Persuasion by Derek Strange

Persuasion Reviews

• 
  Chica Invisible

  Por suerte no he necesitado coger el diccionario tantas veces como pensaba. Que sí, que el libro es súper fácil, pero mi nivel de inglés es básico pero súper básico vaya. Supongo que ahora cogeré uno del nivel dos o algo así.
• 
  Santosh Thapa

  Shrawan 29, 2077, Thursday
  
  Persuasion (Penguin Longman Reader Bk/Tape) - Derek Strange (Retold by), Jane Austen (1998)
  [Penguin Readers Elementary (Level 2)]
  
  Genre: EnglishGradedReaders/ Fiction/ Romance
  Pages: 48
  Rating: 7/10
  
  Theme: Persuasion/ Class Rigidity and Social Mobility/ Foolishness and Folly/ Marriage/ Family/ Memory and the Past/ Friendship/ Gender/ Appearances
  
  Opener:
  “Sir Walter Elliot lives at Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, with two of his daughters, Elizabeth and Anne. His third daughter, Mary, did not live at the Hall. She met Mr Charles Musgrove; they maeeied and Mary went away to live at Charles’s home, in the village of Uppercross, not very far from Kellynch.
  
  Summary:
  Persuasion tells the story of Anne and her pursuit of love. Anne is the daughter of Sir Walter Elliot, a handsome — but not very clever — baronet with three daughters. Anne is Sir Walter’s second daughter. She is pretty, clever, and interesting, and yet Sir Walter takes no interest in her. At the age of nineteen, Anne was loved dearly by Frederick Wentworth, a handsome young naval officer. However, as Captain Wentworth wasn’t wealthy, he was discouraged from marrying Anne. Seven years later, after she has lost the freshness and innocence of youth, Anne is still unable to forget Captain Wentworth. Through a change in circumstances, Anne and Captain Wentworth find themselves meeting socially. Wentworth is now rich, but for some reason, he is cool towards Anne, and two female friends of hers take a great interest in him. Then the wealthy and charming Mr Elliot appears on the scene and takes a similar interest in Anne. It seems that Anne and Captain Wentworth will never be united in love — although things might not be what they seem!
  
  Final Review:
  You can never go wrong with Jane Austen, she’s not considered a legend for nothing.
• 
  Mahmoud Hady

  Simple and Realistic
• 
  Stefanie

  I’ve read Jane Austen’s Persuasion twice before while at college for two different classes. I liked it both times, placing it as my favorite Austen but for Pride and Prejudice. Now at last, mumble mumble years on, I have read the book for pleasure. It still holds second place for me in the Austen canon, but my esteem for it has increased and I can imagine that maybe one day it might vault into first place. But we shall see.
  
  Our heroine is Anne Elliot, age 27, a woman of fine mind and manners who has lost her bloom and is without marriage prospects. As a girl of nineteen she fell in love with the equally young Frederick Wentworh. They got engaged, much to the proud Elliot family’s disdain (Anne’s father is a Baronet). Anne’s friend Lady Russell, who became like a mother to her after her own died, persuaded Anne to break the engagement since Wentworth was without fortune and had uncertain prospects before him. Anne was offered marriage by Charles Musgrove, a congenial man of some fortune, but he did not measure up to Wentworth and she turned him down. He then married Anne’s younger sister. All this is backstory that gets filled in as we go along.
  
  At the time the novel opens, Anne’s father, Sir Walter, finds himself is financial difficulties. He has mortgaged everything he has to support his vanity and pride. He has been encouraged in this by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who is a chip off the old block. She is older than Anne but still handsome and hasn’t married because no suitors have been good enough. And now she is so utterly vain and silly that she’ll be hard-pressed to marry anyone. This does not bother her though because since her mother’s death, and as her father’s favorite, she has been mistress of Kellynch Hall, the family manor.
  
  To save money and get themselves out of financial difficulties, they are persuaded to move to Bath and rent Kellynch Hall. The Napoleonic Wars are just over and there are many wealthy and gentlemanly officers returning. Kellynch is rented to Admiral and Mrs. Croft. It turns out that now Captain and wealthy Frederick Wentworh is Mrs. Croft’s brother.
  
  The rest of the book is about whether or not Captain Wentworth and Anne will rekindle their former love and finally get married. Of course it is not a straight arrow. There are many diversions and dangers along the way. But this being Jane Austen, you can count on a happy ending. Nonetheless, the last 50 or so pages kept me on the edge of my seat in spite of knowing full well how it was all going to turn out.
  
  What I like so much about this book is that it is so mature, not only in the sense that is was her last novel, but also in regards to the characters. There is still plenty of sparkle and wit, but it is more measured, and if anything, Austen's humor is even more sly and subtle. I had a good laugh at one point after the Crofts had taken over Kellynch and Anne, who was still in the neighborhood because she was staying with her younger sister, is told by Admiral Croft that they have made hardly any changes to the house except for removing all the mirrors but one from Sir Walter's dressing room!
  
  There are also echoes of other Austen characters. Anne is Fanny-like in some ways in that she is the one neglected and overlooked and thought little of by her family, the one most put upon, but also the one with the best character, manners, and morals. Anne also seems to me the best combination of Elinor's sense and Marianne's sensibility.
  
  Persuasion is a delightful book and if you haven't read it yet, do find a way to get it into your reading pile. It is Austen at her best and oh so bittersweet since it was her last novel.
• 
  Nancy

  Phew, almost done with this author. Book was quite short (yeah!!). Plot wasn't too bad, but I am really not into laborious descriptions.
  
  Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?
  
  Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love, and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.
• 
  Maggie

  I liked this Austen book also. There's something about the way she writes that really puts me in that time frame and it takes me a while to get out when I'm done with her novel. Once again the strong female ended up with her man and her instincts about another "suitable" man were true!!
• 
  Janna Campbell wiersma

  Definitely not my favorite of Austen ' s works, but still worth reading. I must admit the letter written by Captain Wentworth at the end of the book is the best part of the whole thing.
• 
  Suvi

  Great book, very much like the others, even if not the very best of Austen.
• 
  Victor

  A beautiful story!