Title: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Jane Austen
Publication Date (Manga Edition): Aug. 9, 2016
Find: Amazon | Goodreads
Impulsive Marianne Dashwood and cautious Elinor are as different as two sisters could be, yet both are shattered by their father’s sudden Death. Elinor’s attachment to the reserved Edward Ferrars is torn asunder by family opposition and his own dark secret, while Marianne’s brilliant romance with the dashing John Willoughby comes to a tumultuous end in a devastating public betrayal. Can the two sisters overcome these trials to find true, lasting happiness?
Jane Austen’s beloved first novel, filled with romance, redemption and social critique, is brought to life for a modern audience in this gorgeous manga-style adaptation!
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower fringes of the English landed gentry. She was educated primarily by her father and older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her family was critical to her development as a professional writer. Her artistic apprenticeship lasted from her teenage years until she was about 35 years old. During this period, she experimented with various literary forms, including the epistolary novel which she tried then abandoned, and wrote and extensively revised three major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before completing it.
Austen’s works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots, though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to secure social standing and economic security. Her work brought her little personal fame and only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her nephew’s A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public, and by the 1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer. The second half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the emergence of a Janeite fan culture.
Sense and Sensibility was the second Austen book that I ever read. I picked it up after Pride and Prejudice, in my high school years, thinking it would be similar. I quickly learned that while Jane Austen has a distinct “voice”, each of her stories is unique and engaging in completely different ways.
Probably, one of my favorites of her works, Sense and Sensibility, is a delightful read that evokes many emotions. I will say that, the manga edition was an incredibly enjoyable version of the story and I’m glad to have read it.
Although, this is one, that I believe everyone should read the original at least once.
