Persuasion

I love the message this book has to convey. To think of the power of persuasion that family and society in general had over peoples' lives in Auesten's time is something hard for us to understand today. The book seems to suggest that Anne overcomes persuastion but I can also see in it a transition from society persuading her to her persuading society. In the end the tables are indeed turned so...more

I love the message this book has to convey. To think of the power of persuasion that family and society in general had over peoples' lives in Auesten's time is something hard for us to understand today. The book seems to suggest that Anne overcomes persuastion but I can also see in it a transition from society persuading her to her persuading society. In the end the tables are indeed turned so that the pressure exerted over he by society in the beginning is better called disuasion.   hide

This isn't the edition I actually own, but it's still Persuasion - one of my favourite novels and certainly my favourite Jane Austen novel. And if you're interested in a film adaptation that (okay, imho) rates up there with the novel, the BBC production with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds is great.

This is my personal fav.. the best quotes (I think) are in Chapter 23: "We certainly do not forget you as soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us..." "..All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one; you need not covet it), is that of loving...more

This is my personal fav.. the best quotes (I think) are in Chapter 23: "We certainly do not forget you as soon as you forget us. It is, perhaps, our fate rather than our merit. We cannot help ourselves. We live at home, quiet, confined, and our feelings prey upon us..." "..All the privilege I claim for my own sex (it is not a very enviable one; you need not covet it), is that of loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone"   hide

This book is much more believable than many of Austen's other books. The story of Anne and Wentworth is a touching one, and it seems the most human of Austen's books. You really get a sense that Austen is older and more mature in this book.