Sense and Sensibility

I really enjoyed this - not quite as much as Pride & Prejudice - but it's a close second. Like the annotated P&P - the annotations in this book are a wonderful addition. The left page is the story - the right page contains annotations and illustrations that help define word usage, period customs, historical tidbits, and reminders for what transpired earlier in the story. I think what really strikes me about this book as well as P&P is how believable the characters are even though the stories are 200 years old. It's easy to understand how these stories can be used as a framework for a film that takes place in a more modern era. This story involves a couple of sisters - the older sister who takes a calmer and more logical approach to issues that arise, and the younger sister who takes a rather impractical romantic approach to everything (a cultural affectation of the time - and something Austin is quietly mocking in the book). The book's annotations do a nice job of explaining this juxtaposition of both sister's differing approaches to resolving issues.

As to the condition of my brand new paperback when I finished reading it - the book is over 700 pages and a tad unwieldy - and I had the unfortunate luck of buying an edition with inadequate glue in the spine: I'm afraid I had to chuck the disintegrating fluttering mess into the trash.