Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Published 1811 by Thomas Egerton
Format: hardcover; 357 pages
Classics/Romance
Also By This Author: Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey
Goodreads | Amazon
My Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥
Thoughts
Sense and Sensibility is the first novel by Jane Austen that I ever read. I randomly started reading it one day in 10th grade when I had some down time in class, and ever since I’ve been a Janeite. Last summer I reread Sense and Sensibility for the second or third time for Austen in August, but I got so caught up in baby shower plans and arts and crafts that I didn’t get a chance to post my review. And then this week something made me think of Alan Rickman :( which made me think about how much I love Colonel Brandon and Rickman’s portrayal of him that I decided it was finally time to talk about the book on my blog.
Besides Colonel Brandon, my absolute favorite part of Sense and Sensibility is Elinor. I know she’s not as entertaining or interesting as Marianne, but like Anne Elliot and Jane Bennet, she has qualities of selflessness and kindness that I admire and strive to incorporate into my own character, especially when I’m around people who really try my patience!
“Elinor was to be the comforter of others in her own distresses, no less than in theirs.”
Another quality of Elinor’s that I admire, that Anne Elliot also possesses; is the ability to think frugally and responsibly. In my personal life, I have a 6 month old baby and my husband and I just bought a house, so we could use some frugal thinking right now!
I have a hard time really reviewing Sense and Sensibility because there are so many good characters, plot twists, and heartfelt conversations. I could write essays on this book, but I also don’t feel that I have anything new to say about it. Except that I love Colonel Brandon! Oh wait, that’s not new, is it?
Read This Book If…
…you enjoy dry, witty humor.
…you like reading coming of age stories involving heartache.
…you’re looking for a timeless, excellently written classic to enjoy this summer.
…you love seeing close-knit family relationships in fiction.
Final Musings
Here are several Sense and Sensibility adaptations I’ve watched (and in some cases watched and rewatched):
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Not only the best Sense and Sensibility adaptation in my opinion, but it’s also one of my all-time favorite films. The acting is what really makes this film so excellent. Everyone was perfectly casted and even the annoying characters (i.e. Lucy Steele) aren’t annoying enough to deter me from enjoying the movie over and over again (this is the exact problem I have with Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins in the Pride and Prejudice miniseries). The script also holds true to the novel and the soundtrack is lovely.
Sense and Sensibility (2008)
This is also a wonderful adaptation, although it can’t top the Emma Thompson film version. I loved Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars and David Morrissey plays Colonel Brandon well, too. I wish I could buy the score because the music is hauntingly beautiful, but last time I checked I couldn’t find anywhere to purchase it :(
Web Series
There are two web series adaptations, “Elinor and Marianne Take Barton” and “Project Dashwood”, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them. They both could have used better scripts and I wasn’t a fan of the acting in Project Dashwood. I would love to see a well-adapted web series of Sense and Sensibility one day. Maybe I should try to get a production together myself… (just kidding?)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle – I have always been a big Robin Hood fan, I even dressed up as Robin Hood once for a British-themed costume party, and last month we went and saw a Robin Hood musical that’s touring France at the moment (it was really cool!). So since then I’ve been on a bit of a Robin Hood kick and I’m in the process of reading Howard Pyle’s version of my favorite legend :)
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – About a month and a half ago I posted on Twitter about how Les Misérables was a book that had been on my TBR/Classics Club list for a while, but because it intimidated me so much I had been procrastinating on reading it. Well, someone else had been feeling a little similar to me, and so we decided to read it together this month :) I really had been wanting to read it in French, but this book is massive, and I am maybe 2% finished with it right now. We’ll see if I can persevere in le français, or if I’ll have to switch to English.
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne – Two French novels on my Summer TBR list! I plan on reading this one next month. For those of you who actually know me, you know that I have a lot of national pride for my two countries. I am glued to the television watching the Olympics and now the World Cup, cheering on the U.S. and France, and for both national holidays I like to celebrate by doing American and French things. Last year for Bastille Day I read Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days to celebrate. This year, my husband and I are going to read Journey to the Center of the Earth (hopefully in French!). We both love Verne’s novels, and the fact that my husband likes to read his books really says something since Matt doesn’t really like to read anything ;)
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – I put this book on my previous Top Ten Tuesday post about 
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell – I read this book for my Victorian Lit class in college, but after watching the miniseries a couple of years ago, I’ve been wanting to reread it (and then rewatch the miniseries because it’s so good). Also, knowing me, if I read any Jane Austen novel, I’ll immediately be stuck in a Regency/Victorian reading pit (a pit of lace and ribbons and chivalry, that is), and I’ll be looking for some more classic female masterpieces to read.
macarons & paperbacks 