Book Friday - Sense and Sensibility, Insight Edition
24 September 2010
Been awhile since we’ve had a Book Friday on here. Want to know why? BECAUSE IT’S BEEN SO STINKING LONG SINCE I FINISHED A BOOK.
And while I haven’t technically finished the insight edition of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, I’ve read plain, no insights, no frills S&S a couple times and feel safe declaring my judgment. Which is:
Love it.
You know what it’s like? It’s like reading the book with a couple good girlfriends. Who are well educated in all things Jane. And for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of Jane loving friends, this feature is awesome.
The “insights” are written in the margins of the books and they cover a range of topics. Some are explanatory, others talk about film and book adaptations, and others are just for fun. Here’s some sample comments:
“This scene is only in the 1981 miniseries. It’s hard to film and not make Marianne look like a loon.”
“Propriety insisted that ladies not dance too many times with the same gentleman. At Sir John’s private party, etiquette was perhaps a little more lax, but they still were flouting customs.”
“Good for Edward. Marianne’s certainly given him enough grief.”
“No photographs yet. They arrived 15 years after S&S was published.”
But my favorites are the “ranking our dislike” comments from the editors. They look like this:
Ranking our dislikes: 1. Fanny; 2. Edward – did you forget to mention you are engaged?! 3. John; 4. Lady Middleton; 5. Lucy Steele – because we think she knows Elinor and Edward liked each other.
It’s tremendous fun, and an excellent gift idea for the Jane Austen fan in your life. As is this. Oh yeah. It’s a Jane Austen action figure and it’s 100% awesome.
Have a great weekend!
Oh, I adore these editions! I flip through them solely to read the margin-comments because they give me so many grins.
Am I getting a Jane Austen action figure for Christmas? ;-)
Posted by Roseanna White on 24 September 2010