Sense and Sensibility

  Sense and Sensibility  by Jane Austen

This was a combination of two things I like very much, Daily Lit and Jane Austen.  This was a reread for me.  Despite that I have beautiful copies of all of Austen's works, I rarely take the time to reread books, even when I really want to.  Dailylit.com provides me the opportunity to reread many of the classics without cutting into my normal reading time.  I get a snippet emailed each day.  I generally try to read a chapter at a time and I can usually find the time to squeeze a bit in each day.  It's wonderful that this is one story that I love as much on film as on the page. 

This is the story of Elinor and Marianne Dashwood.  The two grown sisters in the Dashwood family. Their father passed away, leaving them, along with their mother (Mr. Dashwood's second wife) and their younger sister Margaret to find living arrangements they can afford with their small inheritance.  Mr. Dashwood's property is entailed to his son, John.  John, in the movie is slightly more likable than the one in the book.  Austen's idea of John was that he was just as shallow and self-centered as his wife, Fannie. 

The Dashwood women find a home on the estate of Mrs. Dashwood's cousin, Sir John.  Once established in their new surroundings, Elinor and Marianne leave the delightful company of Edward Ferrars, but manage to make the acquaintance of one of the nicest and kindest characters in literature, Colonel Brandon, and, of course, the handsome, charming, morally bankrupt Willoughby. 

I can't do this book justice by discussing it here. All of Austen's work is delightful.  I enjoy every page, every time.   The characters are lovely, the stories so sweet.  It seems strange that such chaste romance can hold up so well today.  I'm imaginative enough to think what I'd like to happen after I turn the last page.  I'm a sucker for good people and certainly for a happy ending.  Austen gives us both, in spades.

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