Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
One of the most famous books of Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (in German Sinn und Verstand, in French Raisons et Sentiments). I read it in German where it contained 438 pages. Girls 16 to death. Originally published 1811.
This is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne, who meet men they can love. One, Elinor, listens to reason only, the other is ruled entirely by her feelings. Which will gain happiness? The cautious approach? Or the euphoric? In the end, it doesn't matter, because one vanishes into thin air – and the other is betrothed already...
I like this book very much. Elinor is sweet, especially to her sister. And she's damn tough, like with Lucy. I envy her for her pokerface. I know I couldn't have kept so calm! Imagine something like this. You love someone, and then you actually encounter someone like her… and you have to keep calm about it!
Lucy is... my, she's a selfish bastard. I wonder what Edmund saw in her in the first place!
Marianne is a picture of some of the philosophies of her time. She's so like her mother! Self-centred and only concerned about her feelings, all the while not noticing how much she hurts her sister! But she really develops, to someone likeable. Her love is just like her – which fits. But husband is one of my absolute favourite characters.
Well. What I like best is how the… well, the way of thinking of some people in society is shown here. These description and the romantic approach to everything and what problems it brings with it. How fast the people reveal their hypocritical side – sure, we have hypocrisy here as well, and not too little, but it's usually in another context. Here, when the mother talks about the house and its improvements… well. Poor Elinor, being the voice of reason has to be hard in this family.
Edmund himself is not my favourite person. He's very reserved, but he also has his good side.
Apart from that, the book is tense, full of surprises and full of irony – as always with Jane Austen. I rather like it.
In brief:
So: Stars for characters, ideas, content and style. Plus the SoGH.