Persuasion by Jane Austen

I participated in a read along for Persuasion. This is the book that my copy of Persuasion is in. I have to admit it was a bit difficult reading in an anthology. All of Jane Austen's books are in this book. The text is single-spaced and tiny! My bi-focals had a hard time with this!

Amber at SEASONS OF HUMILITY hosted this read along for 3 weeks.

Monday thru Thursday we would read 2 chapters each day and then post a quote to ponder and then answer a question that Amber posed. On Fridays we would discuss THE PRAYERS OF JANE AUSTEN:

This is a collection of 3 prayers that are beautiful and reverent. Each week during the read along one of these books was given away. I won one!! Can't wait to get it. I love the pictures in it and like I said, the prayers are beautiful. Check out my review HERE.

One of my favorite things that we did during the read along was to have a watch along! I have to admit that my Twitter skills are pretty limited, but it was fun to watch the movie with a group of ladies and see all of the quotes flying and the observations that everyone had. We watched the 1995 version of Persuasion and I have to admit that I think we all liked it but thought it was a bit choppy. I'm currently watching my 1971 BBC version which is a much longer version and (dare I say) a bit boring.

1995

1971





                                   



 

                                                                                                                                             
Over the years I have read all of Jane Austen's books except for Lady Susan. I've always maintained that my favorite of all time is Pride and Prejudice. But I think that each Austen book has it's merits. I enjoyed being a part of the read-along because it helped to focus my attention on the story and analyze the behavior of the characters and also their feelings. I've always found Jane's wit and sarcasm to greatly amuse me and Persuasion supplied many moments of hilarity with the antics of Sir Walter. His self-centered behavior and observations of others' attire and looks totally had me rolling with laughter. Anne's sisters were too much to be tolerated! Mary with her imagined illnesses and Elizabeth with her over-inflated pride had me gritting my teeth and rolling my eyes on more than one occasion. Their treatment of Anne had me wanting to reach through the pages and give them a piece of my mind. I loved the Crofts and their delight in each other and in life. I loved reading how Anne's character developed through the story. How she went from a meek girl content to be in a corner to a more independent and self-assured woman. I'm glad she stopped being led around by others and listened to her heart once she saw that Wentworth still had feelings for her. Ahhhh, Wentworth! Can we say that that letter was AMAZING?! I think there was a contented sigh as we all watched the movie together and I know there was a sigh when I read it in the book. Jane definitely was an observer of human behavior which is seen in each of her stories. It is no wonder that her stories have lasted through the ages.

I hope we do another read along. Discussing books is one of my favorite things to do, especially if we are all reading the same thing at the same time.