I know it's English, but......

I've been reading a lot recently (2 hours a day on the train plus some lunchtimes), so I'm getting through a lot of books.  


I recently read autobiographies by Michael McIntyre (brilliant!) and Stephen Fry (very surprising), "How Hard Can It Be?" by Jeremy Clarkson (funny), "Rivals" by Jilly Cooper (yet again) and finally ended up at the library in search of something new and free.  


After wandering aimlessly for a while in our small local branch I ended up in the "classics" section.  It occurred to me that I now have the dedicated reading time to get stuck in to all the great classic literature I never read under the lame pretense of "not having time".  So where to start?  Which piece of writing should begin my literary catch-up?  How about Jane Austen?  We were recently at Winchester Cathedral where she is buried, so it seemed an appropriate place to begin.


And so, on Tuesday morning, I began reading "Sense and Sensibility".


I feel it is relevant at this time to mention that "Rivals" is 716 pages and I whipped through it in 5 days of train rides.  It's one of those books that is reviewed as being "unputdownable" or "a wickedly good read" ~ that kind of thing.  It's brain candy, a guilty pleasure, and I love it.  


Maybe it wasn't the thing with which to precede Jane Austen.


Now I know I wasn't feeling particularly well on Tuesday morning, but I got off the train after an hour having read less than 20 pages.  I say 20 pages, but if I were to add the paragraphs I read twice, thrice, and fourscore times to the end it would have been a lot more.  In comparison to last weeks 716 pages, this week I read 255.


It's not that I don't know the vocabulary (although I admit there have been several I've had to "sound out" in my head), and I know that language was very different back then, but there are just so many big words in so many very long sentences!


Let me give you an example:


"To the former her raillery was probably, as far as it regarded only himself, perfectly indifferent; but to the latter it was at first incomprehensible; and when its object was understood, she hardly knew whether to laugh at its absurdity, or censure its impertinence, for she considered it as an unfeeling reflection on the Colonel's advanced years, and on his forlorn condition as an old bachelor."


I'm getting through it though, and now that I'm getting used to the phrasings I can concentrate more on the story, which is good.  I'll tell you something though ~ I'm glad I wasn't born back then!  The way those women were expected to live and behave... :: shudders at the thought :: 


So I've almost finished this one, and I have "Emma" to read next, but I thought I'd ask what YOUR favourite classic novel is?  Maybe I'll give it a shot next!