Lost to Austen?

I think I may have a confession to make and I hope you don't hate me for it.

You may have noticed that 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen has been on my 'current reads' list for rather a long time now.  To be honest, I can't really remember when I started it, but I'm sure it was several months ago.  Now, I know many, many Austen fans who rave about her work and feel incredibly guilty that I have to admit this (I could do with a Regency bonnet to hide my blushes), but I'm really not getting on well with 'Sense and Sensibility'.  And (please try not to swoon ladies)  I didn't get on with 'Pride and Prejudice' either.

Now, I know I'm supposed to like Austen.  She's light, she's witty, she's romantic, she's historical, but I just haven't been captivated by either of these books (despite the presence of Mr Darcy!).  But I think I know why.  The debate around 'which is better, the book or the film/series' is a fierce, bitter and long term one and I really think that's what has caught me out this time around.  After all, what's not to love about Andrew Davies classic 1995 'Pride and Prejudice'?  Or Ang Lee and Emma Thompson's film of 'Sense and Sensibility'?  An awful lot if you saw them long before you thought about picking up their literary equivalents!

So, here I am, a book fan who has managed to close herself off to two of English literatures most popular classics.  Just because she likes to put her feet up in front of the telly once in a while.

I commented on my 'Pride and Prejudice' conundrum to an Austenite friend of mine when I tried to read it originally.  To my surprise, she sympathised and said that the BBC adaptation was very good.  Bit too good if you ask me!

Now, I'm lucky in that although the list of Austen's work is quite short - only six completed novels - I've only watched adaptations of three of them.  So there is hope yet.  Perhaps if I try 'Persuasion', 'Mansfield Park' or 'Northanger Abbey', I will see what everyone else seems to see, learn to love Austen's work and perhaps be able to return to 'Emma', 'Sense and Sensibility' and 'Pride and Prejudice'.

In the meantime, I'm going to go back to hiding my shame behind 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day' by Winifred Watson and avoid watching any adaptations of anything else on my list.  Although looking at the cinema listings, that's going to be harder than you'd think!!