What age for reading Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility?

[helena]

How old were you when you read these? How old were your kids when they read them?

 

What age do you think is best?

:bigear:

[SKL]

I was about 13. I think that's probably a good age. A little younger might be OK, but not sure if too many girls would be interested much younger.

[sparrow]

I was 13 when I read P&P and Emma.

[deacongirl]

My dd11 loves to read. She first read P&P at age 9? I think--of course a lot of it went over her head. Actually it was what prompted me to finally bite the bullet and finish off the birds and the bees talk because IMO the plot doesn't really make sense without understanding why Lydia going off with Wickham was so scandalous. She loves the other books now too, and we have watched many of the movies. We love the movie version of Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and are now in the middle of the BBC Pride and Prejudice. It has been so much fun! Tonight my dad said to her, "You have no sense of humor." Dd said, "yes I do--I think Jane Austen is funny!" Lol! She really cracks up at Mr. Collins. Sooo...I think it depends on the kid. I didn't read it until college but would have enjoyed it much earlier.

[JMDRAD]

:o 28 :leaving:

 

We were never encouraged or required to read classics at my school. We had our sanitized literature text. Making up for my lack of reading now. :)

[Sue G in PA]

I remember reading P & P as a teen and just not getting it. My dd15 just read it this year as part of her 10th grade curriculum. She hated it. Didn't get it. I re-read it so I could better discuss it with her and I LOVED it. :D We even watched the BBC production of it on Netflix and she STILL didn't like it! :confused: I guess Austen's humor is over her head. I was :lol: through so much of it! To answer your question...I think high school aged would be best.

[Sumiller]

:o 28 :leaving:

 

We were never encouraged or required to read classics at my school. We had our sanitized literature text. Making up for my lack of reading now. :)

 

Don't feel bad, Rachel. I first read Pride and Prejudice after seeing the movie version with Keira Knightley. I was 43.

 

I've since watched the BBC version. It's sooooo much better!

[Susan of Croton]

We're doing a read aloud of Pride and prejudice this year; ds 13 and dd 12.

[Erica in OR]

DD will be reading P & P as part of the 7th grade TWTM lit list this year. I didn't read any Austen until my 30's, spurred on by the various BBC and movie versions.

 

I'll put in a plug here for Lost in Austen, if you're looking for a fresh movie version of P & P.

 

Erica in OR

[momma2three]

I think I was about 16 when I read P&P? I'd say anytime in high school is good. A younger child could certainly read it and understand it, but I'm not sure most would catch a lot of the social nuances or be particularly interested in the love story. Totally depends on the child... it's not like there's inappropriate content for a younger child (no violence, the closest thing to a mention of sex is always-looking-on-the-bright-side Jane saying something like "maybe her honor is not lost yet..." after Lydia runs off), but it's really a novel of manners and I think it requires some maturity to find that terribly interesting.

 

I didn't read S&S and Emma until college, and I think my answer would be about the same for them. Emma is the funniest of the Austen novels, so IMO a slightly younger kid might like it more than the others.

[helena]

Oh! EMMA! How about Emma? Same as the others?

[xixstar]

Listening to Sense and Sensibility right now - though to be fair, I first listened to it within the past few years. Never read them in schooling and only now really taking pleasure in the classics - I think a great level of emotional maturity makes that far more enjoyable than if I had read them before.

[Farrar]

I once had an 8th grade student, who I thought of as pretty advanced, read Emma and she clearly read it and was okay with it, but maybe didn't really get it. Maybe just her, but also maybe not quite the right time. It probably varies a lot. I think some people may love these early and others may not appreciate them until later.

[momma2three]

Oh! EMMA! How about Emma? Same as the others?

 

Emma is definitely my favorite. It's hilarious. My favorite line is Mr. Woodhouse making the crack about (paraphrased, obviously): "Oh Emma makes a list of all the books she should read all the time. They're all very pretty lists, each arranged in very sensible ways. Sometimes she even starts the first one on the list before she gets bored of her endeavor." It's like he knows me.

 

And then after reading Emma you can watch Clueless and do a compare and contrast. :lol:

[Hoot]

I read P&P in my mid to late 20's. We never read it in school. I loathed it with a passion and never picked up any of the others. I won't require DS to read it at all, but if I had a girl I would suggest 9th grade.

[LucyStoner]

I was 11 and 12 when I read through most of Austen and Elliot. I will admit I got more out of them when I returned to them later on, but I enjoyed them quite a lot and understood them. I just got the historical, cultural and sexual nuances on a deeper level once I was a little bit older.

[Cinder]

:o 28 :leaving:

 

Don't feel bad, Rachel. I first read Pride and Prejudice after seeing the movie version with Keira Knightley. I was 43.

 

Got ya beat. I'm older than 43 and still haven't read either of these. :blush: We did read a lot of classics in high school, just not Austen.

[Sumiller]

I read P&P in my mid to late 20's. We never read it in school. I loathed it with a passion and never picked up any of the others. I won't require DS to read it at all, but if I had a girl I would suggest 9th grade.

 

I had to chuckle when I read this. Both my boys groan when I mention wanting to watch P&P (BBC version). Lately, my ds15 has been trying to get me to watch The Dark Knight Rises. I stopped wanting to watch Batman movies after Batman Returns. They are too dark for me and just really bother me. I'm sensitive I guess. So my ds15 made the mistake of saying that he would watch P&P if I would watch Dark Knight Rises. I have to admit, I'm tempted if only to get him to watch my favorite movie! I think we're both having second thoughts, though.

[musicianmom]

Well, 8 is definitely too young. That's when I read P&P for the first time. My mom was taking a grad school lit course, and I was dying to read her books. She would only let me read P&P and Pilgrim's Progress because the rest were too racy.

 

I was young enough to prefer Wickham over Darcy, so I was obviously too young for the book.

[Ohdanigirl]

I was 11. Two of my favorite books.

 

Dnaielle

[momma2three]

Well, 8 is definitely too young. That's when I read P&P for the first time. My mom was taking a grad school lit course, and I was dying to read her books. She would only let me read P&P and Pilgrim's Progress because the rest were too racy.

 

I was young enough to prefer Wickham over Darcy, so I was obviously too young for the book.

 

LOL, I can see that being an issue!

[OrganicAnn]

I'd say the best time to read them is between 17 and 24. But I would suggest that you prime the pump with other literature, such as Little Women (I'm sure there are other but I'm drawing a blank).

 

For all you who enjoy Austen don't forget besides Clueless (Emma) there is Bridget Jone's Diary (P&P).

[Rosie_0801]

I read them as a teen and didn't appreciate them, as I did when I tried them again in my early 20's. On the other hand, I've just finished reading P&P to my 5yo. She liked it because she was familiar with the BBC version.

 

Rosie

[Sparkle]

I think I read P&P when I was maybe in 8th or 9th grade, and hated it. Thought it was the stupidest book ever. Then I re-read it a few years later and loved it! I obviously did not get all the humor the first time. I absolutely adore Jane Austen.

 

Anyway, I read this aloud to my 11th grader last year. I don't think it was one of his favorites but he was OK with it. I think girls would probably like it more than boys would though.

[AndyJoy]

I remember reading P & P as a teen and just not getting it. My dd15 just read it this year as part of her 10th grade curriculum. She hated it. Didn't get it. I re-read it so I could better discuss it with her and I LOVED it. :D We even watched the BBC production of it on Netflix and she STILL didn't like it! :confused: I guess Austen's humor is over her head. I was :lol: through so much of it! To answer your question...I think high school aged would be best.

 

I read extensively and voraciously as a teen, including many classics, but P&P left me thinking "Meh." at 15 before "Meh" existed :D. At 21 I thought it was funny and engaging! At 15 I wasn't interested in boys or romance or witty banter with boys leading to romance. By 21 it was a lot more relevant to my life experience and much more enjoyable.

 

I just finished reading Anna Karenina for the 1st time (at age 30), and found myself feeling sorry for the poor 16-year-olds that were assigned to read it in high school. I really enjoyed it, but it wouldn't have been a good fit at 16!

Edited August 19, 2012 by AndyJoy

[justkeepswimming]

I cannot wait for my girls to read Austen! I think we're going to start with Emma, then Sense and Sensibility... but probably not until 10th or 11th grade. They'd get it... but they wouldn't "get" it, kwim? Not yet. I think at least one of my girls would have the issue discussed above of preferring Wickham to Darcy. lol

 

I still have issues sometimes while reading Mansfield Park - something in me is convinced that Henry would've been good if Fanny would have married him, poor soul... I always find myself rooting for him over the stuffy always-right Edmund. :p

Edited August 19, 2012 by justkeepswimming

[Kirch]

I didn't discover Jane Austen until I was flying home from college one semester and looking for something to read on the plane. It was love at first read! I'm not quite sure how I never encountered them in high school--maybe they were options on the list from which I chose Wuthering Heights for my senior lit paper (oh, that I had found P&P then instead!). I think I would have enjoyed her books earlier, but I don't know that I would've really appreciated them much before 16 or 17. ITA with the suggestion to "prime the pump." Books like Little Women, The Secret Garden, and Heidi were some of my all-time favorites. Loving JA seems to be the natural next step!

[helena]

Thanks everyone!

Yesterday I noticed my 13yo put these on her reading shelf. I wasn't sure if that was too young, but it sounds her the age isn't totally off. She loves all the movies... We'll see!

[SKL]

I already chimed in saying I was 13. After reading other replies, I wanted to add that I really loved this book and understood it at 13.

 

Another poster mentioned setting the stage for this type of book before introducing it. At 13, I was on a romantic classic kick, and if I remember correctly, it all started with Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights was also engaging. We had to read Silas Marner for school, and while not an easy read, it had a similar tone and I enjoyed it. I also read some Dickens at that age - Oliver Twist was probably my first. We were also reading a lot of Shakespeare in school. I had previously read a lot of Sherlock Holmes, which probably made the English style easier to deal with.