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    Sense & Sensibility
    Sense & Sensibility
    Sense & Sensibility
    Audiobook8 hours

    Sense & Sensibility

    Written by Joanna Trollope

    Narrated by Rachael Stirling

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Joanna Trollope’s much-anticipated contemporary reworking of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility will launch The Austen Project and be one of the most talked about books of 2013.

    ‘It’s hugely exciting to attempt the reworking of one of the best novels written by one of our greatest novelists. This is a project which requires consummate respect above all else; not an emulation, but a tribute.’ Joanna Trollope

    The Austen Project is a major new series of six novels teaming up authors of global literary significance with Jane Austen’s six complete works.

    The pairing of Joanna Trollope and Jane Austen received global coverage, from the NEW YORK TIMES to the TIMES OF INDIA. The Austen Project continues with Val McDermid’s reworking of Northanger Abbey in Spring 2014 and Curtis Sittenfeld’s Pride and Prejudice in Autumn 2014.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 24, 2013
    ISBN9780007527335
    Sense & Sensibility
    Author

    Joanna Trollope

    Joanna Trollope is the author of many highly acclaimed and bestselling novels, including The Rector's Wife, Marrying the Mistress, Daughters in Law and City of Friends. She was appointed OBE in 1996, and a trustee of the National Literacy Trust in in 2012. She has chaired the Whitbread and Orange Awards, as well as being a judge of many other literature prizes; she has been part of two DCMS panels on public libraries and is patron of numerous charities, including Meningitis Now, and Chawton House Library. In 2014, she updated Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility as the opening novel in the Austen Project.

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    Reviews for Sense & Sensibility

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    • 1/5
      It is possibly true to say that I was never going to read Joanna Trollope's Sense and Sensibility with a totally clear mind. It annoys me that, rather than encouraging people to read and appreciate the wit, the beautiful prose, of Austen's novels, and to learn of and understand the social mores that existed, and which still influence some prejudices these days, it has been considered appropriate to dumb down the classics to the status of chick lit.

      And dumbing down is certainly what Trollope has done, with this book apparently aimed at viewers of scripted reality shows like Made In Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex. The Dashwood family sneer at a part-time, Devon-based salary of £18k, they think an Alfa Romeo Spyder Mark 4 is a typical engagement gift.

      But these are not the important elements of a book. For me to enjoy a book, it must have a good story, and good characters. Austen had both of these in abundance. Trollope has taken the basic plot, but left out the wit and social commentary that help to make Austen' work a classic, while, to quote The Guradian's John Crace "Joanna Trollope has achieved the near impossible by making every Jane Austen character appear shallow and unlikable".

      Trollope has given more airtime to the characters of "Belle" (Austen's Mrs Dashwood) and Margaret. Perhaps an admirable undertaking, given how little Austen required of them. But perhaps there was reason for that. Austen called upon them only when necessary for the plot; Trollope reels them out unnecessarily several times, but I can see no benefit, they add nothing. Trollope's Margaret's only purpose seems to be to remind us that this is a 'modern' version, by constant references to social media and other modern phenomena.

      Meanwhile, Edward, never a character I could really take to, is here made a complete wishy-washy wimp, with no purpose or aim until his potential in charity work is picked up by Brandon. Austen's Edward made it difficult for me to understand what Elinor saw in him. Trollope's left me totally unable to understand.

      The worst crime, however, is left to Trollope's interpretation of Marianne. Austen's Marianne is a girl who can appear rude, not for the sake of being rude, but to break through the social mores and the hypocrisy of the time in which she lives. She suffers a deep depression, and knows that it is only her own sensibiliy that lead the illness that almost took her life; as she says "had I died, it would have been sef-destruction". In Trollope's novel, Marianne becomes M, a horrible, whiny creature, rude for rudeness sake, with no redeeming features. How anyone could fall in love with M is beyond me. Worse, by making asthma to blame for her near-death, Trollope totally removes the function of depression and self-harm in Marianne's condition. Ultimatlely, M is nothing but a pretty face, an airhead, whereas "the least interesting thing about Marianne is her beauty; what matters are her sense (intelligence), her sensitivity (sensibility) and her brooding intensity"

      If the aim of this book was to demonstrate that Austen is relevant in the modern world, it has failed miserably. Reading this would make people think the exact opposite. But Austen's themes are relevant. Unfortunately, Trollope chose the wrong elements to update, and completely overlooked the key messages.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I love the classics in terms of storylines, but find them very difficult to read as I like modern language styles, so this seemed like a good idea to me, enabling me to in effect read the story but in modern language.Ultimately, however, it just didn't work for me. I agree with other reviewers that Joanna Trollope probably did the best with what she was given to work with, but the issues that faced women in the 19th century just didn't translate to the 21st century. So what if Elinor had to leave her university course to move to Devon. Couldn't she have transferred or found a way round it? There are several such scenarios that just didn't ring true to me, and I also found some of the modern day language quite grating and a bit obvious, such as when Elinor calls one of her sisters 'babe'.It's a bit of frothy fun but too frothy for me I'm afraid.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Actual rating: 2.75Here we go again with quarter stars, for shame Maddie!It is a tall order for anyone to attempt a modernization of a book in publication since the 1800s and beloved by many, many people. This is my favorite Jane Austen book and I'm not even a huge fan of her writing. 'Sense & Sensibility' is my go to film on the days I'm sick or having an out of sorts day. In fact prior to starting this book I watched the 2008 BBC adaptation and found I needed more of the characters than the mini series could offer me this time. Hence finally getting around to starting Joanna Trollope's re-imagining of these much loved characters.As I was watching the film this time I kept wondering why Austen couldn't write her heroines with more backbone, okay what I actually mean is... why can't they be mean back to these terrible people! Of course we get a little of that here and there in Trollope's version and I find I didn't like it as much I as thought I wanted to. Negative attributes of ALL characters are amplified. If you ever thought you couldn't possibly dislike Mrs. Dashwood, here you will find she could almost give Mrs. Bennet a run for her money. Maybe it has been too long since I've the book, but I don't remember her being so selfish and oblivious to Elinor's plight. Marianne is worse, which is bad all around when I consider how much I have, in the past, felt I am like her. Gouge my eyes out the Middletons and Jennings were so meddlesome and down right obnoxious I wanted throw their lot in with Fanny and her mum.If I had been reading this paper format it seems likely I wouldn't have been able to finish it. The narrator, Rachel Stirling, does a fabulous job drawing you no matter your frustrations with the story. I managed to get over some of my 'minor' issues with the book and enjoy the story. It is disappointing that it didn't deviate more from the original source material. I suppose I was hoping more for a sequel-ish vibe than I got. Next time throw in a dash or two of plot-twist and you are gold. I did really enjoy the interactions between Elinor and Colonel Brandon. Fan-fiction anyone?Maybe this is for you if you haven't days before finished watching the original story (or reading the book) before diving into something identical. I still find it worth the time and in the future I will space out my revisits of the story.P.S. Edward Ferrars is incredibly stupid in this story. Am I forgetting something? Is he that dumb in Austen's story?P.P.S. Next in this series is 'Northanger Abbey'. Blahhhhh I have never read the book because I hate the film versions, but I suppose it is time to buckle down and read it as well.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      It could have been worse. There was room for deprovement.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      An updated version of Sense and Sensibility? Jane Austen's works are so iconic and so firmly entrenched in their times that it might be difficult to imagine a successful update that stays true to the original but that is in fact the charge that The Austen Project has given writers: to use the Austen originals as a base but then come up with their own take on the beloved novels. Joanna Trollope is the first of the well-known authors tapped for the project and she takes on a modern tribute to Sense and Sensibility. For those who have read the original inspiration, Trollope's novel follows the plot of Austen's story almost exactly. Sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, with their free-spirited artistic mother and somewhat sullen school-aged younger sister have to leave their home, Norland Park, the estate of their late father's uncle, after their father dies and their half brother John and his grasping wife Fanny move in. They find a suitable cottage on the property of well-meaning, if slightly controlling, relatives and settle in to adjust to their new lives. And as in the original, Elinor is the eminently sensible sister while Marianne is the one who lives in the moment with little thought to a future grounded in reality. Elinor has had to give up her place at school where she's only a year away from qualifying as an architect and she is downcast at the silence she encounters after their move from Fanny's brother, Edward, with whom she is in love. The breathtakingly gorgeous Marianne, meanwhile, tumbles head over heels in love with the equally gorgeous Willoughby, thinking that the good Colonel Brandon is too old for her. And as in the original, her heart is destined to be broken and she is plunged into despair. As Marianne is blindly wallowing in her own unhappiness, Elinor is having to deal with the well-meaning relatives, the staggering selfishness and self-centeredness of her sister-in-law and brother, and face the idea that her beloved Edward is secretly engaged to the odious Lucy Steele, dealing her a blow to the heart she must keep to herself in order to support her sister and mother in their continued neediness and reluctance to live in the real world. The bones of the story are very much what Austen wrote originally so those who are familiar with Austen's tale will encounter no surprises here. Trollope has added the use of modern technology and changed a few circumstances in the novel but not enough to materially change the storyline. And perhaps she should have changed things a bit more since society and what it will tolerate in people has changed so significantly from Austen's time. The type of characters Austen wrote still work in our modern day but some of the circumstances that drive the plot do not. Elinor still represses her own emotions in order to be the rock of reason for her less practically inclined mother. Marianne, still driven primarily by emotion, comes off as significantly more selfish than in the original because society no longer demands that women marry (or live on the sufferance and goodwill of family) so her decline after her humiliating rejection by Willoughby is rather over the top. And that very expanded array of social options for women makes it difficult to hew so closely to Austen's original and still come across as authentically modern. Trollope does a good job translating the emotional realism of Austen's novel to a modern setting; after all, we as emotional beings haven't changed much if at all since Austen's time and Trollope makes that clear in her portrayal of the very different Dashwood sisters, avaricious, social-climbing Fanny, the slyly obnoxious Lucy Steele, and the steel-cored, well-intentioned interference of Sir John Middleton in so many aspects of the Dashwoods' lives. An interesting combination, sometimes jarring, of social attitudes from the 18th century and technology from the 21st, Austen fans will want to read this and see how Elinor and Marianne have changed and stayed the same in their leap to the present.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I'm familiar with many Jane Austen stories, but this is the first time I've successfully read one of her novels. Years ago, surely eight or nine years now, I made a very lackluster attempt to read Mansfield Park, but I gave up within a mere ten pages. My heart just wasn't in it at the time. More so than that of many of her contemporaries, the language Austen uses can be a chore to get through and I struggled to understand what I was reading (and why). The time has come, however, to give Austen another try.Judging by the stories that have survived and remain in our hearts—from Shakespeare to Austen to Dickens to...—there really wasn't much difference in British drama for three hundreds years. Through the quirky interactions of memorable characters, these authors provide entertaining romps through sentimentality with a satirical edge. And yet, I would argue that Austen's stories were more realistic than those of her contemporaries. Certainly, Austen dwelt a bit heavily on the “woes” of the higher class, but the characters' wants and needs transcend status. Unlike many of the two-dimensional characters in the stories of the time, Austen's primary characters are individuals with ever-changing perspectives (secondary characters, not so much). Of course realism from a much more humble point-of-view was just a generation away with authors such as Anne Bronte being born in this era, but clearly Austen had her finger on the pulse of humanity.And yet these stories lack realism. How anyone can be so oblivious is beyond me. Can two people carry on a conversation for so long without realizing they're talking about two very different things? Sure, it's humorous, but it's not believable. So are these stories meant to be believable, or not? Does love ever come so easily in the end? How is it that the destitute daughters of these tales always find the one descent human in the aristocracy? I think that's the magic of Austen and it certainly works well in Sense and Sensibility. These are characters that are human and though their situations may be very different from our own, they are very much like us. Through struggles and the embrace of all that is “good” and “right,” they enter the fairy tale that so many of us envy. These are the stories that capture the heart of the romantic.Sense and Sensibility is double the romance. The characters are engaging. The wit is on point. The story is entertaining. And it's all so clever—there's an excellent word for the work of Jane Austen: clever.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed Trollope's modern twist on Austen's novel quite a lot. It was especially interesting to see which aspects of the plot, characters, setting, and aristocratic world held up over time, and which were a stretch to accommodate. The most successful translations: the bitchy, selfish behavior of the wealthy misers who make everyone's life miserable (namely John and Fanny Dashwood and Mrs. Ferrars); and the ways in which texting,Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook enable the spread of society gossip and humiliation. The less successful: the characters of both Edward Ferrars and William Brandon, who seem unappealingly insubstantial and passive here.I know hardcore Janeites don't like to have their canon messed with, but I thought this was well done, and am looking forward to reading Val McDermid's take on _Northanger Abbey_.
    • 5/5
      Favorite Jane Austen book, hands-down. It brings together not one, but two heart-wrenching romances, and her biting wit and views on Regency society. Half of the story is about how women use their own means to connive and get what they want, at the cost of others’ happiness. The other half is about how giving up happiness can be horrible. Elinor is one of my favorite literature heroines and her ending is one of the happiest I’ve read. I’m not as a huge fan of Marianne (or Willoughby for that matter), but you still feel for her. A classic in the truest sense of the word.
    • 5/5
      I have always loved Sense and Sensibility best out of all of Jane Austen's novels, no doubt partly because it features the three Dashwood sisters (however invisible young Margaret may be), and I am one of three sisters myself. This tale of sensible Elinor and romantic Marianne, whose differing approaches to life and love are tested throughout the book, features the same sort of contest between desire and duty that gives Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre such power. It is a fitting tribute to Austen's powers as a writer, that although Elinor's "sense" is clearly meant to triumph, Marianne's "sensibility" is portrayed with such loving fondness.The story of a family of dependent women, whose fate is entirely in the hands of their male relatives, I have always found Sense and Sensibility to contain some of Austen's sharpest social criticism. The Dashwood women find themselves unwelcome guests in their own home when John Dashwood inherits the estate at Norland, and are only saved from the unpleasantness of the horrible Fanny by the kindness of Mrs. Dashwood's (male) cousin, Sir John Middleton. I have always found it fascinating that while Austen clearly endorses the more passive role that Elinor stakes out for herself, vis-a-vis romance, she simultaneously offers a very pointed critique of the enforced passivity of women, when it comes to economic activities and inheritance law.In the end though, for all its philosophical framework and subtle social commentary, Sense an Sensibility is most successful because Austen understands the complicated relations between women, particularly the bond between sisters.
    • 3/5
      Very likable characters, but I had a hard time getting into the story. This is the first Jane Austin book that I've read. I look forward to reading some of her other books.
    • 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.
    • 5/5
      I've watched the movie / BBC / other video version of all of Jane Austen's books. I'd seen the Emma Thompson version of this and thought it was great. I decided to actually read this. It was great! While the movie was faithful to the overall plot, Austen's novel was significantly different and much fuller. I got a very different impression of Lucy in the novel, who comes across as both smarter, subtle, and yet not educated and a bit more desperate in the novel. The literary conventions are a bit disconcerting and I had to read the first chapter several times to figure out the relationship of the characters to each other. You have to figure out the convention of so many Mrs. Dashwoods. But once understood, I realized there were a number of things that I'd missed completely in the movie -- like the exact family relationship of Edward to Elinor. Edward is the brother of Elinor's half-brother's wife. Got that?
    • 5/5
      Elinor and Marion, two very different sisters need the same thing. A husband. The way they love and support each other along with their mother and other young sister in their worsened circumstances is so beautiful. I love this story!
    • 4/5
      I used to like this, but the last time I reread it, it seemed to me that Austen let the two best characters marry the wrong people, when they should have married each other.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen by far is one classic author that modern readers can still enjoy. This book was perhaps not her best, but still an enjoyable read. You do want o jump in the book and ridicule a few of the characters, but otherwise it is fun to be transported back to past days.If you haven't read Jane I suggest you read Pride and Prejudice, but this book is a fun read also.
    • 5/5
      Thank you to Jim Hart at Bethany House for providing my copy of this classic. I couldn't help but wonder how the classic might have been improved.Historical and cultural details and definitions from England's early 1800s, facts about Austen's life that enhance the storyline, as well as many other notations, conveniently interspersed along the side margins make this an easy-to-use tutorial.I suggest that Homeschoolers, students of all ages and stages would benefit by the read or rereading. As a retired high school English teacher, I would chose this edition to teach.
    • 5/5
      It took me a lot longer to read 'Sense and Sensibility' than it really should have done; I think a lot of the problem stemmed from the fact that I was very familiar with the story already, having seen Ang Lee's masterful adaptation a couple of times. The movie is very close in spirit to the book, which was rather pleasing, and a little unusual.The story itself is a masterpiece, a very cleverly worked study of the habits and affairs of people in nineteenth century England. The writing is scintillating at times, although, as with all classical literature, it requires patience on the part of the reader to become accustomed to the style and the old forms of language.However, upon finishing Austen's tale of love and marriage, I was forced to wonder if there really was nothing more to life back then for a woman but to secure herself a reasonable partner in marriage; and in many cases, it would seem that life ended at twenty. A depressing thought for someone nearing the age of 30!
    • 5/5
      This is my most favorite of Jane Austen's books... The way people used to word themselves - I crave to have been living then just to hear such language. The movie with Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson is my most favorite movie of all times.
    • 5/5
      Ms. Austen tells an engaging tale and illustrates two very different ways of conducting oneself in the society of her time. While Marianne is engaging and not afraid to let the whole world know how she feels about everything, Elinor's story makes the case for observing the mores of the time. Some would say Elinor doesn't fully "feel" her joys and heartaches, but I think the story does a good job of showing just how detrimental to herself Marianne's excesses are. I really liked, however, how kind and loving Elinor is to both her mother and sister. She disagrees with their emotional excesses, but it doesn't separate her from them, or even cause her to blame them for the burdens they require her to shoulder.
    • 4/5
      Pure Austen, this story of two sisters and their different approaches to family, fortune and romance echoes her other works, but also carries a few surprises. Within the very claustrophobic world of Austen’s late 18th-early 19th century upper/middle class English world, we see an absolute universe of character. Instead of traveling elsewhere in her stories, she simply goes deep. In this novel, she analyzes the differences and relative merits of the sensible and the emotional approaches to life, and along the way provides sufficient color, romance, adventure and dry humor to entertain a contemporary reader with an interest in finely drawn characters.
    • 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.
    • 2/5
      I know there were a lot of females to differentiate from, but the absolutely unbearable voices of the Steeles, Mrs Jennings and Fanny made this so hard to want to finish
    • 3/5
      A completely pointless piece of writing.
    • 4/5
      Sense and Sensibility is another classic Jane Austen book about marriage. She traces the courtship of two sisters with all the ups and downs, misunderstandings and risks that accompany giving your heart to another. One sister is restrained and sensible while the other is very emotional and artistic. It is interesting to see how there different personalities influence their way of falling in love.
    • 2/5
      Didn't even realize this wasn't the original when I first downloaded it. I decided to give it a try, anyway. Unfortunately I ended up hating it. The dialogue is clunky and odd and I couldn't get that far into it.
    • 5/5
      Honestly, this may not be Austen's best, but it gave me all the delight I needed, as well as a lot to consider with keeping the balance between raw emotion and overly controlled reason. Plus, no one writes vulgar characters better. Fanny Dashwood, Lucy Steele, and Robert Ferrars are deliciously gross and fun to hate on. Also, I genuinely love Mrs. Jennings.
    • 4/5
      The first time i read this book, i wasn't too crazy about it. But after reading it again a few times it has really grown on me.
    • 5/5
      I am reading all of Joanna Trollope's books that I can find! Her characters in each and every book are so completely appealing --- ageless in many ways although this particular book was a rewriting of Jane Austen's work, Pride and Prejudice---which I was never able to get through! Trollope provides complete escape into families and what happens to them---delightful, every time but it's because of her attention to detail so the you truly know the characters she provides.
    • 5/5
      For some reason, this seems to be the Austen novel I come back to least often: I can't quite think why, because there's a lot of great stuff in it. There are some of Austen's funniest speeches and letters; there's a rather subversive look at Georgian courtship customs and the double standard; there's a romantic plot that gently mocks the conventions of romantic plots. Possibly there's just too much of everything? Certainly, there seem to be an awful lot of comic characters, and some of them don't get very much to do. Still, minor quibbles or not, it's a book I read with great pleasure every few years. Austen is, after all, Austen.
    • 5/5
      I was attracted to this book by the film version starring Emma Thompson. I had watched snippets of it, and found it to be charming, witty, humorous, and very interesting, versus the dull, stilted, talky story I expected. So now it is years later and to break up my usual diet of crime fiction, I read this 400 page novel, one of Austen's seven, over four days. I will read more Jane Austen! What did I like? The prose was beautiful, never boring, though sometimes I got so lost in the words that I lost track of the point. I fully utilized Kindle's "definition" feature, and looked up perhaps five times the usual number, but with pleasure. The characters were very interesting, though saints or sinners with no gray between. And the rich detail about people's behaviors and motivations.....I came away feeling that an hour with Jane Austen and she would have looked into my soul and known me better than I. I enjoyed discovering words no longer in use, as well as expressions used 200 years ago that I had thought were made up by my father's generation, e.g., "blockhead". I noted the sheer enjoyment that was shared when meeting friends and loved ones, and how thoroughly people (for the most part) enjoyed visits, both announced and unexpected, and how much pleasure there was in walks in the countryside. In the end, good triumphs over evil, but there is a minor character, an innocent victim, whose future will not be all roses. Completed 8/18/11, rated 4.5