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Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Classics! The old ones! They're always really tough to review; always so different style of writing than what I'm used to. This was no different. I liked the narration despite it being heavy with complex and long (which make you lose track really) sentences and outdated phrases like "they all looked their assent" (which means they all acknowledged), etc.
The plot will put Indian daily soaps to shame. So many twists and turns; so many WTH moments! The thing I didn't like though is the story was too simple (some pearls of wisdom were there) compared to today's stories, but it should be expected though I guess. What disappointed me the most was the typical happy ending. It just broke my heart, but hey, who am I to judge? These book are what they are. Some love them, some not so much!
All the classics I've read till date, especially before 20th century have simple story but profound prose, which to be frank can get repetitive and boring. If taken in an alternate sense though, it can be melancholic and enlightening (which I felt reading Dostoevsky but couldn't feel while reading Austen). Following are some points I felt necessary to note down while reading:
1. When and what do these people (especially women) do for day to day work? They're always having tea or chit-chatting or going for walks. They always get time to go and visit someone.
2. People give way too much importance to inheritance, money and hence, dowry while discussing marriages.
3. Austen tends to explain her characters where she needn't. Why one did, what he/she did; nothing is left for reader's imagination.
4. However passionate may the argument or dialog between people be, in that era, people always used civil language; how sad!
5. Old classics, this book included, use long sentences, consisting a lot of commas and semicolons. It makes one lose track of the sentence.
6. Both the instances of "friend-zoning" in this book are actually opposite compared to today's general scenario; men friend-zone ladies here, hence, reverse friend-zoning.
7. There were some creepy customs in 18th-19th century England, like exchanging lock of hairs as a symbol of love. Downright creepy!
So, that's all! Though I didn't love this book, it was definitely a very interesting read.
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