'The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!'

Sense and Sensibility is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. Like the other major novels of Austen, he describes the events of an ingenuously romantic soul that, through experience, finally comes to understand the life of existence. The protagonists are young sisters Dashwood, Elinor and Marianne, who, at the death of their father, are forced to face the financial hardships in their new and modest house in Devonshire. Here they will know the pains and joys of love and, learning to reconcile reason with feeling, they will become women. Around this maturation process, Austen weaves a plot full of grace and irony, which with her elegant prose she manages to analyze and describe with extraordinary subtlety the contrast and dissension between psychological and moral issues. I admit that Reason and Sentiment, the first true novel by the famous English writer, not totally involve me, because I felt it slow, initially apparently boring, but going forward in the story it managed to involve me more, that the second part of the novel is flew away much more easily.

Austen presents two great feelings: the Reason, represented by the elder sister of the Dashwoods, Elinor, who, before speaking or acting, reflects a lot, without letting go too much to the feelings, trying to keep them in the heart; and the feeling, strong, overwhelming, exasperating, of Marianne, the second sister, who can not not feel feelings, but lets completely overwhelm, not realizing its elements and what, such an emotional upheaval, can to affect it.

Many (too many!) are the characters that presents us perfectly: there is Mrs. Dashwood, the mother of the two protagonists, very similar to Marianne, there is the little sister who appears only fleetingly, there is their brother, a person who frankly did not give me great feelings, letting himself be infected a lot - perhaps too much - by his wife Fanny, a rich and annoying woman, just like his mother. Then, there is Edward, his brother, who immediately enters the heart of the beautiful and wise Elinor, and Willoughby towards whom Marianne has a real passion that will lead her to suffer, perhaps with excessive enthusiasm. There is Colonel Brandon who will do everything for his sisters and who will see in Marianne the memory of his old love. And a series of other characters, which arouse conflicting feelings. I particularly ... despised Lucy Steele, for her selfishness and her willingness to get what she wants with vile means, her sister Nancy, very insipid and silly, but also Fanny and her mother are really hateful. In this novel I did not feel in true harmony with any of the characters, perhaps only Elinor and Marianne in part came into my heart, but with discretion, not totally involving me.

With this I do not want to say that it is a bad novel, in fact overcome the initial slowness, where Austen explains the whole story and the characters, takes over the curiosity, a game of misunderstanding that surprises you and makes you smile.

  The ending is obviously positive, although it will show how Reason will achieve true love, as opposed to Sentiment.

I recommend reading this novel because despite being slow initially, it makes you live strong emotions.