Review: Persuasion

Persuasion by Jane Austen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



(Listened (again) to Juliet Stephenson's excellent reading. February 2009, April 2010, December 2011.)

My husband can't stand Jane Austen, and most of the people I've encountered who do like her seem to almost think that she's a 21st-century author writing historical fiction. Not that they literally believe that, but it's the closest I can come, in a hurry, to the impression they give me. I think she's a clear and witty observer. Her characters are sometimes dismissed as mere caricatures, but in my opinion the ones who are caricatures are subtly, intelligently rounded ones, and the rest are real human beings drawn in an artificially clear, even glaring light. They are exaggerated after the fashion of a posed portrait, not a flat pun.

Persuasion, in particular, makes me very glad I'm not subject to the constraints of high-class Regency social life, or the hardships (so they would seem to soft me, anyway) of Regency life for everyone. Anne is believable as a woman, a role model (not perfect, but thoughtful and worth thinking about), and an imaginary friend. As a dilettante historian, I'm so glad to have writers like Jane Austen whose work can throw us back into their world.

Austen is far enough removed from the present day, though, that her language and her world can be very hard for us to keep track of. Like Shakespeare, she's best experienced (at least at first) through the voice of a skilled reader, and Juliet Stevenson is remarkable.



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