Sense and Sensibility

　　
　　★英倫第一女作家珍．奧斯汀小說出道作
　　★英倫票選百大必讀的經典小說
　　★李安導演金熊獎、金球獎電影名作《理性與感性》原著

　　天秤兩端的情感世界
　　感情世界就像一個天秤，理性與感性各占一邊。
　　太多的理性缺少浪漫與激情；
　　太多的感性讓人盲目追尋。
　　兩者該如何平衡？
　　
　 　《理性與感性》圍繞在兩姊妹以理性和感性處理情感時的矛盾與掙扎。主角艾琳諾與瑪麗安姐妹情深，但兩人對感情的態度卻大相逕庭：姐姐艾琳諾個性冷靜理 智，面對感情保守而壓抑；妹妹瑪麗安則是熱情感性，不顧一切的追隨愛情。雖然兩姐妹的個性如此不同，在感情路上卻同樣跌跌撞撞。
　　
　　 艾琳諾愛上一位靦腆的紳士愛德華，兩人互相傾慕，卻因為愛德華背負著一宗錯誤的婚約受到阻礙，他們只能克制愛意，一邊進行猜心的遊戲；妹妹瑪麗安瘋狂愛上 一名英雄救美的瀟灑青年魏樂比，但他卻辜負少女一片癡情，選擇財富，害得瑪麗安因鬱成疾。儘管一波三折，這對姊妹終究靠著良善的本質覓得良緣。
　　
　 　《理性與感性》是英國最偉大的女性小說作家珍．奧斯汀在文壇上嶄露頭角的出道作品。精緻細膩的情節鋪陳，機智風趣的生動對話，讓它成大家心目中的愛情經 典，更是電視、電影最愛改編的故事之一。珍．奧斯汀擅長描寫愛情與婚姻，她的獨到見解，即使跨過數個世紀依然適用，字字句句寫進愛戀中人的心坎，是對愛情 最刻骨銘心的剖析。

　　*本書中譯本<<理性與感性>>由遊目族出版

　　Austen's first published work, portraying the lives of the Dashwood sisters

　　Elinor is as prudent as her sister Marianne is impetuous. Each must learn from the other after they are they are forced by their father's death to leave their home and enter into the contests of polite society. The charms of unsuitable men and the schemes of rival ladies mean that their paths to success are thwart with disappointment but together they attempt to find a way to happiness.

珍．奧斯汀（Jane Austen，1775-1817）

　　珍．奧斯汀自小便受到父、母親積極培 養，熱愛閱讀，並沈浸在文學世界中。她十二歲開始嘗試寫作，自此展露出卓越的文筆和才華。珍．奧斯汀一生很少離開她所居住的城鎮，但是她卻在小小世界裡， 發掘許多題材，並寫下六部長篇小說，分別是《理性與感性》、《傲慢與偏見》、《諾桑卡修道院》、《曼斯菲爾莊園》、《艾瑪》和《勸服》。

　 　珍．奧斯汀善用精準的觀察和純熟的文筆，在平凡的人、事、物中萃取出引人入勝的故事情節。小說家吳爾芙（Virginia Woolf）讚美她擁有洞察人物內心奧秘的眼光，文學家卡萊爾（Thomas Carlyle）更將她與莎士比亞相提並論。她所描繪的故事與角色，早已超越時代的考驗，直至今日仍屢次被搬上螢幕，讓世人見證她永恆的經典創作。

　　Henry Hitchings was born in 1974. He is the author of The Secret Life of Words, Who's Afraid of Jane Austen?, and Defining the World. He has contributed to many newspapers and magazines and is the theater critic for the London Evening Standard.

　　Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist whose works are among the most popular novels ever written. Her keen eye for social tension, and ear for taut, witty dialogue have delighted readers for centuries, while her novels have maintained historical importance through their analysis of the dependence of women on marriage to gain social standing and security. She has been widely adapted for both stage and screen, and continues to be among the most widely-read of late-18th-/early 19th-century writers.