Persuasion (Penguin Clothbound Classics)

Chiltern edition is exquisite
This review is for the Chiltern Classics hardcover edition of Persuasion.I decided to celebrate Jane Austen’s upcoming 250th birthday by rereading all of her novels. I have had my mismatched collection of her works in paperback since the late 80s and they are falling apart. So, I started researching what editions I wanted to buy to replace them.If you’re in a similar situation and aren’t sure what’s out there, YouTube is a really great place to see your options. So much of what draws us to a specific edition/publisher is based on personal preferences. You have a lot of options!I wanted an edition that would last my lifetime, would spark joy when I looked at it, and it was important that the publisher had released editions of all of Austen’s work.The Chiltern editions are decadent. The covers are embossed and have delightful metallic shimmers that sparkle when light hits them. These books have gold or silver gilt pages. Persuasion has gold. The books have an attached black silk bookmark. These editions are as tactilely appealling as they are visually captivating.The pages are thick and glossy. The book is heavy and feels more expensive than what I paid for it. Please note that they often are on sale here for less than the suggested retail price!I ordered Mansfield Park first because I think it is the prettiest. I’ve slowly added the rest of the collection to my shelf and love how exquisite they look grouped together. Persuasion was my last purchase because I wasn’t thrilled with how it looked online. Please know that it is absolutely beautiful in person!If you’ve never seen the Chitern collection, visiting their website is a treat. I only have their editions of Jane Austen. However, their collection looks like a wall of art when it is shelved together.I love the bindings of Chiltern classics. They are sewn (not glued). They open flat without creasing the spine. They feel sturdy and are satisfying to hold. So far, I have had none of the exterior decorations/print rub off (that is a common complaint with another publishing house’s edition!). When I carry any of these editions in my purse/bag, I slip them into a soft felt book slip case envelope with a snapped top to help protect them.I found the print in this book to be easy on my eyes. I’m in my mid-50s and extremely myopic. I can read this book with my progressives on without any issues. The glossy pages can create a glare under artificial light. Adjusting the angle of my reading lamp helped! I haven’t had any issues with glare in natural lighting.If you are a habitual annotator, this might not be the correct edition for you. I can’t bring myself to desecrate a page to test how ink performs on the glossy pages. However, this publisher does sell this book as a set with a matching journal and offers the journal for sale separately if you decide you want it after you’ve already bought the book. Since I haven’t bought the journals, I don’t know what type of paper they use. My old paperbacks are heavily annotated and I empathize with those of you who read with a pen in hand! This edition just feels too special to mark up! It also encourages me to simply enjoy the story!These editions do not contain illustrations. I knew that when I purchased them and not having them didn’t bother me. These don’t have scholarly introductions. They also do not include endnotes. (Hint…if these things are important to you, there are several other editions that contain all of these. Shapard’s annotated series is great for readers who are new to Austen’s work. Also, the Wordsworth classics paperback boxed set is illustrated and has notes and is usually under five dollars per book).I am very disappointed that Chiltern has not released an edition of Austen’s juvenilia, Lady Susan, and Sanditon! Most publishers print these in one edition and I have my fingers crossed that Chiltern has plans to do this as well. Please? I didn’t realize this omission until I had already fallen in love with my Mansfield Park copy.I am thrilled with my Chiltern edition of Persuasion. Reading the Chiltern editions of Jane Austen’s novels is a perfect way to celebrate her 250th birthday!

Persuasion
It feels a bit silly to write a review of one of Jane Austen’s last published and perhaps lesser known novels. Anyone looking at Persuasion has certainly read Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, and has a good idea what to expect. But I’d like to get a few impressions down.Persuasion focuses on Anne Elliot, middle daughter of Sir Walter Elliot and the only person in her family who isn’t completely proud and self absorbed. In her youth, Anne was persuaded to break off a relationship with a naval officer that her family felt was beneath her station. Eight years later her former beau, Captain Wentworth, is thrown back into her life, much to her discomfort. She is forced to navigate a passel of family issues and potential suitors in order to find a happy match.There are all the usual elements you can expect in an Austen novel. It is a wry, incisive look at the foibles of human nature; in this case, a contrast between those who value a person purely on their birth or station, versus those who look to personality and character. It has various changes of scenery, from the Elliots’ traditional home of Kellynch, to the seaside town of Lyme, to Bath, and draws in a host of well drawn characters. The plot is relationship centered, with one good crisis to drive things forward, and, as I’ve come to expect, much of it hinges on misunderstanding or deception by characters that aren’t all they appear to be on the surface.I liked the book, but I can’t say I liked it as much as Austen’s more popular novels. Elsewhere she seems to have written even her foolish characters with a sympathetic hand; we laugh at them, perhaps we pity them, but nowhere else to they come off as so one-sidedly unpleasant as in Anne’s father and sisters. And, by contrast, Anne is almost the perfect heroine from the start, with little room to grow and few mistakes to learn from. I’m happy I finally read Persuasion–it was the one Austen novel I hadn’t read–but it’s not the first one I’d recommend.

A love story, some intrigue
I was not sure I would enjoy this book. It is written in an old English manner which requires paying a little more attention as you read, but I found the story a good one that kept my attention throughout. It is a story of the rich and the poor, love and loss, relationships, and the affects of decisions made.

This is my Jane Austen’s favorite book. I know people usually prefer Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, but I feel this work has a deep study of the personality of the main caracter. She’s sweet and strong at the same time. She’s invisible for the majority of the caracteres, but she is always sensitive, calm and understanding. This makes her capable of facing the hard times in a better way then others. And, in this moments, her true vales appear.

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope…I have loved none but you.”—-Jane AustenOur most beloved author as well as one of the most widely read author of all times, Jane Austen’s, last notable piece of literature, Persuasion, unfolds the story of a twenty-something woman in the early 19th century England who is caught between the choices of her heart as well as her family to decide on whether she will honor her heart’s choices that once loved a man so dearly or or will she pay heed to her family’s wishes who once persuaded her not to marry the one whom she loved because of his status or poor finances.Synopsis:Persuasion, Jane Austen’s last novel, is a moving, masterly and elegiac love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.It tells the story of Anne Elliot, who, persuaded to break off her engagement to the man she loved because he was not successful enough, has never forgotten him. When he returns, he brings with him a tantalizing second chance of happiness.Once the 13/14 year old version of this reviewer was so caught up in the world of literature, that she practically used to sneak in the the older readers’ section in her school’s library to select her next Austen/Bronte/Hardy/Gaskell/Poe/Shelley book and later on, she took on a good hearing from her school’s librarian warning that she is only allowed to read something of her age! Very well, that did not stop her from reading these remarkable and classic romance stories. Back in those days she too was captivated by the words and the stories of Austen and even today, as a grown up woman, she loves them equally with the same vigor.I re-read this only because of Penguin’s new edition called, Penguin English Library. At first, I was caught on the crossroads on whether to buy the clothbound editions (hardcover) or the simple paperback ones, considering the fact that the clothbound editions are pretty much over-priced compared to its paperback editions. Anyways, I decided to collect the paperback editions which are also really pretty, and it is only because of the fact that with the cost of one single clothbound edition book, I would get almost three paperback editions.And I would really suggest readers to but the paperback editions as they are cheap and affordable and has a great paper texture compared to the hardcover/clothbound editions. But if a reader really wants to invest in these novels, then I would recommend him/her to purchase the hardcover/clothbound editions. They are really a masterpiece that a reader would like to decorate it on his/her bookshelf or his/her home library.Back to the review, well how can I put my feelings into writing when it comes to Austen or Bronte novels, I really have no idea about that. I can only urge each and every reader ever born onto this planet to read the notable literary masterpieces to make them invaluable, priceless and memorable with the passing time, rather than let them fade away under the heaps of technological waste.Criticize her literary works or rant those with your harsh words or put blank paint on the covers of her novels, do whatever you want to with her novels, but give them a read, rather than reading the notable works of Rowling or more like her. Never mind, I shall not get into a fight on what a reader should read or not, as it depends purely on their personal taste.Austen’s literary works are worthy of every great positive adjectives ever discovered in English vocabulary. Similarly, when it comes to Persuasion, that revolves around Anne, daughter of a rich baronet who has claimed to fame because of his financial position in the society and to back his aristocratic dreams, his two daughters support him, except his daughter, Anne. Eight years ago, Anne was drawn to the charm of Frederick Wentworth, although his financial situation was not that stable, thus Anne, then a young and persuadable lady, was easily brainwashed by her family to not to settle her home with this chap considering the fact that Anne’s family had a reputation in the society of riches. But now, Anne is still unwed, and has formed an opinion of hers own, and is not that naive to be brainwashed by anyone, and surprisingly Wentworth is back with his fortune and name and rank and both their families are now in good terms and it is becoming real difficult for the former lovers to address one another considering their deep feelings hidden under piles of passing time and changes.Anne’s story is inspiring as this woman is at first depicted as someone who is naive but after few years, she becomes independent both financially and mentally. Yes she certainly stands as an epitome for not only the 19th century women but also for the coming-of-age women with a strong underlying message to be independent in body, mind and in the society. The characters in this story are evolving from one dimension to another and the changes are very much visible among each and every characters. The limitation back then for a woman was very vividly portrayed by the author and that is where Anne barges in as a warrior to break all the barriers and stand tall.The romance is the reason why many people find solace and comfort in the literary worlds of Austen. They are not too passionate or heavily poignant, yet they have this feeling that you get when seeing your lover after a long duration of time- a longing that is quite pure, gentle yet a bit compassionate enough to move even the less-emotional people on this planet. Anne and Wentworth’s love affair is something like that as the former lovers found no words or a way to express themselves in the crowd yet their presence together had this powerful effect which is evident not only to those characters surrounding them but to the characters (readers) outside the pages of the book. And for that Austen will forever live on and on till the time goes by!And I feel that I’m not qualified enough to talk about Austen’s literary prose or writing style, because many before me and after me had and will research Austen’s notable works for their thesis or research purposes.“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.”—-Jane Austen

When I bought this book, I expected it to be just like the other Austen’s novels (I had read Pride and Prejudice). I unexpectedly found it to quite different in style, maintaining however the same fast writing, with no frills. It really allowed me to get to know Jane Austen from another point of view.