The brave don't live forever. The cautious don't live at all.--shango

Howdy Howdy all!

Well as you know I have been trying to read Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I thought I had read it before but I soon realized that I had not.  I am not saying I don't dig it, on the contrary, I am enjoying pretty well but some of the wording is just impenetrable for me. Just paragraphs of saying something that could have been said in five lines. Succinctness was not a given in this era and surely not in this novel.

I don't like Willoughby! We talked about him briefly in class and everyone kept saying that he would have married Marianne if Mrs. Smith had not "forced" him to do otherwise but I don't know if I believe that. You see he was very very forward with Marianne. And at that time it was my understanding that propriety was strictly regarded by those of a certain class. The people you could be "fresh" with were those of little means and no discernible rank. In short, men could be coarse with poor chicks but had to maintain some serious decorum with chicks sitting on cash and status. Willoughby understood these rules if his aunt had so much control over him. He knew he would never be able to marry Marianne and he had fun with her until the end of his season in the country was over. He had all the facts about how far they could go from the start.

Everyone in the class kept going on and on about how much he loved her, I just didnt read that.
What do ya'll think?