I read Pride & Predjudice. I've read it millions of times before, so of course I love it.I love everything about the tale- even the characters we are supposed to hate.Sometimes my pity for the Wickhams flip flops between Mr. Wickham and Lydia.This time I felt so sorry for Mr.Wickham to be stuck with such an insipid girl as Lydia.(Sometimes I feel sorry for Lydia that she is too stupid to realize that she will never make her husband happy short of falling into a lot of money.) I always feel a lot of pity for Mr.Bennett.To have a wife such as he has.I couldn't help but think him too lonely a man,him being surrounded by an all female household.And Mr.Collins.All that butt kissing for a free meal.Poor Charlotte. To have to put up with him.
I think in the whole story that there are only two happy marriages.The rest just seem to be two people who just settled for what they could get-marrying according to station.The Wickham's is a marriage of delusion.Had divorce been a common practice,and views on age and marriage leaning more towards our point of views today,P&P P would be a whole different story.

Copy/pasting my post from Reddit because I am lazy:

7.Emma - the protagonist is so vapid, and the novel so empty, I just can't appreciate it. I know that's the point, that it's about the emptiness of lives of upper middle class women, and I do really like Mr. Knightley, but I just can't make myself like Emma. And I've seen Clueless a bunch of times, too, and the movie, I think, is an upgrade.

6: Sense and Sensibility - Not bad, just not particularly great, either. It's a good way to start reading Austen as the plot is easy to follow and the characters are relatively few, but having read it once I have no real desire to read it again. Also I think Colonel Brandon would have been a better partner for Elinor, but that's just me.

5: Mansfield Park - here is your Jane Eyre/Cinderella story (which I'm a total sucker for), and though Fanny isn't strong in an extroverted sense, like Elizabeth Bennet, she is still able to keep to her morals, which says something amid many of the other horrid characters, refusing a marriage that almost any other female character in that novel would have taken without a second thought.

4: Persuasion - being honest, this was the last of the novels I read, and at this point it was super easy to predict the plot, so it didn't hold my attention very long. I'll need to reread it at some point to give it its due.

3: Northanger Abbey: A very strong start—actually laughed out loud, and the time that actually takes place AT the Abbey is fantastic, but the rest has some awkward pacing issues (they spend more time at Bath) and the ending feels forced. I kind of wish the Admiral had done a Rochester with his wife, but then I guess Jane Eyre wouldn't have been as successful...Earliest known reference to baseball, however, which is cool as a baseball fan/writer.

2: Lady Susan - As a diehard Game of Thrones/aSoIaF fan, you might imagine I loooove the complexity that a multiple P.O.V narration brings to a story, and I love the way the story unfolds unexpectedly. The only question here is whether LS actually counts as a novel, or if it's a novella.

1: Pride and Prejudice - The pacing is fantastic, the plot has twists that DON'T feel forced, as though the author needed something to happen to move events along, and while Elizabeth Bennet is an awesome heroine if ever there was one and Darcy epitomizes the brooding hero, some of the other supporting characters - Mr. Bennet, Jane Bennet, Mr. Bingley - are extremely likable as well. I finished P&P wishing I could go visit Regency England.

discography COMPLETE. overall i would say that you should probably not buy this book even if you really really like jane austen. very heavy and unwieldy. pretty good for pressing flowers though.

Jane Austen. Her name is practically synonymous with classic, understated romance, as well as comedies of manners with a subtle, sly sense of humor.

And "The Complete Novels of Jane Austen" brings together the full complement of her finished novels, from the little-known "Lady Susan" to the classic bestseller "Pride and Prejudice" (and everything in between). This collection is flled with lovably flawed heroines, beautiful formal prose, and some rather unconventional love stories.

"Pride and Prejudice" become a problem when Elizabeth Bennett takes a dislike to the handsome, aloof Mr. Darcy, helped by his own aloofness and the devious Mr. Wickham's stories about him. But Mr. Darcy isn't quite the villain -- he's the hero. And "Sense and Sensibility" clash when the two very different Dashwood sisters, smart Elinor and romantic Marianne, both fall in love -- one with a man she can't have, and the other with a guy who may be horribly unsuitable.

Anne Elliott has a problem with "Persuasion," since she was once briefly engaged to the impoverished sailor Frederick Wentworth. Now he's returned from war as a wealthy hero... and Anne still loves him. "Mansfield Park" is the backdrop for shy Fanny's life with her rich relatives, who usually treat her as a servant -- except for her kindly cousin, Edmund. But when the flirtatious, fashionable Crawfords arrive in the neighborhood, it unbalances the lives of everyone at Mansfield Park.

And "Northanger Abbey" is a fitting location for Austen's spoof on gothic romances, in which the hyperimaginative Catherine Moreland has to learn a lesson about the difference between fantasy and reality. "Emma" is a frothy romantic comedy about a rich, somewhat spoiled young lady who tries to arrange the lives of people around her so that everyone is happy. And there's "Lady Susan," who is sort of the evil sociopathic twin of Emma: a brilliant and manipulative widow who seduces, plots and schemes.

The collection displays the range and depth of Austen's writing skill beautifully; though each story is very unique they're laced together by common themes. Except for "Lady Susan," each story is a love story, tempered with some clever commentary on the society of Austen's day (example: entailment, which plays a part in several plots), and a biting, sharp-edged wit (the mockery of the toadying Mr. Collins and the obnoxious Elliott family).

And despite the formal stuffiness of the time, Austen painted her stories vividly -- there's a bit of roughness in "Lady Susan" and "Persuasion," but nothing too dramatic. Each one has powerful emotions and vivid splashes of prose ("The wind roared round the house, and the rain beat against the windows"), as well as deliciously witty dialogue ("I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine"). But she also weaves in some intensely romantic moments as well ("Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you").

Austen also had an interesting range of heroines -- quiet ones, melodramatic ones, intelligent ones, naive ones, and mildly spoiled ones who think they know best. But each one has a major character flaw that must be overcome before she can find true love and happiness. And she has an equally fascinating range of love interests: the quiet shy Colonel Brandon, the sexy and clever Henry Tilney, the blunt Mr. Knightley, the generous and honest Edmund, and especially the smart, sexy Mr. Darcy (who has a flaw of his own to overcome alongside Lizzie).

Jane Austen's "Complete Novels" draws together all her finished novels, and let readers explore the mannered society and obstacle-filled love lives of her heroines.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

--"Pride and Prejudice"

This famous opening may not hold true in this day and age, but I would definitely acknowledge the truth that Jane Austen is, hands down, a genius! I could now honestly say, that I have never encountered an "Austen" I didn't like (and since I've read all of them... NEVER!). All the novels accurately portray the realities of their day, the plotting and scheming for social or monetary advancement, the love triangles, and how true love can overcome all adversities even though life will always remain imperfect.

Austen was gifted with a keen observation of human nature and possessed a refined sense of the satirical, a master at setting off events with the clash of weak versus strong characters, and how all things will settle themselves for better or worse, depending on the choices each person makes. More so, Austen wasn't a radical, she wasn't suggesting that women burn their corsets and hold out for a better deal. She was just describing life as she saw it, with frankness and humor that can be rare in the genre nowadays. She knew that relations between men and women could be complicated, messy, and frustrating-- and that's just the way she liked it.

Her books are modest and witty, courageous and beautiful and who can resist the charm and simple sincerity of characters like Mr. Darcy? I believe the books are still relevant in today’s society. We can still very much relate to her stories. To say that I am a fan of Jane Austen is an understatement, I am over the moon for her!

Probably the most well-read book on my shelves, and I got it new. Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion especially have a certain magic about them that keeps me coming back. By now, I have read the former at least twelve times...
I think that part of what I appreciate so much about them is that they take you on a journey. It would be singularly unsatisfying to skip straight to the resolution, so, in order to enjoy the story anew, I am taken through the entire journey.

I recommend this edition for all Jane Austen fans. It may be large and bulky but it has all seven completed Austen novels in one place - Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Lady Susan.

Most collections do not include Lady Susan, which is a shame really. It was the first novel she wrote and is written entirely of letters. It deals shamelessly with marital infidelity and scheming women.

There are some typos in this edition (I'm sure they were edited out of the 1995 edition) but overall this collection is beautiful.

I am a true Jane Austen fan. I love reading these stories over and over. Truly classic romances for every woman to read and love.

Well its only been like five years since I first started reading this! I finally finished Lady Susan. An excellent collection.

My goal for the summer was to re-read Jane Austen's novels in their entirety. And I'm happy to say, I'm finished. It's been some time since I sat down to read any of her novels. I've probably watched the movies more than I've actually sat down to read them. I know many people do an annual reading of her works. I'm not sure I could do that - but would instead place them into the "read these books at different times of your life" category.

It always amazes me how these novels still resonate today. For a female novelist of her time, Jane Austen was an incredibly smart, witty, and sarcastic personality. Her dry humor and observational skills are incredible.

Her novels introduce us to a variety of characters, from the strong willed (Elizabeth Bennet) to the weakling (Fanny Price)women to the men we want to be with (Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy) to the ones we could do without (Willoughby, anyone?). And you can't forget the comic foils, most often seen in the matron role of the book. We all know who we want to be, who we're cheering for, who we despise,and who we feel sorry for. There's a character for every person.

I love these books for their relatablity. Their sense of hope, and their quoteability. I, personally, will be adopting the following for the coming year "It sometimes happens that a woman is handsomer at 29 than she was 10 years before."

I don't know when my next Jane Austen reading will take place. But I look forward to seeing where I am, how I've changed, and if my favorites will be altered, compared to where I am today. I guess we'll just wait and see, and hope for the best.

Persuasion is done. I can't bare to read the other ones right now. Much switch genres! 7/08
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I've finished Sense and Sensibility & Northanger Abbey and am currently in the middle of Persuasion. So still plugging along although I've had to take a break from Ms. Austen for another light read. 5/08
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I have the Modern Library edition by Random House. 1364 pages of delight await. (Better keep the kettle on.) I have seen the films (BBC and newer versions) but surprisingly have only read Pride and Prejudice. I'm particularly interested in Northanger Abbey as it will be new for me.

Jen B. please don't puke. I know how you love the charming english lit.

Not that I don't already have a million copies of JA works, but I bought this gorgeous set as a birthday present for myself. =D