Northanger Abbey

Rating:
Summary: A hilarious sendup of the Gothic novel
Review: I used to love Gothic novels. I collected out-of-print Victoria Holt paperbacks, I had stuffed animals named after characters in Charlotte and Emily Bronte novels, but ever since I've read Northanger Abbey, I can't read a Gothic novel with a straight face. Jane Austen does a marvelous job of sending up convoluted scary novels (and melodrama in general) in this book, and creates her most masculine and fascinating hero, Henry Tilney.

Don't think that Catherine Morland, the heroine, is just a naive kid. Her naivete is a necessary component of the novel, as it allows her to see the wider world with fresh eyes, provide a foil to the more worldly characters, and ultimately capture the heart of the hero.

And then there's Henry...he teases, he teaches, he forgives Catherine's regrettable fancies, knowing that he had a hand in encouraging them. He's witty, he's charming, he's kind of a slob, and he wears his greatcoats so well!

As in all her novels, Jane Austen provides a great host of hilarious supporting characters, in particular John and Isabella Thorpe and Mrs. Allen. I defy anyone not to laugh at John Thorpe's nonsensical and contradictory comments. One wonders how many such "rattles" wearied Miss Austen's attention to provide such a character study.

Great writing, great story, great characters...come to Northanger Abbey with a sense of humor and you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Don't expect another "Pride and Prejudice".
Review: In the first chapter of "Northanger Abbey", Jane Austen introduces Catherine Morland and pretends to apologize for having such an unromantic heroine. In the next few chapters, Catherine appears to live up to her creator's apology, while the author appears to forget all about telling us about the abbey for which her novel is named.

The presence of the two shockingly audacious and impudent Thorpes--John and Isabella--almost makes up for this. Never did I want to slap and/or kick two fictional characters more. The ways in which they try to foil Catherine's hope of romance with Henry Tilney--and arrange a marriage between the artful Isabella and Catherine's innocent, unsuspecting brother--are enough to make readers gnash their teeth. Ironically, the scenes with the charming Henry and his kind sister Eleanor ramble along in comparison to the explosive scenes "graced" by the outrageous Thorpes.

I liked the last twelve chapters better. Actually set in Northanger Abbey, they are a hilarious satire of the nineteenth century Gothic novel. Catherine stumbles into misadventure after misadventure (if I may be so generous as to call them such), thanks to her wild imagination and voracious novel-reading. It is wonderful to be caught in the excitement of a (pseudo) Gothic mystery that readers know is not real, but that they understand _could_ be real. It's the excitement of telling ghost stories around a campfire then trying to get to sleep. Everyone believes that anything could happen, though anything rarely does. It's nice, safe, thrilling fun.

In my opinion, Jane Austen was having so much fun herself, in writing these scenes, that she did not sufficiently develop the romance between Catherine and Henry. They have few scenes together and Henry's character is too agreeable to be as interesting as John Thorpe's--or even General Tilney's. (Jane Austen should have apologized for him instead of for Catherine. Henry Tilney is more a Mr. Bingley than a Mr. Darcy.)

Despite this, "Northanger Abbey" has the expected happy romantic ending--with the author still giving cheeky asides to the reader. I'd still recommend this book . . . but only after "Pride and Prejudice", of course.

Rating:
Summary: just not good
Review: Many of the references Austen made in Northanger Abbey were meant to be satirical towards the gothic writing style prevalent in her time. Certain elements of wordplay in her characters' dialogue will also sound dated to a modern reader. For example, Catherine describes a popular gothic novel as being "Horrible", which can be taken as "Awful" or that the book was scary, which is a way the word was used in the author's time.

Having said this, the book is slow, and is not as easy and interesting to read as her other novels, which can be explained by saying that this is her first attempt, and improvement was inevitable. The characters were not well-developed; I didn't understand the love-interest and I didn't believe that these two people were suited for each other. Again, she improved later.

If you choose to read this book, try to get an edition with notes on the text.It will help a great deal in clarifying that which is now a centuries-old inside joke.