My Jane Austen Opinions

September 04, 2021

Hello! A little while ago, I talked about making a post with my Jane Austen opinions, so I'm going to be doing that. So, today I'm going to be talking about each of the Jane Austen books that I've read, in the order that I've read them in, accompanied with GIFs from the movies/miniseries.

Sense and Sensibility

This was the first Jane Austen book that I read, and I really liked it. I like both Elinor is a great heroine, and I like her a lot, and Marianne is fantastic, too. I love the contrast between them, and the end message [ie. both extremes can be bad and harmful]. Edward is a sweetheart and Colonel Brandon is amazing, too. The story wasn't my favorite of Jane Austen's books, but I did like it, and thought it was good.

Pride and Prejudice

I actually knew the story of Pride and Prejudice because I [gasp] watched the movie before reading the book. My mom has been watching the BBC version since I was way too young to know what the movie was about [I vaguely remember seeing bits and pieces and then getting confused, XD].

This one may have been my favorite. Or maybe it's my second favorite. It's definitely up there. It's smart and witty with great characters. I really love Lizzie. I think she might be my favorite Austen heroine. And Mr. Darcy is great, too. Actually, all of the characters are great. And the banter is just the best! Overall, I adore it. What else can I say?

Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park wasn't my favorite. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I didn't like it, I just didn't love it. I do like Fanny, though. She's a sweetheart and a great character, and she DEFINITELY deserved better than Edmund [he's not awful, he's just not great]. This book is kind of depressing, which I don't mind in a book [what can I say, I love getting my heart ripped out], but it has a happy ending, and it has some other happy moments. Again, the more depressing part doesn't bother me, I'm just pointing that out in case it would make you enjoy it less.

Emma

This is me. All the time, and about everything.

Emma is amazing, and I adore it. I like Emma as a character [I know she's kind of unlikable, but I think that's part of why I like her], and some of the other characters, too [Mr. Knightley, for one. And Harriet is sweet, so I like her, too]. The story is also just really funny and entertaining, and I liked it a lot. It's fun, the romance is pretty good [though I still like Elizabeth and Darcy's better], and I highly recommend it.

Also, if we didn't have Emma, we wouldn't have Clueless, which would be a tragedy, because Clueless is amazing.

Northanger Abbey

I liked this one a lot more than I was expecting to. Not that I was expecting to dislike it, I just wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. It's highly witty and INCREDIBLY entertaining, just all of Jane Austen's novels [this one was a parody of Gothic novels, which I think made it even more entertaining]. Catherine is a very entertaining heroine, and I like her. I really liked Henry, too. Overall, this one was just fun.

Persuasion

So, I liked Persuasion a lot. I thought that the writing was really pretty, Anne Elliott is a very nice heroine, and the story is really good. It wasn't my favorite of Jane Austen's books, but I did like it, and I thought that it was really good. I don't know what else I can say about it? I liked it a lot. It's just not my very favorite.

I think this is how I would rate them, just by my personal enjoyment [going from my least favorite to my favorite].

#6: Mansfield Park

#5: Persuasion

#4: Sense and Sensibility

#3: Northanger Abbey

#2: Emma

#1: Pride and Prejudice

So, those are my Jane Austen opinions. Which book is your favorite? And which is your least favorite? Which movie/miniseries adaptations would you recommend to me [I've seen the BBC Pride and Prejudice, the '90s Sense and Sensibility, and the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma]?

Comments

QuinleySeptember 5, 2021 at 7:51 AM
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QuinleySeptember 5, 2021 at 7:52 AM
I haven't read many of Jane Austen's novels, the only one I've read so far is Northanger Abbey , which I liked for the same reason you did, because it was a parody of Gothic novels. :)

I really enjoyed reading your post,
-Quinley
P.S. Sorry about posting this twice, I had to fix a spelling error.
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Skye HoffertSeptember 9, 2021 at 5:35 PM
I haven't read all of these but I think your rating is perfect. I love Pride & Prejudice and Emma.
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ElizabethSeptember 13, 2021 at 12:07 PM
I think you ranked these books the same way I did in my head lol.
I wasn't the hugest fan of Persuasion but I firmly decided that I loved Anne the moment she was cleaning the blood off her unconscious cousins face and was like 'Guess Captain Wentworth will have to rethink the I like a girl that knows what she wants and doesn't let anyone stop her thing'
And I also died laughing over the ridiculous set-up of him writing the letter. I don't care anything about the letter, but the fact that he frantically wrote a proposal where he was admitting that he was still head over heels for her and he was telling her this because he was overhearing a conversation she had where a guy was like 'but guys have it so much worse though' and he pretended that he was writing a business letter. I just, I can't, it was too much hilarity for me and I desperately need a version of Persuasion that taps into the absolutely ridiculousness of the humour Emma 2020 style. The untapped gold-mine of humour of this book in adaptations that take themselves way too seriously in their drab clothes is sad and uncalled for.
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lissaSeptember 17, 2021 at 6:45 AM
Sense and Sensibility is not my favorite read, although I think the movie and mini-series is better than the book. I also like the contrast between the sisters, Edward is okay and I have recently, due to a re-read, found Colonel Brandon to be a more likable character than when I first read the book.

Pride and Prejudice - Lizzie is great but I often think she's a too judgmental but perhaps I've seen the movie one too many times. I like the version with Keira Knightly as Lizzie and Matthew Macfadyen which I think makes a perfect Mr. Darcy, I didn't like the BBC version.

I didn't even finish reading Mansfield Park, I find it a bit boring. I actually saw a movie version of it first before trying to read the book. But I agreed with you that Fanny deserves someone better than Edmund - I've always felt Fanny was Edmund's second choice.

I didn't really like Emma as a character - I guess in a way she was kind of spoiled but at least there was Mr. Knightley to straighten her out. I've never thought Harriet as sweet, just naive and a bit too assuming, like when she assumes a certain a man likes her just because Emma said so. I did saw Clueless, it was enjoyable but I didn't know it was an Emma retelling until later.

Northanger Abbey was a fun read although I think I prefer the movie more. Henry seems so much more delightful in the movie.

Persuasion is my favorite Austen book, although now that I think about, I'm starting to think Pride and Prejudice may be my favorite because I really like the banter between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy. In Persuasion, the two leads spends so much trying to ignore each other so maybe, yeah, Pride and Prejudice is more of a fun read.

Sorry if my comment is a bit long. Have a lovely day.
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