How do you rate a classic? I cannot. Instead, the quote:

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.â€

I enjoyed this. There were a lot of elements from Pride and Prejudice that were reused in this novel. I also wished we'd had more of Anne and Wentworth's backstory, as well as more Wentworth scenes. I felt like I hardly learned anything about him. Overall, though, it was a good book! ( )

Not my favourite of hers but still fun to read! ( )

“The one claim I shall make for my own sex is that we love longest, when all hope is gone.”

Shhh! don't tell anyone, but secretly, this is REALLY my favorite Jane Austen novel. What a lovely gem of a story!

I love Anne. She was so young and naive and unsure of herself, and fell to the persuasion of others. That one decision she regretted and it changed the course of her life.
Now, fate as it likes to do, has pushed the biggest regret back into her life and she has to try to amble life watching him in a life she'd wished she'd had.

But Anne is strong, she doesn't just stand and pine after him. She juggled her horrid dad, her even more horrid 2 sisters, she manages to house and then stumbles around Bath and attends to helping her sister. She's consistent, calm, quiet, smart - when she has something to say she says it.

The best part of her is seeing how she's changed. How her decision she made then is not the decision she would make now and she knows herself so much better.

Ugh, I love this one. I will definitely need to own to re-read it! ( )

This is the first Jane Austen book I’ve managed to finish. And unless I’m very much mistaken, it will be my last. I wanted to finish one, because I refused to accept the stereotype that they’re all about a bunch of worthless, hoity-toity British twits with nothing better to do than sit around whinging and meddling in each others’ relationships. I learned something valuable from finishing this—I learned that sometimes stereotypes are absolutely dead on. Austen spends most of the book subtly mocking this class of people, which I suppose might feel transgressive and radical to some of her readers. But of course she never comes anywhere near mentioning the very existence of the other classes who make this ridiculous existence possible.

My biggest complaint about the book, though, isn’t about class or anything along those lines; it’s a straightforward literary one: the book is entirely populated with detestable characters. Even the very few who are not simple mockery fodder are nevertheless completely disingenuous (even with themselves), and pathetically subservient to the arbitrary pretenses that rule the lives of everyone around them. I can’t see how anyone would have any attachment to them, or concern about the fate they bring entirely upon themselves.

I will grant one thing: Austen is a skilled writer. She does an effective job portraying the very subtlest hints of action or exposure of emotion in her characters. It’s a shame her skill isn’t applied to anything more interesting or substantive than this. ( )

Finished Persuasion tonight on the drive home from work listening to the Audible version. My first encounter with Jane Austen, with the exception of getting about 4 pages in on Sense and Sensibilty a while back before becoming distracted with life .

Why have I waited so long?

It was lovely. Captain Wentworth's letter alone made the entire journey worthwhile. I think the narrator, Greta Scacchi, enhanced my experience with her pleasing voice.

I have paper versions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibilty, as these are all on my bucket list. Deciding which one to tackle first. ( )

It goes to show, helpful people can really muck up your life. ( )

Jane Austen's writing is a delight to read as always. The cast of characters were the funniest of her books that I've read so far I think. My only complaint was I wish that there were a couple more conversations between Frederick and Anne, but oh my goodness that letter. I swooned. Jane Austen really knows how to write a pining letter. ( )

When I'm finding recently-published fiction underwhelming, I turn to novels that have been peer reviewed by the centuries. You can't go wrong with Austen, it seems. Perhaps I did not enjoy [b:Persuasion|2156|Persuasion|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385172413l/2156._SY75_.jpg|2534720] quite as much as [b:Emma|6969|Emma|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1373627931l/6969._SY75_.jpg|3360164], my favourite Austen novel to date, but it was still exceptionally witty, insightful, and clever. Anne, a sensible woman from a family of utter snobs, makes an excellent protagonist. She is put-upon but not a martyr, self-contained but friendly, emotional but rational, obliging but independent. What a vivid, memorable character. Her father and sisters are very annoying in an entirely realistic way. More than two hundred years after Austen wrote them, I find myself thinking, "I've met these guys":

Sir Walter, without hesitation, declared the Admiral to be the best-looking sailor he had ever met with, and went so far as to say, that, if his own man might have had the arranging of his hair, he should not be ashamed of being seen with him any where; and the Admiral, with sympathetic cordiality, observed to his wife as they drove back through the Park, "I thought we should soon come to a deal, my dear, in spite of what they told us at Taunton. The baronet will never set the Thames on fire, but there seems no harm in him": reciprocal compliments, which would have been esteemed about equal.

The inclusion of Naval men, including Anne's former fiance Captain Wentworth, added an appealing element to the narrative and invited an Aubreyiad crossover. I felt that Jack Aubrey might at any moment appear as a dinner party guest and make awkward puns. Captain Wentworth surely ought to know him, at least by reputation. From a tweet that I now cannot find, I was aware that Wentworth would endear himself by saving Anne from a toddler that refuses to stop climbing on her back. That scene certainly lived up to expectations, as did one of the best love letters in literature. I'd definitely read the letter before in a collection somewhere. There is also the justly famous passage in which Anne vigorously defends women from condemnation by literature entirely written by men.

These prior familiarities in no way undermined my enjoyment of the wonderful writing, brilliant observation, and intensity of emotion in [b:Persuasion|2156|Persuasion|Jane Austen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385172413l/2156._SY75_.jpg|2534720]. The plot is a simple one and much of its drama could have ostensibly been avoided by one simple conversation. Yet that is its genius - honest conversations are incredibly hard to have when hurt feelings have been simmering for years, and when your family and friends will not leave you in peace! Better late than never, Anne. ( )

The story follows Anne Elliot, minimalized by her family, who regrets breaking off a previous engagement due to family pressure. She meets up with her once-intended several years later and through a painful process, secures a second chance. Loved this book! I listened to this on audio. 7 hours 19 minutes ( )

I reread Jane Austen’s classic regency period romance Persuasion, as the movie comes out this year. Persuasion is the last novel she wrote before she died in 1817 at 42 years of age. While it still cannot top Pride and Prejudice for me, I appreciated her exquisite writing and the depth of emotion in this novel. It feels older and wiser somehow than her earlier work. In Jane Austen’s world, Anne Elliot is an aging spinster who broke up with the love of her life, Captain Frederick Wentworth, when she was young, due to pressure from her family. Now she is older she must watch him return to their circles and pursue a younger woman. One feels the awkwardness and pain of Anne’s situation, of feelings reawakened, and Anne’s valiant attempts to rise above it and conduct herself with equanimity. Although Anne starts by being seen as weak for allowing her chance at love to be taken from her; her strength of character, fortitude in a crisis and sensible nature come through, particularly in contrast with the impetuosity and vacuousness of her rival. This is the ultimate second-chance romance and captures the tenderness and yearning beautifully.

As always Austen gives us a razor sharp social commentary on her times, and draws out the foibles of the upper classes with humour and wit. Anne’s father Sir Walter Elliot and sister Elizabeth are painted as vain and superficial, having to lease the family estate Kellinge Hall in Somersetshire due to mismanagement and over spending. The story then takes Anne to Lyme where the lighthearted holiday takes a dramatic turn, and then to Bath where she is pursued by a wealthy suitor and forced to endure interminable social occasions with the who’s who of polite Georgian society.

I was intrigued by the cleverness of Austen’s writing. Not the modern “show but don’t tell”, but not the old-fashioned heavy-handed telling either. She has a superb mixture of revealing a character by their words and actions, their thoughts and internal monologue, and some sharp commentary of her own alongside it. Jane Austen was definitely a master craftsman and I know I will return to her books again and again. ( )

Anne and Wentworth were engaged and very happy. Anne's godmother thought that marriage would be imprudent (because he wasn't financially stable), so she persuaded Anne to end the engagement. Eight years later, Wentworth comes back to the neighborhood.

I'm very torn about how to rate this book. I loved some parts. The letter was amazing, and the ending was good. But other parts of the book seemed wordy and sometimes kind of flat. ( )

Persuasion is a novel of memories and regrets, a novel of second chances. The feeling is autumnal; and then, there is an unexpected Indian summer. While reading, I wondered – how many books about second chances for women have been written in the 19th century? There are the Brontes, of course, but I can’t think of anything else. This makes me love Jane Austen and Persuasion all the more.

“Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands.”

Ah, the layers of classics :)

According to GR, this was the fourth time I have read this novel, but I have a strong suspicion it’s closer to the tenth. When I open the book, the author takes my hand, gently but firmly, and drops me right in the middle of Kellynch Hall – and it’s as though I never left.

Jane Austen is merciless towards her characters, especially Sir Walter and Elizabeth, there are sentences that drip with delicious word poison. The satire is toned down here, though, compared to earlier novels. Persuasion is less exuberant, more mature.

Anne is an introvert in a family of extroverts who do not have wisdom enough and love enough to appreciate someone who is different from them. I just realized that Jane Austen was writing about found family long before the expression was invented. The Crofts! The Harvilles! They went right into my heart on this reread, and I loved them together with Anne.

There is so much more to enjoy: Anne keeping her cool in a crisis and everyone looking to her for guidance; everyone taking her into their confidence and complaining about each other – exhausting and hilarious; Anne talking poetry with Captain Benwick and recommending a larger dose of prose, for emotional health reasons – priceless, really. “...like many other great moralists and preachers, she had been eloquent on a point in which her own conduct would ill bear examination.” Ha. Mrs Smith’s info dumps are probably too long and way too convenient. But I do like a mental image of her as a lady spider (she is knitting in bed!) in her web, waiting for the juicy, juicy gossip to come to her.

Show me a person who doesn’t love Anne and Captain Wentworth! Every conversation they have after the events in Lyme is fantastic, there is so much emotional turmoil and delight.
Theirs is the love that has stood the test of time, it has matured, it has grown stronger. This is a romance for grown-ups. This is why Mr Eliot has neither the charisma of the likes of Wickham, Willoughby or Frank Churchill nor the dangerous potential to charm the heroine. Anne is not fooled by glamour and glitter; Wentworth can stop, think, and ask.

“She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.” (This sentence is genius, in its truth, its sarcasm, and its structure.)

I have yet to find a more amazing love letter than Captain Wentworth’s…

“I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago.”

A perfect conclusion of a perfectly crafted novel. ( )

Perhaps the most comforting of Austen's works that I have read... We all have a little Anne Elliot inside us. ( )

Anne Elliot is the queen of palpable longing, covert glances, and needing to excuse yourself for a moment to go cool down after seeing your old love for approximately .5 seconds. Although to be fair, I too would have needed to be tranquilized after reading Captain Wentworth’s letter. Like, “I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own, than when you almost broke it eight years and a half ago”?!? “You pierce my soul. I AM HALF AGONY, HALF HOPE”?!? Somebody fetch me some Xanax. ( )

Que bonito é o momento em que o capitão Wentworth escreve uma carta a Anne Elliot estando na sua presença.
Que bom é este livro.
Que magnífica é sempre Jane Austen em tudo que escreve.
( )

I thought I'd read all of Jane Austin but when I started discussing books with Liz, I couldn't remember the plot of Persuasion. So whether it was my flawed memory or the fact that I really hadn't read it, it was fun to have a "new" Jane Austin book to read. ( )

Another reading of Persuasion. This time was stimulated by listening to The Austen Society. I had thought in the past that Austen may have been kinder on the characters of Anne and Captain Wentworth because Anne closely resembled her in age, but I hadn't thought about her illness while writing the novel, or the possible relationships of her sister Cassandra. This reading I realized how insightful she was about misconstrued thoughts on the actions and words of others by even those of good perception and judgement. Her wit and wisdom grows with each reading. ( )

I can't believe I waited until I was 28 to read this. I guess, like Anne Elliot, I am only now mature enough to really appreciate it. Should I say someone persuaded me at 19 not to read it? Too on the nose?

The thing is, when I was 17, I bought a large tome at a used book store that contained P&P, S&S, and Emma--and those were the only Austen novels I ever read (until today, obviously). What actually inspired me to read it was going to see the new Jane Eyre movie with my friend Mary. Afterward, she recommended the BBC series North and South (based on the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell), and after I completely loved that, she said I had to see the movie version of Persuasion. I was embarrassed to admit that I'd never read it, so last night I went to my library's website and downloaded it, and I read it pretty much straight through, though I did sleep for a few hours after I finished part one. Now I'm super excited to see the movie, even though the actress playing Anne seems to have kind of weird face and a very unflattering hairdo.

So, do I have anything to say about the actual book? I was tickled by Anne's laughably shallow family, especially the way Mary and Elizabeth would berate someone one minute and compliment them the next. Or how Anne's father would belittle Anne's friendship with a woman because because she's widowed, poor, and over 30, when he has a woman of that exact description living in his house. And there's something deeply romantic about a love that survives rejection and nearly a decade of separation.

But I didn't like this more than the three novels in my big used book. I never fell in love with Wentworth (except maybe when I read his letter). I wanted Anne to stand up for herself a little more when her family was being so dismissive of her. And I thought the whole Mr. Elliot story was a little thin (how exactly was he going to to keep Sir Walter from marrying just by hanging around all the time?). This is not to say I didn't really like this book, but I found more to be critical of in it. Still, I've read the other three books (and seen the movies) lots and lots of times, so they've pretty much been woven in the fabric of my being. It's not really fair to compare just yet. Ask me again in ten years. ( )

Lovely, wonderful book! This is the first Austen story that I've read without already knowing the storyline. I'm so proud of myself for following it! Ha! The story of Anne and Captain Wentworth reminds me of how me and my husband's engagement came to be and was played out. Great story! ( )

Best. Letter. Ever! Who needs Mr. Darcy when there is Captain Wentworth! ( )

A lot of mean, unlikeable characters, and the love story wasn’t particularly engaging. It was a bit of a slog to get to the happy ending. ( )

Compared to Pride and Prejudice, the plot devices are transparent, the characters nearly universally unlikable, and what could be interesting dialog is instead droning soliloquy or, worse, tepid description by the narrator. ( )

Ever a delight to be in company of Jane Austen, her capable storytelling, sparkling conversation, and original female protagonists. Anne Elliot may be my favorite of all with her steady wisdom, good sense, and patience in the midst of so many unappreciative family members.

For this return to a familiar title, hearing Rosamond Pike read the classic aloud made for a special treat. In times of so much uncertainty, I indulge in this escape as I walk, garden, fold laundry, drive. No doubt another Austen title will follow this listen. ( )

people say this is austen's most mature story and yeah it's so full of understanding but at the same time a bit sanctimonious. sorry besties! maybe I need to think about it a bit more ( )