Monday, February 21, 2022

Northanger Abbey

Title: Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Publisher: Wordsworth

Genre: Classics, Fiction, Romance

Source: Owned

My review:

Well, I enjoyed Northanger Abbey more than Sense and Sensibility. I think if I am really going to enjoy classics I need to listen to them on audio. That way I won't notice the long parts with no dialogue as much. 

Mrs. Allen was one of that numerous class of females, whose society can raise no other emotion than surprise at there being any men in the world who could like the well enough to marry them.

I think one of the hardest things for me with Jane Austen is I simply don't understand what is going on part of the time. I don't understanding her sarcasm, barbs, and tone of voice. However, I did enjoy the story line. Catherine was a funny heroine and I loved her character growth. Isabella got on my nerves. I like Mr. Tilney and his sister.

Perhaps you are not sitting in this room, and I am not sitting by you. These are points in which a doubt is equally possible. Not keeping a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenor of your life in Bath without one?

I enjoyed the setting and the gothic vibes of the story. Sorry, this review is so choppy, I really don't know what else to say about it. It's hard to review without giving anything away.

★★★⭑/5

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 

A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen's "Gothic parody." Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.

The story's unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry's mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.
  

6 comments:

  1. That sounds really interesting.

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  2. I was listening to a book this morning where they referenced Northanger Abbey several times!

    I find that the longer, more complex books are better on audio for me. My sister gave me the book The Rose Code, which is over 600 pages, and I just couldn't get into it. So I got the audio version and just loved it. Also the long fantasy books with a lot of world building, are better for me on audio. I would like to try listening to Northanger Abbey on audio.

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    Replies
    1. That's what I have decided as well :) Have a great day!

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  3. Catherine is a very fun and funny heroine. I always enjoy reading this book because of her. I also think Austen's barbed comments on Gothic novels are pretty humorous, too. :)

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