Jane Austen, Ranked

Image is, obviously, not mine.

“It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley.” --Pride & Prejudice

"I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope." --Persuasion 

I may or may not have started working on this post literally almost a year ago. And then never published it. #oops? But a time where I'm talking about travels and England and all seems like a really good time to post it! So here we are. :)

So…I finally finished reading all of Jane Austen! (Well, okay, I finished in the middle of last year, but y'know. Sometimes, one is not totally current. And it’s fine. No one’s going to yell at me. I hope.)

Having finished all of Jane Austen’s (completed) works, I thought it would be fun to do a post putting them in order from my favorite to my least favorite! (“Fun” as in “fraught with peril”, but we’re going to ignore that.) I think, given that I’m doing a ranking like that, I should say beforehand that I have really enjoyed all of the Jane Austen that I’ve read, and just because a book is in the bottom three of the ranking doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but rather that I didn’t like it as much. With that disclaimer…off we go!

1. Pride & Prejudice
Is anyone surprised? I think not. My mom’s favorite of Jane Austen’s novels is Persuasion, and while I love Persuasion (as evidenced by its place as #2 on this list), I still love P&P more. It might be because I’m still young. I may grow more into Persuasion as I get older. 😉
But for now, P&P is one of the most nonstop of Jane Austen’s novels I’ve ever read, and I love that about it. There’s just so much going on, from Lizzie & Darcy to Jane & Bingley to Mr. Collins to Wickham. And the banter! The quotability of this book is through the roof. Plus, I think the characters in this book are some of the most lovable and memorable of Jane Austen’s characters, from whip-smart and smart-aleck-y Lizzie to the adorable but backbone-less Bingley, to the odious Mr. Collins, to Mrs. Bennet and her nerves and Mr. Bennet and his absent-mindedness. And, of course, Mr. Darcy. I love Mr. Darcy, perhaps because I am lot like him—I can be kind of awkward socially, I make snap judgements, and I often regret things at leisure that I say in haste. (“Tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me”, anyone?)
I think P&P also wins the award for my favourite supporting characters in a Jane Austen novel—Lizzie’s aunt and uncle (the Gardners) and Colonel Fitzwilliam! Plus, there is, of course, the ever-loved “annoyed with each other to lovers” trope (as Hamlette puts it) and the “beautiful gardens at Pemberley” quote. And the moment where Lizzie tells Darcy which is her favourite garden walk, and then is like "WHY does he keep running into me on this, I told him that so he'd know to steer clear???" XD All in all, I think P&P is safely locked in as my favourite. For now, at least.

2. Persuasion
While P&P is my favourite, Persuasion certainly has a special place in my heart. I didn't love it nearly as much the first time I read it, but I've come around. Anne Elliot is I think one of the most undervalued yet wonderful heroines in Austen’s oeuvre. She’s kind, good with children, virtuous, gracious to her friends even against public opinion, and if she gives too much weight to the opinions of her friends as a young person, that’s not, in my opinion, a fault…I think that erring in the direction of listening more to the advice of older people is a wise move for a young person (even if most of them don’t recognize that). And if she’s not necessarily happy with her lot in life, she’s at least content, which is very hard to accomplish.
My mom likes to call Persuasion “the autumnal book”, or something along those lines, and it really is…it’s not exactly sad, but it’s also not as goofy as Austen’s earlier books. She strikes a good balance in this one, I think, between seriousness and comedy, although her wit still shines through—her comments on how one couple’s marriage might be much like how they drive a carriage is one of my favorite moments in the book. (Comedic gold.)
One of the things that I love most about it, besides the dry wit (which is an Austen staple, of course) is the way that little moments build the romantic narrative. The moment where he hands her into the carriage, the small looks, and small kindnesses—it’s almost suspenseful, really, and you can feel the tension building!
Also, as a review I read recently pointed out, Austen actually lets us see the end of the story. In some of her other books, the end is like “aaaaand she accepted his proposal, and you can imagine the sweet conversations, and they had a lovely wedding the end”, but the end of this one, with the letter, is so poignant and gripping. None of that ridiculous “you can imagine” stuff. 

3. Emma
Emma was actually the first Jane Austen book I ever read—my mom and I read it aloud to each other for quite awhile, although I ultimately finished it on my own, because she got busy (as moms are wont to do). It’s definitely the Jane Austen with the most memorable experience connected to it: we were reading it aloud to each other while waiting for one of our first goats to give birth! (There’s still a picture of me sitting in the goat shed with the goat at my feet, reading Emma.) It’s been long enough since I read it that a reread is probably in order, but it speaks well of the book that I can still remember it so vividly after…probably six years, at this point? Okay, now I feel old.
Anyway, Austen pulls off the unlikeable/oblivious main character extremely well—it’s a compelling book despite Emma herself being SO clueless! But her cluelessness is so fun to watch, especially when it bites her in the butt… (I have a couple of (ironically, male) friends with whom I will occasionally scheme about other peoples’ romantic relationships, and we will often stop ourselves and be like ‘no, we need to stop, we’re being Emmas. XD) Unsurprisingly, the book gets the award for most mortifying scene in Austen’s fiction (one of the reasons why it’s #3 on the list…I don’t do well with mortifying scenes) for the Box Hill debacle.
But it also gets the award for second best romantic interest—or possibly best. I love Mr. Darcy (as I said, I’m a lot like him), but because I’m a lot like him, I can see his faults very clearly, and Mr. Knightley is quite a bit more virtuous than he is and does an excellent job of spurring Emma on to virtue. The only mark against him is the age gap, which is, admittedly, a bit creepy.
Also, the twist at the end of this book is excellent—I think it was one of my first experiences with a twist ending, and I was floored. It was excellent. 

4. Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park is the book that I read most recently, to finish off my reading of Austen’s works! I had been procrastinating reading it for a LONG time, mostly because people were always like “oh gosh, it’s sooooo boring and Fanny is suuuuuch a terrible heroine”, but I didn’t find that to be the case. In fact, I liked it well enough to put it fourth on this list. Because, while it can’t compare with the ‘big three’, it can and does beat out Northanger and S&S any day. In my opinion, at least.
I’m curious if one of the reasons people don’t like it as much is that it’s based so heavily around principles. Edmund’s principles, Fanny’s principles, the non-principles of Henry & Mary…they’re all important to the plot, and I wonder if, for some people, that seems silly. It didn’t seem so to me—I quite liked it.
And I quite liked Fanny as well. Although she hasn’t had much experience with judging character, she is a good judge of character, and while she is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt (as a Christian should), she evaluates people by her moral principles. Very good. Also, I appreciated that while she is a timid person, she has a strong will underneath all of her shyness, and when she’s being heavily pressured to do something that’s against her moral code, she resists. It’s not easy, but she does, and that is, in my opinion, an occasion of moral heroism. Just because she’s not a go-getter doesn’t mean that she’s a bad heroine.
I also found the plot of this one quite a bit more compelling than either Northanger or S&S…suspenseful, even! And for everyone who says that Edmund is an idiot…yes, he’s a bit of an idiot, but aren’t most young men? Give him credit that he at least recognized his idiocy and backpedaled.  

5. Sense & Sensibility
Sense & Sensibility, while I love it for some reasons, is also very nearly my least favourite for others. I love it for its accurate depiction of sisters (a common theme in Austen’s work), but specifically because I am Elinor and my sister Legolas is Marianne. (Reading S&S helped me make sense of our relationship, actually.) It also has my favorite tongue-in-cheek Austen quote ever: “not everyone has your passion for dead leaves”.
However, it has perhaps been too long since I read it, but to my recollection, the plot. Just. Drags. There’s interesting stuff at the beginning, and there’s interesting stuff at the end, but in the middle it’s far too long and far too slow.
In addition, I don’t love either of the male leads. Colonel Brandon is a good man, but he’s also creepily old (this bothers me much more here than with Mr. Knightley, for some reason), and Edward is…hmm. He’s a good person, but lacks moral fortitude, which is something that I cannot respect.
AND this book is the most egregious example of the “annnnnd then he courted her and then they got married the end”, especially where Brandon & Marianne are concerned. They get, like, a paragraph of romantic-ness at the end of the book and that’s it. Extremely anticlimactic, especially for how long the slow middle of the book is.
I actually considered putting S&S last on this list, but the recollection that the movie (the one with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson) is my favourite adaptation of any of Jane Austen’s works (I am including the 1995 Pride & Prejudice miniseries in this—yes, I like the S&S movie more, sue me) bumped it up to fifth place. Really, if you’ve never seen it, you must. The bones of the book are good—it’s just that some of the execution is a little wanting. (Also, I have an ancestor buried in that church you see in the above GIF. Which I think is very cool. ;))

6. Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey is a lot of fun. It’s simply a fun read, which I think was Austen’s goal—it’s the most overtly satirical of her books, and the sly dry satire is most amusing. But I tend to like books with a bit more seriousness to them (more like Persuasion), so the satire, while fun, isn’t going to move it up the list for me.
Catherine is a funny heroine, and the commentary about her is even more amusing, but she also gets on my nerves after a while. I know a lot of people relate to her building stuff up in her head, and while I will occasionally do that, it’s not my wont to imagine gothic horrors in every corner, or Bluebeard’s wives in every closet. So, I kind of want to slap some sense into her.
Also, to my recollection, the male lead is a limp noodle (at least, I can remember almost nothing about him), and the plot was not the most compelling. (Neither is Bath my favourite setting—Anne Elliot and I have that in common. Although I do like it a great deal in real life, so there is that.) So, while it was a diverting read, it’s not going to get a spot higher on the list.

So! Have you read all of Jane Austen’s works? Which is your favourite? What’s your favorite Jane Austen film adaptation? And the most important question...for which of these opinions are you going to kill me? XD