Northanger Abbey
I just finished the twelfth of thirty-one chapters. A few of my thoughts so far:
As el Seco pointed out on the Higher Drama Book Club website, one gets the feeling that a young Jane Austen based the leading female character (Miss Morland) at least loosely on herself at that age. It is a comfort that Miss Morland is an avid reader; it is a trait I can identify with.
I would venture to say that Austen has such a knowledge of people and such a talent for writing people that her characters are exceedingly genuine; Mr. Thorpe, Miss Thorpe and Mrs. Allen in particular stand out as archetypes of personalities that exist even today (particularly the detestable Mr. Thorpe).
I admit to enjoying the work so far. There have been a few brief passages that I had to trudge through, but otherwise it has been an easy and enjoyable read.
I hope the others will be as enjoyable as this one has been so far, but I keep my hopes low. I started "Sense and Sensibility" a year or two ago and never finished it.
I picked up a copy of "The Complete Novels of Jane Austen" published by Wordsworth Editions at Half Price Books for $9.98.
posted by: | comments: 7
5 Jan 2010 2:20 pmcategories: Entertainment | Books
I got my copy of The Complete Works for $20 from Amazon. I should have gone with Half Price.
I agree with you with the generalities of the novel, but I think Austen was the same age as the protagonist when she wrote this story and I feel like sometimes her young age shows. I need to think about this some more and flesh out my opinion as I continue reading. I'll likely post most of my thoughts on The Higher Drama Book Club site, but I'll be sure to post my conclusions here.
By the way, The Higher Drama Book Club (http://drama.abinadi.net) has open registration so anyone can sign up to join in the discussion.
I think the name Richard at that time was considered unfortunate because of King Richard III--especially to those who are fans of Shakespeare. If you read Jane Austen's History of England (an extremely entertaining read), she mentions him, but also admits to sympathizing with him more than is popular.
"Do you understand muslins, sir?...You must be a great comfort to your sister."
That part always amused me, partly because, contrary to a popular misconception, it is the only time in all six books that I am aware of, that Austen talks about dress. And she's poking fun at Mrs. Allen.
But do you think that the fact that the hero "understands muslin" is one of the indicators of the author's young age?
Anyway, just to warn you all, the 2nd half of Northanger Abbey lags somewhat. As el Seco pointed out, it is hardly her most polished novel.
I finished it a couple of days ago. I wrote a long comment with my thoughts but when I hit submit the site gave me a fatal stack something or other error.
I finished it today. I posted by thoughts on the Higher Drama Web Site. I will say that I liked the book and that I look forward to seeing the movie now.
Make sure you see the new one. The old one is creepy--80s makeup and some odd kind of techno soundtrack.
I saw the 2007 version. It was terrible.
Terrible!