Persuasion (Modern Library) (Modern Library Torchbearers)

Jane Austen; Amy Bllom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0375757295 ISBN 13: 9780375757297

Publisher: Modern Library Inc, 2001

Called a 'perfect novel' by Harold Bloom, Persuasion was written while Jane Austen was in failing health. She died soon after its completion, and it was published in an edition with Northanger Abbey in 1818. In the novel, Anne Elliot, the heroine Austen called 'almost too good for me,' has let herself be persuaded not to marry Frederick Wentworth, a fine and attractive man without means. Eight years later, Captain Wentworth returns from the Napoleonic Wars with a triumphant naval career behind him, a substantial fortune to his name, and an eagerness to wed. Austen explores the complexities of human relationships as they change over time. 'She is a prose Shakespeare,' Thomas Macaulay wrote of Austen in 1842. 'She has given us a multitude of characters, all, in a certain sense, commonplace. Yet they are all as perfectly discriminated from each other as if they were the most eccentric of human beings.' Persuasion is the last work of one of the greatest of novelists, the end of a quiet career pursued in anonymity in rural England that produced novels which continue to give pleasure to millions of readers throughout the world. Critics, especially [recently], value Persuasion highly, as the author s most deeply felt fiction, the novel which in the end the experienced reader of Jane Austen puts at the head of the list. . . . Anne wins back Wentworth and wins over the reader; we may, like him, end up thinking Anne s character perfection itself. from the Introduction by Judith Terry. Since 1917 The Modern Library prides itself as The modern Library of the world s Best Books . Featuring introductions by leading writers, stunning translations, scholarly endnotes and reading group guides. Production values emphasize superior quality and readability. Competitive prices, coupled with exciting cover design make these an ideal gift to be cherished by the avid reader.

Review:

"Critics, especially [recently], value Persuasion highly, as the author's 'most deeply felt fiction, ' 'the novel which in the end the experienced reader of Jane Austen puts at the head of the list.' . . . Anne wins back Wentworth and wins over the reader; we may, like him, end up thinking Anne's character 'perfection itself.'" -from the Introduction by Judith Terry

From the Publisher:

The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.