Rating: 
Summary: A really nice story but Austen seemed to drag on a bit...
Review: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY is a story about two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who are as different as night and day. Elinor represents "sense" - thoughtful, considerate and calm, while Marianne is "sensibility": wild, emotional, and talented. The story opens with the death of Old Mr. Dashwood, who leaves his estate to his nephew Mr. Dashwood (the father of Elinor and Marianne). Mr. Dashwood is about to die as well; he passes the estate to his son by his first wife, John Dashwood. Unfortunately, he has nothing of value to leave his second wife and their three daughters (Elinor, 19-years-old; Marianne, 17; and Margaret, 13), though he does manage to get John Dashwood to promise to look after them. But John Dashwood's selfish wife, Fanny, convinces him to give very little. And so, Mrs. Dashwood moves them to Barton, where they live humbly in a cottage on her distant cousin, Sir John Middleton's, land.Before their move, Elinor had met and fallen in love with Fanny's younger brother Edward Ferrars. But Fanny and Mrs. Ferrars are much too snobby to let their relationship prevail. When they moved to the countryside, the two are further separated. Meanwhile, Marianne's romances are just blossoming in Barton. She gains the admiration of Colonel Brandon, but she prefers young, dashing Willoughby, who helps her home one day when she fell and twisted her ankle. This however proves disastrous, as Willoughby abandons Marianne for wealthy Miss Sophia Grey after a long, intimate friendship. Elinor is also suffering from love-loss. She discovers that Edward had been engaged for four years to Miss Lucy Steele, a distant relative of Mrs. Jennings (Sir John Middleton's mother-in-law). At this point, "sense" and "sensibility" seem to coincide and we learn that we must have both "sense" and "sensibility" in a balanced, corroborated manner to have a truly blissful life. The story is very interesting and entertaining, though Austen tended to drone a lot between events. In my opinion, she spent too much time trying to convey Elinor's judgement during parties and other social gatherings (which was wayyyy too often). On the whole, this was a wonderful book, full of fun and surprises (especially at the end!). I highly recommend this book to people at or above the age of 14 (which is how old I am, and I'm telling you it was a bit of a stretch for me - or maybe it was just that I was a little impatient to get my AR reading points). My only advice is have patience, prepare for a lot of rereading (things can get kinda confusing - there were a little too many characters for my comfort), and to watch the movie (fabulous!) afterward. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Sense and Sensibility
Review: Sense and Sensibility is an excellent book. When I started it I really did not know what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. I will say though that this book is hard to get through at times, due to the old language used. But if you stay with the book, it will be worth it. The characters are wonderful, and you will find yourself wanting them to be happy. The Dashwood family gives a "girl power" message that makes it even easier to enjoy. Also, this book is easy to relate to, for everyone has known a Maryanne or Elinor before, maybe you are like one of them. I could identify with Maryanne, because I am involved in everything (and love it all) and I know I share my feelings too much. Although this book will be enjoyed more by young females, anyone would like it, for it also has a lot of humor in it used to display the dramatic situations the Dashwood sisters keep finding themselves in. The book became even more enjoyable when I saw the movie, seeing this amazing book acted out was great. I believe all of Jane Austen's books are worth reading, this one especially!
Rating: 
Summary: Good
Review: The only thing I didn't like was that Marianne ended up getting married with the one she married. But I loved it, it was the first Jane Austen's book I read and she's my favorite author until now.
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