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    Sense and Sensibility
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    Sense and Sensibility
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    Sense and Sensibility
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Sense and Sensibility

    Written by Jane Austen

    Narrated by Julie Christie

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Listen to audio presented by Literary Affairs: Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

    Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love-and its threatened loss-the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 30, 2003
    ISBN9780786553129
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen was born in 1775 in rural Hampshire, the daughter of an affluent village rector who encouraged her in her artistic pursuits. In novels such as Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma she developed her subtle analysis of contemporary life through depictions of the middle-classes in small towns. Her sharp wit and incisive portraits of ordinary people have given her novels enduring popularity. She died in 1817.

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    Reviews for Sense and Sensibility

    4/5

    150 ratings190 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are two young sisters who fall in love with men who seem suitable to their characters. Elinor is very sensible and Marianne is more of a fun loving sort. But things don't always turn out as they should. Or do they? Jane Austen writes of a society and class where protocol is often strictly followed, where people don't always speak their minds, where people of a certain class are expected to marry someone of their own class, and money is of great importance. So often in this story, we see people depending on money inherited from their family, and expecting to live up to the standards of their class without having to go out and earn a living. This seems to lead to a lot of unhappiness because people end up marrying for money and status. I think people who make their own way in life and marry who they want will often find themselves to be much happier. This book has a lot going for it. Not only is this book a great work of fiction, but it is also a great study of class, money, happiness, and personalities.
    • 3/5
      Finally finished reading this. I don't know if it was because it was my first read on a Kindle or not. But it took me a while to get into this book, it may even be that it isn't my usual genre. I liked it but not one of my favorites. 
    • 4/5
      This was my first Austen, and I enjoyed it a good bit. The three sisters being eerily similar to my sisters and I being a contributing factor. I can see why Austen is so popular. Despite several things which didn’t work for me – the dramatics of how poor the family is (you have servants, you’re not poor!) and the inexplicable attraction Marianne and Colonel Brandon have for one another – I was sucked into the story. The real beauty of the work lies in the pitch-perfect characters – who among us has not had a Lucy Steele in their lives, that wretched cow. I will definitely be searching out more Austen.
    • 5/5
      I've actually already read this book, but I think it's my favorite Jane Austen, so I decided to read it again. Or at least it used to be my favorite. On rereading it, I think Emma or Persuasion might have the edge. But it's still very good. I'm not sure I understood all of Austen's semi-snide comments on human behaviour as a teenager.
    • 5/5
      Re-reading. My reread was inspired by the recent Masterpiece Classic adaptation.
    • 3/5
      I listened to this one simultaneously with Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Although the Sea Monsters version definitely highlighted the satire and humor behind the original book, I think I might have enjoyed this more without wondering how the Sea Monster version would change things up. Not my favorite Austen novel, but still enjoyable - a good classic.
    • 4/5
      This was the first Jane Austen book I ever read, and I was really surprised by how much I liked it. It definitely had a dated sense to it, but it was a portrayal of that era, and it was a spectacular portrayal at that. And considering its age, I found it remarkably easy to identify with. There were plot twists I didn't see coming, thoughts and actions I sympathized with, decisions I yelled at the characters for. It was wonderful, plain and simple. Two thumbs up.
    • 5/5
      A romantic story. I love my sisters, but certainly Elinor and Marianne would be fantastic part of the family. Jane Austen shows how often our perceptions are wrong. Her prose style is wonderful. The times and fashions may change but people remain much the same. It is almost sure some of the characters will remind of someone you know. A lesson from this novel is that sometimes is better to wait a little bit for Mr. o Mrs. Right that get Mr. or Mrs. Wrong in a hurry.
    • 3/5
      An interesting story, and I still like Jane Austen... but maybe I like the movies better...
    • 5/5
      It always takes me a while to get "into" her writing, the rhythm of her words, etc. but once I am there, I love it!
    • 5/5
      Re-reading this book just solidified my opinion that it is the best of the Jane Austen novels. I know everyone has their hearts set on Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Darcy, but I believe that her first novel is raw and real and much more relatable. It truly remains as fresh a cautionary tale today as it ever was. The Dashwood sisters learn that the path to love isn't always straight and narrow and sometimes you're heart has to be broken for you to appreciate how whole a heart can be. Filled with memorable characters, witty dialogue, and unforgettable romance, this is a book readers won't soon forget. I really enjoyed discussing the book with my library Jane Austen Book and Film Club, we talked about how societal obligations have changed but the heart has remained the same and then we watched the Masterpiece Theater version. Overall, a must read. And if you haven't watch the 1995 movie version. It's amazing and you won't regret it.
    • 5/5
      Today (May 2, 1965) I have just finished this book an I have much the same feeling of enjoyment I rememer so distinctly feeling in 1954--to my then surprise--after reading Pride and Prejudice. I found Sense and sensibility so deft, so well-done, so believeable, that my admiration is extreme. Of what moment? True, but nevertheless the craft of the author: that she can create such interest with such non-melodramatic effort seems fantastic. Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are sisters, and the book is merely an account of their progress to matrimony. Yet how absorbing it all seems. And the delicious humor! E.g.: "Many were the tears shed by them in their last adieux to a place so much beloved. 'Dear, dear Norland!" said Marianne, as she wandered alone before the house, on the last evening of their being there; 'when shall I cease to regret you? when learn to feel at home elsewhwere? O happy house! could you know what I suffer in now viewing you from this spot, from whence perhaps I may view you no more! and you, ye well-known trees! but you will continue the same. No leaf will decay because we are removed, nor any branch become motionless although we can observe you no longer! No; you will continue the same..."'
    • 4/5
      Much better than Emma. It was really funny and I loved the sisters. All of the characters were much more likeable and I really liked this book.
    • 4/5
      Austen wrote romantic novels and this is one of her best and the first with several to follow. But one may ask, what is the source of Austen's genius on the subject of love? It seems that she was able to develop a comprehensive view of the philosophies of her own time, including the rise of sensibility (Earl of Shaftesbury, Hume and Smith) and develop stories about real people who lived and loved, learned and grew through their experiences. Consider the two Dashwood sisters in Sense and Sensibility. One may contrast Marianne Dashwood, the young, beautiful, passionate, and unreserved romantic. with her older sister Elinor, prudent, pretty, and proper, with all the restraint of feelings of which Marianne had none. Their father dead, the sisters and their mother were about to be displaced from their childhood home of Norland by their half brother John, and his wife, Fanny. John "was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted, and rather selfish, is to be ill-disposed," and Fanny was even worse. He might have allowed the Dashwood sisters to remain at Norland, if only grudgingly, but she was determined to send them packing, especially once Elinor had begun a friendship with her brother Edward.Edward had a bland personality and was practically paralyzed by shyness. While he was not particularly handsome Elinor struck up a somewhat dispassionate friendship with him. Again this was a contrast with her sister who, as the result of a chance meeting, had fallen for the dashing young, handsome and elegant Willoughby. The contrast of the sisters could not be better defined than in their choice of partners. Austen's genius extends to persuade the reader that Elinor's sense of love are truer than than the passionate sensibility of her younger sister. The romantic love of Marianne turns out to be as capable of tearing her heart apart as the Eros described in classical Greek dramas and philosophy. That this is the stuff of myth, one thinks of love at first sight, is felt by the reader, but for Austen it is not true love. It lacks a foundation and is thus unsuccessful. Grace and spirit and manners---the kinds of qualities that attracted Marianne to Willoughby---are wonderful to have, but they are no substitute for the Edward-like attributes of worth and heart and understanding. The love that has these is more likely to hold sway in the long run.
    • 4/5
      An amazing love story
    • 5/5
      I hadn't read much Austen at all since a much-abridged P&P when I was probably in late elementary school. After looking through a book on cover designs for Austen's works I decided I really ought to try her again, and settled on this one first. I enjoyed it immensely, and will certainly be back for me. Some excellent humor and set pieces alongside a very interesting meditation on English "rural elite" society and its strictures.
    • 5/5
      Although not as bright and cheerful throughout the bulk of the novel as Pride & Prejudice, this is just as wonderful a story, especially considering that this was Austen's debut, and began as an epistolary novel when Austen was twenty. If you've never read Austen I would suggest P&P first and this one second. Austen is also very accessible to men. There is no doubt that one day, I will reread this.
    • 1/5
      This book is a character study that is superbly well- written, however I found I was impatient with the extensive descriptions. I also had to reread to capture meaning. I could not finish this book.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book!! This is my fourth Jane Austen novel and it's one of my favorites. I loved the characters, plot and ending. There were twists and turns that I didn't anticipate, as well as laugh out loud moments throughout the book. This is Regency period drama at its best. But then again it's Jane Austen so how could I expect any less? If you loved Pride and Prejudice you will probably love this book too.
    • 3/5
      It was good to find out what really happened in the story, compete with more complicated relationships, different points of view for storytelling, and Willoughby's attempt at vindication at the end. But overall, I liked Emma Thompson's movie better! And thought this was much less heart-felt than Persuasion, my favorite so far.
    • 4/5
      I love the three Dashwood sisters more than I can say, but even though being like Margaret not too long ago, I really understand Marianne's emotional standpoint lately. Elinor, I admire most, and understand the most. This novel defines kind gossip, happy endings, and how to place trust.
    • 4/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed the old english in this book as well as the mindless sort of reading. It was a nice break from reality. No SERIOUS drama. No death, no horror. Just calm romance and romantic entanglements with the occasional broken heart. It was beautifully written however the last few chapters went on a little too long. I also found the run-on speeches of some of the characters to be too drawn out. A bit like reading Shakespearean monologues only without the poetic prose. Overall, though, I liked it and will definitely continue reading Austen's work.
    • 2/5
      I'll be honest. I read "Pride and Prejudice" thrice, I loved it more every time... and none of Austen's books has been even close to as good since then. I love her use of language but her stories are just not engaging my interest. I got interested in S&S on chapter 47 (of 50)...

      A good line:

      ...and Marianne, who had the knack of finding her way in every house to the library, however it might be avoided by the family in general, soon procured herself a book.
    • 5/5
      Read this book in July/August of 2005. Also read it in July/August of 2007. Time to read it again.

      This might be my favorite of Austen's books - yes, even more than Pride & Prejudice.
    • 3/5
      It's terribly difficult to relate to these characters in this day and age. Nevertheless the writing, characterization, color, etc. is all quite lovely, whimsical, fresh and timeless. That marriage is no longer the be-all and end-all of the universe is something that I can be truly thankful for.
    • 4/5
      I very much enjoyed the book but thought the ending was one of those too good to be true endings. I really expected that at least one would get the not so happy ending. Over all though I did enjoy the story. I shall always enjoy a Jane Austen book.
    • 4/5
      Sense and sensibility by Jane Austen was definelty a good read. OK.. till now I have read 4 books by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Emma including this one. But compared to all the three this stands last in my favorites. Reason being, in the other 3 books I found both male and female protagonist quite strong and enchanting equally in their own way, but that was not the case with this book.In Sense and sensibility, I found there was more importance given to the female characters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood which made the male characters unappealing. But considering the fact that Austen had actually named this one as “Elinor and Marianne” before changing the title to "Sense and sensibility” the importance is quite justifiable too.

      My favorite character in this book was Elinor she was a very strong willed women. Neither she showed off her weakness to anyone nor her happiness and both are very difficult emotions to hide with indifference which she hid it pretty nicely without giving any sign to anyone around, which appealed to me the most. Where as her sister Marianne though she was sweet and caring towards her sister and outspoken too at times yet emotionally she seemed very hasty and weak. The difference between these two sisters is portrayed beautifully.

      Actually the best part of Austen’s books are the characters’ that she creates and their characterization. To begin with, there will be a lot of them and they all will be specifically very different from each other in every sense. Its almost like meeting all your annoying, artificial (fake) and genuine relatives at once in just one book! And the ending of course, which till the very end seems to be very sad and melancholic but in turn, turns to be a "happy one"!!!!! Which I love the most in Austens' novels!!
    • 5/5
      I've actually already read this book, but I think it's my favorite Jane Austen, so I decided to read it again. Or at least it used to be my favorite. On rereading it, I think Emma or Persuasion might have the edge. But it's still very good. I'm not sure I understood all of Austen's semi-snide comments on human behaviour as a teenager.
    • 3/5
      Jane Austen is certainly an acquired taste. I typically wake away from her novels feeling like the story was good - and it sticks with me for while - but the proper prose of Austen's writing makes her novels somewhat difficult to get through. As always, Austen has a good story to tell - Elinor and Marianne are two sisters who experiences in love mirror each other, even if they come to different conclusions. The ups and downs of these sisters' lives, and the vivid characterizations of the secondary characters (I particularly like their brother John Dashwood) makes this novel well worth the effort.
    • 3/5
      Good, but not may favorite by Austin