Editorial Review

Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up? ... Read more

Reviews (728)

Wry & Insightful Romantic Writing
Considering 'pulp romance' is the top selling genre, one could do a lot worse than Pride & Prejudice. This perceptive classic of English society plays out like a 19th century "Sex In The City."Miscommunications abound. Just as you're about to scream, another dangle of hope transpires. Will the young lovers EVER end up on the same page?I'm not telling you if you've missed this classic.You'll have to read it.

girly chick lit
god forbid i be so bold as to trash a classic.and yes, maybe because of all the raving reviews from my friends and from the book's great reputation, i entered it with high expectations. - which the book however did not satisfy.yes, it is a good comedic parody of the upper class of the time, a lampoon of the courtship ritual, and of course oh so witty, blah blah blah, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.the main character was likeable, but that aside, i found it completely insufferable to read through, and absolutely painfully boring.every subsequent event from the very beginning could be predicted, let alone the ending.not that anything really ever happens - the entire book could be summed up with, "then they walked and talked and had tea and walked and talked and had tea, walked and talked and had more tea, then got married and lived happily ever after."the entire novel was a headache of girly gossip and mental drama.it would save more time just to watch a chick flick.so if you're interested in the relationship fiascos of fictious characters, witnessing the agony over who's going to marry who (even though the reader could already predict the happily-ever-after match-making light-years in advance), then this is the book for you!!if not, then i suggest picking up some dan brown.

A True Classic
There is no other story told and re-told as much as P&P.This book transcends many generations with a true and tested story.The characters and story line are so similiar to this day and age.Austen's poetic writing gives readers a sense of the social times as well as insight to each character's thoughts.I read this book every year and see all the movies based on it.Love it, love it, love it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. 19th century fiction    5. Fiction / Classics   

Editorial Review

Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey. ... Read more

Reviews (100)

"Pesuasion" Can Refer To The Heart As Well As The Head
Those who read PERSUASION by Jane Austen tend to view it as a book primarily concerned with marriage in the typical Austen romantic comedy sense of young ladies seeking to marry upward and young men also seeking partners--but not necessarily to each other.While much of Austen's novel deals with precisely that, to view this solitary strand of thought as Austen's most telling point is surely to miss that point totally.In PERSUASION, Austen took her earlier PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and sought to show that her view on how single women relate to their families, their friends, their proposed husbands and to society at large underwent a significant change from the latter to the former.
If only she had lived and written more like this one!
Jane Austen's *Persuasion* was her last book before she suddenly, unfairly died, and it is profoundly different than her earlier works.
A Good Summer Read
I have read all of Austen's novels except Northanger Abbey, and I found this one to be in the top three, along with EMMA and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (my personal favorite).This book is very unique compared to her other masterpieces.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics   

Reviews (36)

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
"Vivien Jones,in her new introduction to this Penguin Classics edition ... describes Pride and Prejudice as 'One of the most perfect, most pleasurable and most subtle' ... - of romantic love stories"
My Favorite Book of All Time
I read this book about once a year.It has the wonderful dialogue and character development.AND it's funny!A must read for any self-respecting bookworm!

I loved it
As a high school student I was not sure I would like this book at all. This book was an easy read because of how well it was written and how much the story grabs on to you. Ever since reading this book I have gone on to read all of Jane Austen's book and found that they were equally as good. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Austen, Jane, 1775-1817    2. Classics    3. Courtship    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - General    6. General    7. Literary    8. Literature: Classics    9. Prejudices    10. Social classes    11. Young women    12. 19th century fiction    13. Classic fiction    14. Fiction / Classics   

Editorial Review

Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, themost infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing.Read more

Reviews (180)

A Wonderful Novel
Siri Amster- Olszewski
EMMA: A Novel Of Growing Self-Awareness
In the constricted world of Jane Austen's EMMA, there is a general lack of a sense that anything exists beyond that which Emma can see or Austen can relate.Emma, her family, and friends live either in the small town of Hartfield or its equally miniscule environs. The action of the novel is more or less coterminous with the very real events of the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, or even just some whooping and hollering of some village bad boys.This smallness of space is matched by a smallness of psychological depth. Austen tacitly assumes that good is ubiquitous, and where good seems to be lacking, its normal contrary is not evil at all. Those who show a deficiency of good either are merely mischievous or are incapable of doing no more than sputtering about their evil. Further, those who sputter do so in isolation and do not seriously disrupt the social order. They are neither punished nor remorseful.In the interactions among the characters, Austen in EMMA makes a marked change in the basic makeup of her cast. In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, for example, she shows only the landed gentry.But here, Austen presents a definite variation in character.It is this wider cast of type that allows Austen to play the magician and make the reader think that Austen's world is bigger than it is.And at the center of this static world is Emma herself, who, in the canon of Austen, is the heroine only in the broadest sense of the word.
Satisfying Romance
This book was a pretty funny societal review from Jane Austen's point of view, pointing out the hypocrisies of London at the time but not failing to do justice to the integretity of the characters. I loved the book...what more can I say? It's definitely geared towards females, obviously, but anyone can read it for lighthearted, enjoyable reading. It isn't that long of a book, and, after all, its a classic. So read it as soon as possible! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics    5. Literature: Texts   

Reviews (4)

The Best Classic Ever Written!!!
After reading this book, my eyes have been opened to not only outward character but inner personality. Truly no other book has ever acheived international acclaim for so long. The reason is clear one of Jane Austen's best works, Pride and Prejudice has proven to contain the finest of elements which only contibutes to it's immortal relation of what happened during her days. Finally we have found a woman Shakespeare!!!
Delectable!!!
I only recently read this novel for the very first time after seeing a terrific film adaptation of it earlier this year. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is Jane Austen's classic novel about five sisters and their mother's efforts to find husbands for them.
"The business of her life was to get her daughters married"
Classical novel, written by Jane Austen, was very entertaining and funny when reading it. Its about a mother trying to get her daughters married to rich, handsome men, such as a man named Darcy. He is stuck-up, yet handsome and he he knows what he's worth. This novel leave you satisfied! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Courtship    3. Fiction    4. General    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Social classes    8. Young women    9. Classic fiction    10. Fiction / Classics    11. Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C   

Reviews (6)

A Beautiful Classic
Persuasion is one of my favorite books -- and probably my favorite Austen, though I go back and forth between this and Pride and Prejudice.P&P is more sparkling and witty; Persuasion feels more mature.Definitely a book to read over and over.And the letter from Captain Wentworth to Anne(you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there!) is the best-written letter in fiction.Read it!You won't be disappointed.

A very lovely novel
Jane Austen's last completed novel, which was published posthumously was Persuasion and the story starts with Anne Elliot, an upper-class girl at the age of 19, falling in love with Captain Frederick Wentworth. They get engaged but her mother's great friend and her own trusted friend, the widow Lady Russell, persuased Anne to break the engagement with him. The reason for this is, that the young officer possesses no connections to the upper-class and is therefor not worth to be with Anne according to Lady Russel.
" I am half agony, half hope . . ."
PERSUASION, the last novel that Jane Austen completed before her death in 1818, tells the story of one Anne Elliot, the second daughter of a baronet who has spent his waythrough his fortune and has nothing but his title to lean on.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literary    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Literature: Classics    6. Motherless families    7. Rejection (Psychology)    8. Ship captains    9. Young women    10. 19th century fiction    11. Classic fiction    12. Fiction / Classics   

Reviews (4)

The Best Austen, and Perhaps Simply the Best Novel
One of the major sources of contention and strife in my marriage is the disagreement between my wife and me over what is the best Jane Austen novel (yes, we are both more than a bit geekish in our love of words and literature--our second biggest ongoing quarrel is about the merits of the serial comma).
On Reading Persuasion
At the end of the day, Persuasion is worth reading because it offers a simple hope for how we can live together. Unlike, say Pride and Prejudice, where in the end the characters more collide than marry, the orbits of protagonists Anne and Captain Wentworth eventually come to revolve around each other.
"I have loved none but you."
When Anne Elliot was nineteen she fell in love with Frederick Wentworth, a likeable and decent young man but one without money, position or family connections. A trusted family friend and substitute mother figure, Lady Russell, advised Anne to break off her engagement to Frederick as she felt it would be unwise for Anne to align herself to someone of his less-than-favorable means. Hurt by the rejection, Frederick joined the Navy and now, eight years later, he is Captain Frederick Wentworth, a highly respected naval officer with a large fortune amassed during his years at sea.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literary    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Motherless families    6. Problem families    7. Rejection (Psychology)    8. 19th century fiction    9. Classic fiction    10. Fiction / Classics    11. Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C   

Reviews (17)

A Classic Debut Novel from Austen!
Being a fan of Jane Austen but never having read Sense and Sensibility, I approached this novel both nervously and excitedly.Reading any work by Austen is a delight, but I was worried this one wouldn't be as good as some of the others I'd read.However, I slipped into the language and time period effortlessly as I was introduced to the Miss Dashwoods and their plights of love and friendship.This debut novel by Austen is light, witty, and charming, and a complete joy from beginning to end.
Jane Austen's First Look at English Society
Most people who have read Jane Austen will have read Pride and Prejudice.With a title like Sense and Sensibility, most readers will assume that the two books can be interpreted and enjoyed in the same way.Other than having three word titles that employ alliteration in the first and third words, the two novels are more different than similar.
Nice..
Great book! I saw the film before I read the book, but the book didn't let me down one bit. I love how Jane Austin describes the band between the sisters, and how she talks about how they are in love. The chosen words are beautiful too, but you vocabulary has to be in order to understand this book, so that you don't have to grab a dictionary everytime. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Literature: Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Young women    4. Sisters    5. Classics    6. 19th century fiction    7. Classic fiction    8. Fiction / Classics    9. Fiction    10. Literary    11. Social classes    12. Inheritance and succession   

Editorial Review

Jane Austen famously labeled her literary ambit a "little bit (two inches wide) of ivory." Luckily, her personal travels and those of her family were slightly more extensive, otherwise we should be without her letters. Not only should every Janeite possess them, but also every connoisseur of correspondence. Austen's wit is ubiquitous--even though some protest it edges into waspishness. E. M. Forster, for example, described the letters between Austen and her beloved sister, Cassandra, as "the whinnying of harpies."Read more

Reviews (5)

The Best Source For Austen-ites Ever!
This is the best edition of Austen's letters ever published. It includes recently discovered letters from Jane Austen or about Jane Austen. It also provides details regarding the postmarks on the letters and an index (with description!) of the many people, servants and friends in Austen's life. While this book doesn't provide much cultural context or criticism, serious students of Jane Austen will learn more about Austen's authorial project and her daily life. While we can never know Austen as a person, we can get a sense of her life, her family, and the pressures she faced on an intimate level. It is interesting to find the paralells between Austen's letters and her novels. Astute readers will find that Austen was witty and sarcastic outside of her novels as well. I used this book as a resource in a college class in which we only read Austen's novels, and found her Letters to open up the texts in suprising ways. An excellent tool that should be part of your Austen collection!

A Must Have for the English Regency reference shelf
Primary sources are always the best in understanding the mindset of a period. Here we have a thick collection of Jane Austen's letters, which have been very well annotated by the editor. The contrast between the Memoirs of Harriette Wilson (who lived in the same period, published by the famous courtesan in 1825) are hilarious. Witty but staidly Anglican Jane at one point savagely attacks the very high aristocrats romping their scandalous way through Harriette's world, that "race of Pagets". Jane Austen's letters let us have a glimpses of what daily life in the English gentry and aristocratic class was like in Regency England; seeemingly trivial details such as the buying of Wedgwood china with the personal crest, buying the breakfast set separate to the other china sets (longing to see what a Regency breakfast set looked like! The breakfast set is mentioned in Sense and Sensibility) are actually very difficult to find out about, it is not something historians generally write about. The notes by the editor are fascinating and could lead to further research, for example how did one lord prove his title after being a Dublin potboy? And the gentleman who divorced his wife after the proper lady decided to become a professional actress...usually it was the other way around, the actress became a proper lady! The biographical details added by the editor on various gentry/aristocratic families mentioned in Jane Austen's letters are very tantalising.

A must for all fans
This collection of Jane Austens letters is a must for all fans who would like a peek inside the mind of the author. It is the most extensive collection to date and Le Faye has done quite a lot to make it as accessible as possible. It features all of the surviving letters from Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra plus some letters to some of her brothers, a niece, etc. It also includes three letters from Cassandra to various relatives from the time immediately after Jane Austens death and so also shows Jane Austen from another persons perspective. The only drawback of this book is that all the notes are in the back, arranged by the number of each letter, and so you find yourself flipping back and forth quite a lot but it is an annoyance well worth putting up with. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1775-1817    2. 19th century    3. Austen, Jane,    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Correspondence    6. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    7. Fiction    8. Letters    9. Literary    10. Literary Criticism    11. Mystery & Detective - General    12. Mystery/Suspense    13. Novelists, English    14. Austen, Jane    15. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    16. Biography: general    17. England    18. English    19. Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C    20. Novels, other prose & writers: 19th century   

Features

• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literary    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Romance - General    5. Fiction / Classics    6. Fiction-Literary    7. Fiction-Romance - General   

Reviews (9)

8 Classics in one volume
Of course the reputation of these novels by Jane Austen is well-known. I enjoyed all these classic novels very much.
Love having 8 books in 1...........
I was a little surprised when I first opened the book to see the format used, but it enables the reader to have fewer pages and a more convenient book to handle.I like being able to have all the books together in 1. I enjoy seeing how Jane Austen's writing grows with each of her books. I was especially pleased to read "Lady Susan and Love and Friendship" which I have never read before. All in all, I feel it is a great addition to any library and am please to have it in mine.

all together
I think it is great to have all Jane Austen novels in one copy. It's not heavy to carry and quiet easy to handle. But I think print size gives trouble, the letters are small. There are two colomns in one page and it hurts the eye. On the other hand, it is a good price and cover is also strong. If you would like to have all Jane Austen novels, I think this book makes a good choice. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Literature: Classics    5. 19th century fiction    6. Fiction / Classics   

Features

• Box set

Reviews (20)

Good Box Set, But It'sMissing Some Books!
I think this boxed set collection of Dover Thrift edition Jane Austen books is a good idea, especially if you want to own the books in seperate volumes and not all together in one giant book as in the book the previous reviewer was referring to and as a book collector I like to own each book in their own seperate ediitions but why did they not include Emma, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park in this box set? Hopefully a second Dover Thrift box set will be made for those books!

Not very good value - READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY
This edition isn't such good value - here you only get three of Jane Austen's books. You can get all eight of them for only a few dollars more - take a look at this edition:
A Great Collection!
This is a great collection for a new Jane Austen fan.It showcases some of her best work but the price is right if you're not sure you want to invest in hard cover editions just yet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. General    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. 19th century fiction    6. Literary Collections / General   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (78)

Northanger Abbey: Biting Satire That Works
In NORTHANGER ABBEY, Jane Austen satirizes what for her and her late 18th century readers was the Gothic novel. Even before Ann Radcliffe published the enormously popular MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO in 1794, the novel of sentiment was all the rage.In such stories the heroine was likely to cry, swoon, and moan at the drop of a hat. Radcliffe in her book added the other Gothic ingredients of fear, ghosts, haunted houses, and other paranormal phenomena.Austen looked down on writers who had their heroines engage in such unseemly behavior even though she was later to treat seriously the same trait of sensibility in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.
A Young Austen for Young(hearted) Readers
This first book of Jane Austen's doesn't have the same subtlety as her later works, but it is light-hearted and good writing.It's amazing how skillful she was at writing dialogue, even at a younger age.I mention her youth because it pervades Northanger Abbey; the character are youthful in spirit, and I think that of all her novels, this one might be the most accessible to the modern day younger reader.It was certainly one of my favorites as a teenager (though the pleasure of rereading it hasn't diminished as I've aged).The simple and natural emotions of the main character, Catherine Morland, would seem more real to many of today's teenagers than the repressed spirits seen in so many novels of this period.Catherine is perhaps the least 'civilised' of Austen's leads, in that she does little to conform her behavior to the decorous standard of the day, but she has an exuberance and sweetness that breath life into every scene, and I think this carries the book.Northanger Abbey is a delightful read for all ages and Austen fans, even the most serious.

Not her best, but very good
I was a little wary of reading this book since she was never able to get it published during her lifetime despite trying for many years. I assumed that if she couldn't get it published that it probably wasn't very good. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this book. It is meant to be a satirical work mocking the Gothic romance popular during Jane Austin's lifetime. In such romances, there were fictional monsters and secret corridors and such, and in this book the main character, Catherine, keeps thinking that such things were going to pop up or had popped up, but they never really had. Towards the end, instead of some fantastic mythical monster, a real monster emerges as the culprit behing the pain Catherine experiences: pride in rank.The father of Henry Tilney, whom Catherine has fallen in love with, refuses to allow them to be married because Catherine is of a lower rank and has less money that his family does.Austin vilifies the wealth heriarchy of her day through both Henry's father and through her friend Isabella who tries to do anything that she can to marry someone wealthier than herself, leading Catherine to much pain.
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Subjects:  1. Appreciation    2. Austen, Jane, 1775-1817    3. Books and reading    4. Classics    5. England    6. Fiction    7. Horror tales    8. Literature - Classics / Criticism    9. Young women    10. 19th century fiction    11. Fiction / General    12. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (7)

Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen wrote 'Sense and Sensibility' under the name 'Elinor and Marianne' in a series of letters, between 1795 and 1796.
Great Read
The present novel is about two young women, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. They are part of a family living in Sussex. The family is of average financial means or a bit higher than average but the family loses its home when the father dies; and, the mother and sisters move to a smaller cottage in Devonshire. The novel follows the romances and complications of the two girls. Beyond knowing those facts, you should not read any more about the plot until you read the novel, or you will risk spoiling the read. I will not give away the plot, but will only describe the writing style and structure.
Altogether disappointing after reading the wonderful Pride and Prejudice
I was hoping for another masterpiece when I ordered Sense and Sensibility but, other than the eloquent language, it contains none of the charm of Pride and Prejudice. Not a single character in S&S is likeable, and that I find to be a real travesty. In P&P you have the bold and clever Elizabeth and the mysterious Darcy to adore, and even Jane and Bingley have their charms.... but S&S is a dull read, or at least, as dull and the wonderful Jane Austen could muster. I don't recommend it to a Pride and Prejudice lover. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. General    4. Inheritance and succession    5. Literary    6. Literature - Classics / Criticism    7. Social classes    8. Young women    9. Classic fiction    10. Fiction / Classics    11. Literature/English | British Literature | 19th C   

Reviews (4)

One of her finest
Jane Austen is one of the greatest women writers in history, and Emma ranks among her best. The characters are rich and varied. For anyone with an interest in Victorian literature, Emma is sure to be a hit.

An outstanding novel and a joy to read!!
I recently became interested in reading all of Jane Austen's novels after seeing the wonderful A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice" earlier this year. Thus far I have read Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and most recently, EMMA. Even though I greatly enjoyed the first two novels, EMMA is by far my favorite of the three. The story is so very good and the romance is truly delightful!