Persuasion: The book or Netflix movie?

I was scrolling through Netflix one day and discovered the new Persuasion movie, which led me to want to read all of Jane Austin’s books. So I hopped on Amazon and bought a collection of six of her books. Having never read her books and taking advice from another article, I started by reading Persuasion. Plus, if I was going to watch the new movie with Dakota Johnson, I wanted to read the book first to understand the film more. So in the following paragraphs, I will tell you what I thought of the book and movie and how they compared to each other.

Starting with the book, I found Jane Austin’s writing style slightly confusing at first, causing it to be hard for me to read at my usual pace. Unfortunately, this also caused me to have a hard time enjoying the book until I read enough of it to decipher what was going on. However, the satire and sarcasm kept me entertained, and I liked all the scheming and tension between the characters. It was a great depiction of how arrogant and dramatic the rich can be, especially back then. And it was amazing to feel that tension between Anne and Captain Wentworth sustained for so long; it kept me captivated and wanting to know more about them. I couldn’t put the book down once; I moved past Jane’s writing style. Through reading this book, I can see why so many people love Jane Austin’s books.

Now let’s begin with the movie; I had high hopes for this movie, with Dakota Johnson being in it. And it did have some great moments of sarcasm and drama. But it felt like without Dakota Johnson; it wouldn’t have been much of a movie. She was so funny and sarcastic throughout the film that watching her act was entertaining. But unfortunately, I felt like there wasn’t enough of the book in the movie, and critical characters were left out. And it made the film not feel whole or complete to me. I was left wanting more from this movie and had I not read the book first; I may have enjoyed the movie more.

Persuasion, as a whole, was an excellent satire on the rich of England and was very entertaining with all the drama and tension between the characters. In addition, it allowed us a glimpse into a world often talked about but never described as well as Jane Austen does in this book. Her book allowed me to dive more into these characters and their relationships with each other, and I would have loved to have seen more of that in the movie. I understand there is only so much time in a film, but they could have done better at building the characters and playing out all the relationships. Plus, when they left out a few key characters in the movie, it felt like it changed the whole story. And the ending didn’t sit quite right with me, as the book did a better job leading up to that beautiful romantic moment between Anne and Captain Wentworth. But, overall, I would say the book and movie are worth the watch as long as you don’t hold the film to the same standards as the book.

In conclusion, I will say that I rather enjoyed reading my first Jane Austin book. It was quite an experience and worth every moment I spent reading it. I look forward to reading her following five books. Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts with you, and if you enjoyed this review, please take the time to subscribe to my vocal page.

Since I first began writing this article, I have gone on to read Emma and have found it delightful. I plan to give you all a review of it at a later date.