Sense and Sensibility
I am now reading
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Description
Soon however, Marianne meets a man who measures up to her ideal: Mr. Willoughby, a new neighbor. So swept away by passion is Marianne that her behavior begins to border on the scandalous. Then Willoughby abandons her; meanwhile, Elinor's growing affection for Edward suffers a check when he admits he is secretly engaged to a childhood sweetheart. How each of the sisters reacts to their romantic misfortunes, and the lessons they draw before coming finally to the requisite happy ending forms the heart of the novel. Though Marianne's disregard for social conventions and willingness to consider the world well-lost for love may appeal to modern readers, it is Elinor whom Austen herself most evidently admired; a truly happy marriage, she shows us, exists only where sense and sensibility meet and mix in proper measure.
Discussions
This is a thread for Chapters 1-5 discussion. Please post your questions/comments as a reply to this post so that it's easier for us all to follow.
Hello, just about to pick up S&S. I hope I'm not to far behind. I'm really excited about a Jane Austin book club. From the post's i see, should i read through chapter ten and discuss?
Sorry it took so long to reply, I've been on vacation. Sure, I can check in at least a couple times a week. We could start this week with Chap's 6-10?
Glad I finally got around to checking back - there is someone else here!
I agree about the 'gentleman' aspect, the shock when one is exposed to not be a 'gentleman' and in fact that being 'not a gentleman' is quite a euphemism sometimes for some totally appalling behaviour.
It was a while back that I reread S&S but I'd be happy to pick it up again if you think you would be around to discuss?
Wow, I'm so glad you commented! After I joined awhile back, no one was talking so after checking a back often, I finally gave up. I'd love to discuss the books. S&S is my second fave Austen book after P&P. I agree with your thought on repeating character traits throughout the generations. Basically, people are people no matter the time they live in. The basic struggles, joys and creating a life are the same. As much as I enjoy and am interested in the Austen period, if I really think about it, I would only live there if I was a man! Women were too powerless unless they wanted to plot and plan. Of course, if I had been born then, it would all seem normal and natural...like being independant and self sustaining. And I'm always amused how if a man is a 'gentleman', why then he *must* be honest and good.
Sense and Sensibility is one of the best novels by Jane Austen. The first few chapters explain how vulnerable a woman's situation was back then.
Hi,
How have you found the first 5 chapters?
I'm enjoying the scene setting and the scene with the devious daughter-in-law talking her husband around to what his father meant by supporting his sisters; I love the way she argues firstly that they have enough money to live on and then that as they have so little means they won't need any more money because they don't have a lavish lifestyle to support. It's a rather lovely contrast when another relative then pops up with the offer of the cottage showing how much family connections can make or break a lifestyle in this day and age. The men so far seem quite bland and in the background, Edward certainly isn't painted as a sure suitor for Elinor and she is quite reticent in her desire or otherwise for him. I think I definitely identify more with her than Marianne who is quite flighty (though quite lovely in that regard, it does reflect her youth and idealism which is nice, she hasn't been ground down by life). I always wonder with characters (or people indeed) who are like that how far that is enabled by having a steadying force elsewhere who will take the tough decisions, whereas Elinor is rather forced into practicality by having a flighty sister and in some ways mother too! I do enjoy it when you can see character traits through the generations which I think is often the case in Austen; it lends such realism.
Hi! I'm new and was wondering how this book club works, and where is everyone in the book? Do you read one book a month?
I've been an Austen fan since I was in 7th grade and I am glad I finally found a Jane Austen book club!
Hi, I joined a month or so ago and tried to get it moving again, there is a thread below which was supposed to be for Chapter 1-5 discussion, but only one person has responded to my comments. If you would like to catch me up and comment I'd be happy to read along and discuss with you, maybe we can pick up some more readers along the way!
I'm new to this site so I'm not sure how it all works yet but it doesn't seem like many of these book clubs are like real book clubs. This one included. Is anyone actually going to read and post here? There are still posts from a year ago on this page and it looks like Sense and Sensibility was started a year ago.. I'd love to have a real discussion about the book as we read it. If anyone is up for that, post a response here and we can really start this thing.
I haven't read Sense and Sensibility yet so I would love to read it with some extra insight from anyone else in this club.
fab, so glad others are going to join in and I think the 5 chapters a week idea is great! I look forward to catching up with you soon!
Thanks for getting the ball rolling Lollydaydream! I hadn't even checked this site in so long out of frustration but I got an email notice that someone commented on my post so I think that's the trick to getting this thing started now that I see there are others like me that actually want to discuss this work and not just review it. That's great!
Because people read at their own pace and have busy lives and everything, I think we should aim for 5 chapters a week. The chapters are pretty short so that's about 18 pages the first week.. You can read ahead if you want to, and as you read you can post questions and answers to others' questions.
I haven't started S&S yet, so I'm going to now, and it's January 13th, hey Friday the 13th! creepy! haha.. Anyway, post away any questions/comments this week, and then we'll start commenting on the next 5 chapters between Jan 22-28, we'll start on Sundays and give ourselves an extra couple of days this week to get things going.
If this pace is too fast or too slow for anyone, let us know and we can adjust it. I will definitely try answering those questions Lolly once I get far enough through the book. Great questions though! Can't wait to know enough about the book to understand them :) .. I refuse to watch the movie until I've read the book!
Hoping we're all on board for this!
-Shannon
Hi it seems there are 4 of us who have posted in the last month wondering if this group is live so I would like to suggest some questions for discussion and propose a date to discuss (or start discussing) I apologise if I am stepping on anyone's toes by doing this but I think an online group is a fab idea and would love to discuss with someone!
- Fanny Dashwood: is her obsession with money understandable, or is her self-centeredness appalling?
- Col. Brandon: If you read the book before seeing the film, did he strike you as a sexy hero, or were you more of Marianne's persuasion?
- Does Edward ever reach hero status in your eyes?
- Do you relate more with Elinor or Marianne?
(I have shamelessly lifted these from the web)
please reply and let me know how many would like to do this - I would suggest starting discussions on the 25th Jan, to pick a date at random.
L
Hello, I just joined tonight. I am just recently retired and would love to read something I enjoy. I love Period Pieces. I am also like you I really don't know how this works. I was looking for a face to face club. But
I am gamed to try this.
Modinefriar
I also am starting Sense and Sensibility and would really be interested in discussing as I go along
Hey Susan, sorry I didn't see this sooner, if you're still up for discussing it, there are a few of us that are on board I believe, so just read the thread above where I lay out the details and hopefully we'll get it going this week!
I just joined this group. I am not sure it works, how many chapters we read and when. Can anyone help me please?
Hey mim23, I was giving up on this site but I got a comment on my post above that sent me an email and then I realized how many others wanted to do this too! I hope we can all read through it together and discuss it as we go. I commented on the post above explaining how I think we should go about reading it, let me know if you want to change anything!
