50 books to read before you die discussion

Persuasion from our list of 100 is the group read for December 2016

I started Persuasion a couple of days ago. From having read Pride and Prejudice when it was our group read I knew I wasn't a great Jane Austen fan. I described her writing in that novel as 'prissy'. I know there are a lot of people, women especially, who adore Jane Austen. I do not. (They look at me askance.) I find her writing in Persuasion to be tedious blather. I'm halfway through; If I finish this book, it will only be due to a sense of obligation, my being a moderator and all.

But don't let me discourage you. Delve right in. Persuasion gets a 4.13 rating on Goodreads. What do I know?

Do you disagree with my dour assessment? Join the discussion; vent; prove me wrong.

Well, I finished it.
What a soap opera. Some people love soaps - not my cup o' tea. The story is rambling and weak. It seems that the main thing in life is to judge people by their birth, their wealth, and their social standing. The characters are too many and hard to keep sorted out, especially at first. The dialog is like the clucking and cackling of hens. I kept having the song 'Pick a little, Talk a Little' from the musical The Music Man run through my head.

I hope our Jane Austen fans will come to defend Persuasion.

Marian wrote: "Indeed, my dear Buck, you are way too severe on our beloved Jane Austen! I concur, some parts may be weak. According to many Jane Austen scholars this is due to the fact that JA did not finalise it..."

Well, Sir Walter did live beyond his means and he was a bit vain, I guess, but I didn't pick up on Austen ridiculing him.

The whole story revolves around Anne having broken off her engagement with Wentworth seven years earlier at the advice of Mrs. Russell because he wasn't wealthy. Not only did she renew her engagement to him, because he was now a naval captain and had money, but she would have done so six years earlier had she only known. Captain Wentworth should have been repulsed by her shallowness, but I suppose he thought it advantageous to marry into Sir Walter's family. I think Anne and the scoundrel Mr. William Elliot deserved one another.

There now, doesn't this sound like a soap opera? It certainly isn't a love story.

You may be right that the novel, published posthumously, wasn't the final draft. I think it needed a complete rewrite.

Of course. I know that most readers enjoy Jane Austen and that I am the outlier.

I hope we have more of her fans joining in on this discussion. So far, you, Marian, are her only defender.

Hands down Persuasion is my favourite Austen; it’s actually up there in my top 10 favourite books

It’s a long time since I’ve seen a soap opera, but I honestly do not see the connection, plus if you’re going to start talking in those terms then Shakespeare must not be your cup o’ tea either.

I think you have completely misread Anne’s character; throughout she is bullied and pushed into doing things she doesn’t want to do by her family and friends and by her own sense of obligation to her family. To me it’s very clear that she never stopped loving Wentworth and always regretted giving in to the advice of Mrs. Russell. If Anne was only ever concerned with someone’s money and status, then why on earth would she have attached herself to Wentworth in the first place?

I loved it, Anne remains on the outside for politeness and gives up the love she desires on recommendation of Mrs Russell. Great book.