a side note, I do like the cover art of the Sense and Sensibility (Oxford World's Classics) edition.
In ending, if you are an Austen fan, and haven't read this, you must. Furthermore, if you are considering Austen I would recommend either Sense & Sensibility or Pride & Prejudice as very first reads. In any case, the Penguin Classics version will not disappoint.
Rated by buyers -
Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, guided respectively by rational sense and passionate sensibility, navigate love and heartbreak together in their own inimitable styles. The plot is simple and straightforward, with only a couple of surprising twists. This is good, though, serving only to clear the stage of contrivances and to give plenty of room for the entertaining and memorable characters to play out their schemes, hopes, follies, and humanity. It's this latter quality that breathes life and interest into characters who could in less capable hands have been reduced to paper-thin archetypes. In Jane's hands, her characters feel like someone you might still meet in a corner of England that time forgot.
Rated by buyers -
I have no right to review Jane Austen. I give this book 4.5 billion stars.
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