Northanger Abbey

Rating:
Summary: Shrewd and witty
Review: Jane Austen just knocks me out. She wrote in a living room full of extended family,she wrote longhand when paper was not so plentiful as it is today and mistakes could not be so frequently wadded up and tossed to the landfill, she wrote without the instant editing afforded by personal computers, she wrote without benefit of the MFA programs and workshops we are assured today are the only route to producing literary art, and yet she wrote beautifully and for all time. Every word counts, every character is real, every scene pulses along in a swift current. Her work can be many things at once: social satire, romance, social criticism, a comedy of manners. It is a portrait of a certain society in a certain time, it is a universal commentary on human foibles, gender relations, class and money.

NORTHANGER ABBEY was one of Austen's earliest mature works, and it stands alongside PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and the rest. She does something different in this one: she uses her own novel to, among other things, satirize the popular literature of her time, especially Ann Radcliffe's MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO. She sets out telling us that her protagonist, Catherine Morland, is not your typical heroine, that in fact she's ordinary without special talents, a dramatic home life or heart-stopping beauty. She belongs to the audience that was vacuuming up the burgeoning genre of popular literature of her time, and the second half of the story largely finds her attempting to live like a heroine in her favorite gothic romance, only to have reality jump out of the closet at her at every turn. The first half of the story is the set up for the second, the comedy of manners that positions her in the company of the residents of Northanger Abbey, whose name conjures up in her mind a dramatic ruin of a castle. There is, in fact, quite a bit of suspense that keeps you up late, just not the kind Catherine has in mind. If you pay attention in the first half of the book, you will find the "guns" neatly planted that go off in the last act.




Rating:
Summary: Doing It Gothic Style
Review: Doing It Gothic Style

NORTHANGER ABBEY
By: Jane Austen/Random House, Inc.


Catherine Morland was a young seventeen year old girl, growing up in a small village where she had about nine brothers and sisters, other than herself. Her mother was an ordinary woman who sometimes had too much to do, while her father was a clergyman. Just for the season, Catherine was invited by Mr. and Mrs. Allen to come with them to a town called Bath. At first, Mrs. Allen and Catherine are disappointed by the lack of acquaintances, even though they walk the town all day and go to the upper room and the lower rooms. Mrs. Allen had a sense for fashion and always had a beautiful dress on. Soon enough Catherine was introduced to Henry Tilney. However, as she started to develop a crush on him and looked forward to their meetings, he did not come around for a while. By a sudden twist of fate, she meets the Thorpe's. A family whom her brother knows because he had befriended their son and stayed with them for a summer .She quickly became friends with the eldest daughter, Isabella Thorpe. She had a grace and way about her that Catherine admired very much. She is the one who encourages Catherine's interest in romantic fantasies and gothic reading. Isabella also starts a love triangle between herself and James Morland, Catherine, John and Henry. For the first half it is nothing but parties and friendship. It is not until the second half of the book that Catherine is invited to the Tilney's house in Northanger Abbey, where she gets caught up in her own imagination and believes that in that house there has been a murder and the murderer still lives there. Just like in the gothic novels she had been reading. Unfortunately, she was kicked out by General Tilney himself later on.
In the end, the book was about a girl who was naïve, awkward and shy yet she had kindness in her heart and sometimes got lost in her own world sometimes seeing things that were not true. With all the books she read and believed in, her imagination would tend to catch up to her.
Overall, this book was a three star because even though the story was a little plane at the beginning, it improved later on. It was a good read if you are into a corky story or like the old books written in the late eighteen hundreds or beginning nineteen hundreds. I would not however, recommend it to anyone seeking adventure.
By: Christina Menendez


Rating:
Summary: My 5th Austen book....lot's of fun!!
Review: This is perhaps the most childish (I mean that in a nice way) of Jane Austen's books. It's good for even teens my age to read and enjoy because it's shorter, with a more obvious side of humor to it than the other novels. (I have never minded reading classics; my friends think I'm weird but...I don't care!) Jane Austen seems to be laughing up her sleeve at her own story and its characters. It's a satire of Mrs. Radcliffe's novels and the stereotype heroes of the age and she often refers to Catherine as `a heroine' and compares her plights to those of other heroines. It's really very funny and some of the situations Kate finds herself in are highly entertaining.

Gone is the restraint and almost painfully polite atmosphere. This is really the only Austen book where you don't feel that suffocating blanket of manners and what's proper all around you. The heroine speaks pretty plainly, and the hero openly teases both her and his sister (and is very cute ^-^). The ending is pretty shocking and totally unexpected. My mom is almost psychic when it comes to guessing plots and their outcomes but even she didn't know what was coming when she read this book.

This is also the only Austen book (besides Pride and Prejudice) that got me to laugh out loud. It has a priceless section about how most heroines would never deign to touch a novel; if they picked one up by accident they would be sure to put it back down in disgust. However, Catherine is more than ready to read novels with her friend Isabella; books like The Mysteries of Udolpho, though she wouldn't like to admit it. When the hero-much to her dismay-finds out, he entirely approves. They have the cutest romance, and I really like the naïve Catherine as the heroine.

The only thing about the book I didn't like was the soppy friendship between Catherine and Isabella. When Catherine is slightly late meeting her friend, Isabella says this sickeningly sweet phrase to her, "Where have you been, darling? I have been waiting for you this past hour!" (Not an exact quotation, but something along those lines) I much prefer Henry's sister as her friend. There is actually a really god contrast between the beautiful Isabella and the quiet shy sister who turns out to be the better and more deserving friend. And Catherine is such an imaginative heroine, who reminds a bit of Anne of Green Gables with her flights of fancy that end hilariously!

I really liked this book and will probably read it again soon along with Emma and Pride and Prejudice. I'd like to see the movie also. Great book, and a great place to start reading Austen's novels. Highly recommended


Rating:
Summary: enjoyable, but not typical Austen
Review: If you have not read Jane Austen before, don't start with this book! (Start with perhaps Pride and Prejudice or Emma.)

Northanger Abbey was her earliest written novel, but it did not get published until after she died. This book is meant to be a parody. She is making fun of some of other gothic books that were in circulation at that time. The main character gets a little too obsessed with gothic novel reading, and imagines a sinister plot in the abbey becasue her imagination is out of control.

This book is much more juvenille than Austen's other books. I felt like I was reading something for teenagers. (Austen's other books have more depth and maturity to them.)

However, it was an enjoyable, easy read... and as an Austen fan, I wanted to read Austen's earliest work.

Rating:
Summary: The Education of a Proper 19th Century Heroine
Review: This early Austen novel about a society girl's coming of age reads easily with its considerable dialogue, despite the presence of extensive historical vocabulary. Definitely of greater interest to girls than boys NORTHANGER ABBEY introduces readers to 17-year old Catherine Morland, a naïve but morally-honest well-bred young lady. Invited to the fashionable watering hole of Bath by the Allens--kind neighbors serving as hosts and chaperones, Catherine is delighted at this opportunity to seek Adventure away from her calm country home.

Volume I presents Bath in high season where Catherine is formally introduced to and socializes with two families: the Thorpes and the Tilneys, who reveal stark social contrasts among the upper class. Mr. John Thorpe, a friend of her brother's, quickly attaches himself to Catherine, but his vanity, arrogance and deceit soon displease and eventually disgust her. His sister, Isabella, however, proves a dear and immediate friend,
at least during most of Catherine's sojourn in Bath. Soon after she meets the distinguished Tilney family: a stern General, a son who is a Captain, a sweet and modest sister, Eleanor, and the cadet son, Henry. Vol. I concludes with Catherine receiving permission from her parents and the Allens to spend several weeks at the Tilney homestead, a former Abbey.

Eager to explore a real edifice which might have been the setting for a Gothic novel, Catherine is thrilled at this extended invitation. By this time she is very fond of Henry and hopes privately that romance will bloom in the quiet, dignified setting. Unfortunately she expects the worst horrors as a result of her dedicated reading of Mrs. Radcliffe's novels, for
where no mystery exits, Catherine is determined to discover one. Volume Two describes her gracious reception at Northanger, but she soon feels certain to have stumbled upon a secret family shame or even horror. Her imagination may be running away with her, but the General's odd behavior seems to confirm her growing suspicious of dark deeds surrounding the death of the late Mrs. Tileny.

Suddenly, without any explanation, the domineering General orders Catherine thrown out of his home-defying all the rules of hospitality and decency. Henry is not present to protest, so Catherine is dispatched alone--in ignominy and secret tears--back to her unsuspecting family 70 miles away. This tale chronicles the most turbulent year in Catherine's young life, but how much is to be blamed on her excessive devotion to Gothic novels? Or is there a truly sinister plot undermining the hopes of the young lovers? JA uses her characters as mouthpieces to express her decided opinions on the role of fiction, literature and history. This is Austen-lite, with hints of her future work, where her heroines prove better judges of their acquaintances ans their own hearts.




Rating:
Summary: Jane Austen is Funnier Than You Thought
Review: I've always appreciated the wit of Jane Austen. Understated and sly, she manages to portray the inner wit and wisdom of early 18th century upper-class English women quite well. The choice is never to marry or not. The choice is always whom to marry and why.

Unlike her other works, Northanger Abbey is a satire on the gothic "horror" novel so prevalent at the time. Full of suspenseful build-ups and hysterical interruptions, the story revolves around Catherine Morland, as unlikely a heroine as ever graced the pages. Amid the story, Ms. Austen interrupts with witty attacks on Mrs. Radcliffe and other gothic novelists.

As always, Austen's humor is stylish and full of truths. She was perhaps a much happier forerunner to Dorothy Parker, in that she cut right through the sheen and told it like it was, as she knew it.

I'd recommend Northanger Abbey to anyone who enjoys Austen's writings, gothic novels, or sly humor.

Rating:
Summary: Early Jane but still worthy
Review: All periods have their literary crazes, the equivalents of "The DaVinci Code" or serial killer books. In Austen's time, it was the Gothic romance, with its beautiful suffering heroines, haunted castles, ghostly visitations, and unspeakable horrors. "Northanger Abbey" is Austen's send-up of this genre, which she combines with a more typical (for her) story of husband hunting and social comedy.

Catherine Moreland is the least accomplished of Austen's heroines. She's pretty enough and gently reared, but the author makes it plain that she's the early 19th century equivalent of an airhead. In typical Austen fashion, Catherine travels to Bath in the care of family friends and quickly becomes best friends with the husband-hunting Isabel Thorpe. She also encounters Henry Tillney and his sister Elinor. Henry and Catherine hit it off, although not without some rough spots created by the actions of Isabel and her family. When Catherine is invited to visit the Tillney's home, the ancient Northanger Abbey, she is delighted as much by the chance of having a Gothic adventure as by spending time with her beloved's family. Making much out of little and using her favorite novels as guides, she immediately begins to investigate the hidden secrets of the place and reads a nefarious purpose into Henry's father's every action. Eventually her eyes are opened to reality, duplicity is exposed in the real world, and Catherine gets her man.

"Northanger Abbey" is one of Jane Austen's earliest works, and many consider it her weakest. Compared to "Pride and Prejudice," it's definitely rough around the edges. But it still has its pleasures. Austen may not have created as admirable a heroine in Catherine as Elizabeth, or Emma, or Anne, but she treats her kindly in the end. Austen's eye for the foibles of those around her is just as sharp as it would be later, and her pen is just as lethal. As for Austen's literary parody, you don't have to have read the early 19th century Gothic novel to appreciate the humor the message. Just think about the effect that many of our novels and movies have on us today--it's basically the same thing. Austen may have been using what was familiar to her audience, but the point remains--art and reality are not the same and those who are too impressionable run the risk of confusing them.