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Title: Persuasion (Modern Library Classics) by Jane Austen, Amy Bloom ISBN: 0375757295 Publisher: Princeton Review Pub. Date: 12 June, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.3
Rating: 4
Summary: Anne Elliot makes the story
Comment: Persuasion is not Jane Austen's best work, in my opinion, but it does have redeeming qualities that urged me to keep reading to the end. Persuasion tells the story of Anne Elliot, an outcast within her family, who was once involved in a relationship with Captain Wentworth eight years prior to the story. Because he was too far below her social status at the time, their relationship ended, much to the relief of Anne's family. Anne is now older when the story begins and wiser and knows what she wants in life. She regrets what has happened in her past, but she continues on into the future instead of wishing to change the past.
Anne tumbles back into the confusing emotions of girlhood love when Captain Wentworth returns into her life. She finds that she still loves him and wants to be with him, though she can't be sure whether he feels the same way.
Anne Elliot is the character who kept me reading. She is not like the other women of her time. She is intelligent and will no longer let anyone make her choices for her. She will debate her point with men, believing herself to be their intellectual equal, instead of sitting by gossiping with the women.
The thing I had to keep reminding myself while reading this book is that it was written 200 years ago and so it follows the pattern of romance books and lifestyles of the upper class families of that time. The biggest problem with this time period that may annoy readers of today is that the characters seem to sit around all day and talk about things that don't seem to have any relevance to the story. Sometimes these discussions are meant to foreshadow later events, sometimes they only help us understand the characters or the world they live in.
Rating: 5
Summary: Persuasive tale of a second chance at love
Comment: I thoroughly enjoyed this novel because of Jane Austen's lyrical prose, her timeless subjects of family relationships, love (and/or the search for it), her heartwarmingly drawn characters that I think any reader anywhere and at any time can relate to easily, and her usual witty and critical social commentary. I find it amazing to think that she wrote this novel nearly 200 years ago! I can think of several people in my own family and among friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who match her descriptions of Anne Elliot, her father and sisters Walter and Elizabeth Elliot and Mary Musgrove, Lady Russell, Captain Wentworth, etc. Times and mores may have changed in 200 years, but human nature has not changed! Reading her descriptions of these characters and well imagining Anne's reaction to them, whether it is with resignation, amusement, or exasperation mirror my own thoughts on them.
Austen has created a wonderful character in Anne Elliot. I found that I liked her more and more as I read the novel, and, had she been real, would liked to have had her as a sister, friend, or relative. She is such a wonderful character because readers have a chance to see how she has grown up, has changed, and is willing to go for what she wants now that she is older and wiser (much like anyone else).
The story is not like Austen's other novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma) because it deals with the issue of a true rarity in life--a second chance at love. Anne Elliot met and fell in love with Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer, when she was 19 years old. Against her better judgment, she is "persuaded" by family in the form of family disapproval of her choice. Her mother is dead, her father and her elder sister Elizabeth (who have a very strange, almost-marriage-like relationship themselves) are social snobs and do not consider a mere captain in the British navy good enough to marry into their family because they are ranked above him socially. Anne's feelings, Frederick's feelings, and the possibility that he could earn a great deal of money by capturing privateers and enemy ships, or be rewarded with a title for distinguishing himself in battle does not occur to them. Anne is also strongly influenced by Lady Russell, a close family friend and a particularly close friend to Anne. Lady Russell, since the death of Anne's mother, has become a mother-figure/friend to Anne (since Anne is ignored by her father and sister Elizabeth). Lady Russell also disapproved of Anne marrying Captain Wentworth, and Anne, because she was young and easily influenced by those around her at age 19, breaks off her engagement to Captain Wentworth. She has regretted it ever since, and has not met anyone (her father and sister went out in Society, but did not take Anne with them; her younger sister Mary is married, but spends her time complaining about non-existent ailments and about all the wrongs and hurts she has suffered at the hands of family and friends to take any interest in introducing Anne to eligible young men) she would consider as a husband. Eight years pass, and, by chance, Captain Wentworth (now considerably wealthier though not titled) re-enters her life due to the temporary lull in the Napoleonic Wars. He too was very hurt by Anne's breaking off of their engagement, but, like Anne, he has not met any other women who compare to her. Both are wary of eachother--and Austen handles both their introspection and their gradual establishment of a stronger, more mature love for eachother with sensitivity and passion. I loved this story because it clearly shows an older (though still young) heroine who is offered the rarest of all things--a second chance at love with the love of her life. She is wise enough to reject the opinions of her family and Lady Russell this time, accepts the love offered, and offers her own love in return! Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne at the end of the novel is the kind of love letter every woman would cherish. Wow! What a beautiful letter! It warms your heart, touches your soul, and nourishes your spirit. The story is all the more poignant because Anne and Captain Wentworth appreciate eachother and their relationship because they know what they have and what they could have missed had they followed social conventions.
For the die-hard Austen fans, there is plenty of social commentary, and I thought that Austen illustrated the snobbishness of the upper classes very well in her characterizations of Anne's father and sisters. The criteria they use to accept or reject a person are based on such things as whether the man owns property and how much, how many servants he has, title, family background, connections, and, in her father's case, physical appearance is very important. None of these things have any intrinsic value compared to whether Anne is loved and respected by Captain Wentworth, how he treats people, his ethics, morality, etc. Austen's subtle humor and way of poking fun at these values contribute to the tone of this novel.
Give this novel a try. I do not think that you will be disappointed. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Persuasion
Comment: Persuasion is a very good book. It's slower than the contemporary novel, which is to be expected (it is nearly 200 years old, after all). Like all of Austen's other novels, it is of course a social commentary. It's a story of delayed love and patience. It's been called her 'most romantic.' The idea of the old love, Captain Wentworth, coming back after years apart and both parties still being in love IS very romantic, but I disagree with it being her most romantic. It's a very sweet story, and also pretty straightforward. It was a lot of fun to read, and a good story.
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Title: Northanger Abbey (Penguin Classics) by Jane Austen, Marilyn Butler ISBN: 0140434135 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Emma (Modern Library Classics) by Jane Austen ISBN: 0375757422 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 08 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Sense and Sensibility (Modern Library Classics) by Jane Austen, David Gates ISBN: 0375756736 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 09 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Mansfield Park (Modern Library Classics) by Jane Austen, Carol Shields ISBN: 0375757813 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 09 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Margaret Drabble ISBN: 0451526295 Publisher: Signet Book Pub. Date: August, 1996 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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