Opinion on Jane Austen books needed!!

Ok, I have never 'read' any of Jane Austen books, but have had many of them on my shelf forever!!! I've seen the adapted movies, but never seemed to get around to reading the books. I know none of these are sequels to each other, but is there an 'order' that you would suggest reading them??

Here are the ones I am looking at:

Emma
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Northhanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Persuasion

Thanks for helping :-)

It doesn't matter what order you read them in, but this would be what I would do if I were you, starting with my favorites:

Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Emma
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park

P&P is one of my favorite all time books, I hope you enjoy them all! Frankly, the only I don't like is Mansfield Park, but maybe you will.

Ktleyed, I like Mansfield Park, but I could hardly bring myself to finish Emma! I think that is one of the most adapted ones, though, and many many people love it. Pride and Prejudice seems to be a universal favorite, so maybe that's a good place to start, or else begin with the one whose film adaptation you liked the best. They're all good, and they don't refer to each other, so no real order is necessary.

Start with Pride and Prejudice without a doubt.

Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park

Julia

Allie64, how exciting for you to be reading Jane Austen for the first time!! Everybody has a favorite Austen novel and I'm sure you will too! One of the nice things about her books is that they all have happy endings - which you don't see very often in "classic" literature.

I would definitely start with Pride and Prejudice. That is the first one I tried and I fell instantly in love with her writing. In case you were wondering, the A&E production of it (starring lovely Collin Firth) is by far the most accurate representation of the novel. Some of the novels have been adapted to film much more than others. You've probably seen the adaptations of P&P, S&S, and Emma plenty of times.

Northanger Abbey is also one of my personal favorites - although it doesn't always get as much attention. There's only been one film adaptation of it that I've seen (PBS's Masterpiece production). It is about a very young, innocent, and impressionable woman who falls in love with a wonderful man but lets her imagination get a bit carried away with her (this stems from her habit of reading a lot of gothic horror novels).

I think Mansfield Park turns a lot of people off - it is certainly one of Austen's more didactic novels. I found the heroine a bit stodgy and difficult to like. However, once you read some of her other novels, you will feel a strong compulsion to read them all and there are certainly some good qualities to Mansfield Park as well. You just may not want to start off reading this one first.

This is the order that I first read them in:

Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey
Mansfield Park
Emma
Persuasion

I'll give you my favorites in order too:

Pride and Prejudice
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Persuasion
Mansfield Park
Northanger Abbey

P&P is one of my all time favorite books. The A&E production with Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle is a really faithful rendering of the story. I loved Emma but perhqps you should read Sense and Sensibilty first.

Mostly, just read and enjoy!!

Thank you for all your suggestions!! I did love the A&E production of P&P with Colin Firth! And the S&S movie with Emma Thomson and Kate Winslet. Maybe I will start with those 2...Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey seem to have the most conversation of "you love it or hate it" ...it will be interesting to see what I think.

If anyone else cares to add their 2 cents..would love to hear! Thanks!

Okay, here are my 2 cents! :)

Pride & Prejudice

Persuasion (there is also a superb A&E or BBC production with Ceiran Hinds and Amanda Root)

Mansfield Park

Emma

Sense & Sensibility

I would actually suggest that you read the first paragraph of each and decide which tone suits your mood at that particular moment. The first paragraph is pretty revealing in each of them.

In defense of Mansfield Park, I think that it's just Austen's darkest work, so it can seem less emotionally satisfying than the 'light, bright, and sparking' P&P, but I think its darkness gives it some pleasing depth. If you saw the recent BBC version with Billie Piper, I'll warn that I found it really off the mark in capturing the spirit of the book. The Patricia Rozema version (1999) starring Frances O'Connor was far superior, IMO.

I agree, Sara, the 1999 version was much, much better.

CC

I actually like Persuasion equally with P&P and S&S. The others fall lower for me. I have trouble getting through parts of Emma and Mansfield Park, although I appreciate the stories overall.