For some reason, whenever I travel, as an Austen scholar, I take along this particular novel. I do enjoy Mrs. Jennings, the only Austen character who is warm, kind--and employs bad grammar. The work may not be as polished as Austen's later books, but it really connects to readers, with light humor: the description of the wine which Eleanor takes that was intended for Marianne is hilarious. :)
@@pricegrisham2998 Mrs Jennings is a fantastic character, I really enjoy her. I like that she could come across as a shallow gossip, but Austen is astute and empathetic enough to give her a heart. :)
So glad I found your channel! I stumbled across your review of "A Room With a View" as I had just finished it, and I was happy to see you also had this one! I just finished "Sense and Sensibility" two days ago. I completely agree with your reviews of both books. This was actually my first Jane Austen book and was surprised at how modern it sounded. I will definitely read more of her work and be sure to explore more of your videos
A question I'd like to ask, do you think the 'Sense vs Sensibility' debate still relevant? Loved hearing your thoughts, especially the distinction between a moral tale and moralising. I actually think Austen wrote an even more interesting 'neutral' fate for Willoughby than you acknowledged. He didn't have domestic bliss, but his life had some pleasures, and she 'speculated' that had he married Marianne he may not have fared better. Austen's books almost always have a Willoughby-esque character, but I think this was my favourite realisation of one. Although his villainous actions most affect the central characters out of any of her books (I believe?), he also seems to be the one she tries to understand the most. I read this book almost straight after having read Pride and Prejudice, so while I still loved it I think some of its shortcomings were also more obvious to me. I completely agree that the romances were not its strong points. Marianne's marriage to Brandon seemed only a concession to the themes, and because Eleanor and Edward developed feelings for each other offstage they also seemed a bit stiff to me. The weighing in on the 'classic vs romantic' also often appeared very clunky to me, with *Marianne gives vent to her feelings, doubly so* and *Eleanor suffers in silence* just being made explicit far too often. That said, Austen's wit was marvellous and it was people with another wonderfully absurd cast :)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments! I think to some extent the 'sense and sensibility' debate is relevant. We wouldn't use those terms maybe, but the conflict between rationality and stoicism on the one hand, and empathy, sentimentality and emotion on the other is definitely still something we still talk about. You are are dead-on with what you said there about Willoughby. I don't know if he will be the best realised of these type of characters because I am yet to read the other books, but he is fantastic. Not the nicest man in the world but far from evil too. I get the sense (no pun intended) that Austen is just warming up with this one, so I can't wait to read the rest!
I agree with your criticism about the relationship between Brandon and Marianne - I also didn't really buy it. But I've got to say I think that Lucy Steele is one of the greatest creations! I've met people like her.
I found an interesting scholarly paper that posed Brandon was the villain. “A Something or a Nothing”: Towards a Sensibilious Reading of Sense and Sensibility DARAGH DOWNES. Mrs Dashwood almost "sold" Marianne to Brandon. She "owed" him. Check out the paper and see what you think.
What do you think about Sense and Sensibility?
For some reason, whenever I travel, as an Austen scholar, I take along this particular novel. I do enjoy Mrs. Jennings, the only Austen character who is warm, kind--and employs bad grammar. The work may not be as polished as Austen's later books, but it really connects to readers, with light humor: the description of the wine which Eleanor takes that was intended for Marianne is hilarious. :)
@@pricegrisham2998 Mrs Jennings is a fantastic character, I really enjoy her. I like that she could come across as a shallow gossip, but Austen is astute and empathetic enough to give her a heart. :)
So glad I found your channel! I stumbled across your review of "A Room With a View" as I had just finished it, and I was happy to see you also had this one! I just finished "Sense and Sensibility" two days ago. I completely agree with your reviews of both books. This was actually my first Jane Austen book and was surprised at how modern it sounded. I will definitely read more of her work and be sure to explore more of your videos
Thank you, I'm glad that you enjoy the channel and these great books! :)
A question I'd like to ask, do you think the 'Sense vs Sensibility' debate still relevant?
Loved hearing your thoughts, especially the distinction between a moral tale and moralising. I actually think Austen wrote an even more interesting 'neutral' fate for Willoughby than you acknowledged. He didn't have domestic bliss, but his life had some pleasures, and she 'speculated' that had he married Marianne he may not have fared better. Austen's books almost always have a Willoughby-esque character, but I think this was my favourite realisation of one. Although his villainous actions most affect the central characters out of any of her books (I believe?), he also seems to be the one she tries to understand the most.
I read this book almost straight after having read Pride and Prejudice, so while I still loved it I think some of its shortcomings were also more obvious to me. I completely agree that the romances were not its strong points. Marianne's marriage to Brandon seemed only a concession to the themes, and because Eleanor and Edward developed feelings for each other offstage they also seemed a bit stiff to me. The weighing in on the 'classic vs romantic' also often appeared very clunky to me, with *Marianne gives vent to her feelings, doubly so* and *Eleanor suffers in silence* just being made explicit far too often.
That said, Austen's wit was marvellous and it was people with another wonderfully absurd cast :)
Thanks for your thoughtful comments! I think to some extent the 'sense and sensibility' debate is relevant. We wouldn't use those terms maybe, but the conflict between rationality and stoicism on the one hand, and empathy, sentimentality and emotion on the other is definitely still something we still talk about.
You are are dead-on with what you said there about Willoughby. I don't know if he will be the best realised of these type of characters because I am yet to read the other books, but he is fantastic. Not the nicest man in the world but far from evil too.
I get the sense (no pun intended) that Austen is just warming up with this one, so I can't wait to read the rest!
I agree with your criticism about the relationship between Brandon and Marianne - I also didn't really buy it. But I've got to say I think that Lucy Steele is one of the greatest creations! I've met people like her.
This book didn't leave any impression on me but I love your review!
I found an interesting scholarly paper that posed Brandon was the villain. “A Something or a Nothing”: Towards a Sensibilious Reading of Sense and Sensibility
DARAGH DOWNES. Mrs Dashwood almost "sold" Marianne to Brandon. She "owed" him. Check out the paper and see what you think.
Glad I found your channel and another person who is NOT convinced by Marianne and Colonel Brandon👍
I do think that Marianne fell in love with Colonel Brandon is very convincing. Who wouldn't melt in such a deep love of Colonel Brandon?
I would love to know how you would rank the Jane Austen novels 😊
Watch this space haha. I recently finished all of them, so it won't be long now!
I love Jane Austen. Unfortunately, I only read pride and prejudice. I will definitely read sense and sensibility in the future.
To be perfectly honest, I’ve never had any desire to read Jane Austen. I’m content enough to just listen to you talk about her books☺️
Well I'm glad for that, although you should definitely give her a go sometime! :)