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Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

Start date: August 1, 2020

Finish date: August 31, 2020

Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf Group Read August 2020

Revisit the Shelf Group Read, December 2013

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[close] Revisit the Shelf Group Read August 2020

Revisit the Shelf Group Read, December 2013

Previous Group Reads:
Old School Classic, November 2011

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Dec 17, 2012 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: british-literature, fiction-19th-century, e-books, mtbr-challenge-2013, gothic-romance, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, gutenberg, read-2013

According to Wiki, Northanger Abbey was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be completed for publication, though she had previously made a start on Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. According to Cassandra Austen's Memorandum, Susan (as it was first called) was written approximately during 1798–99. It was revised by Austen for the press in 1803, and sold in the same year for £10 to a London bookseller, Crosby & Co., who decided against publishing. In 1817, the bookseller was content ...more

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Aug 03, 2020 Maggie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: boxall-1001, coming-of-age, romance, british, fiction, humour, guardian-1000, classics, chick-lit, satire

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first work, but was not published until a year after her death. Catherine Morland, a naive, simple-minded, good-hearted girl, goes to Bath and is exposed to fashionable society for the first time. She befriends Isabella Thorpe, who is revealed to be in a romance with Catherine's brother James. She develops an infatuation with Henry Tilney, who is won over by her naivete. In the second half of the book, she is invited to Northanger Abbey, the Tilneys' house, whe Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first work, but was not published until a year after her death. Catherine Morland, a naive, simple-minded, good-hearted girl, goes to Bath and is exposed to fashionable society for the first time. She befriends Isabella Thorpe, who is revealed to be in a romance with Catherine's brother James. She develops an infatuation with Henry Tilney, who is won over by her naivete. In the second half of the book, she is invited to Northanger Abbey, the Tilneys' house, where, inspired by the Gothic novels (in particular The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe) that she enjoys reading, she imagines Henry's father General Tilney to have murdered his wife. She is caught exploring the deceased wife's bedroom by Henry, who firmly corrects her. She then finds out that Isabella dumped James after discovering that he has less money than she expected. She eventually marries Henry.

This is the first Jane Austen novel I've read that I enjoyed. Austen's depictions of people's hypocrisy and self-centredness is spot-on, in particular the incredibly pretentious Isabella, and Mrs Allen, Catherine's family friend, who is concerned only about her own fashion. Her representation of John Thorpe, who exaggerates the strengths of his possessions, his abilities, and everything connected with himself, and similarly exaggerates the weaknesses of those of others, was a caricature of many real-life people. These hilarious depictions are cruel only in that they are accurate representations of many middle and upper class people in real-life, and many of us would recognise people we know in these characters, even if we had not dared to admit it before.

As Austen says from the start, Catherine is an unlikely heroine. She's naive to the point of being rather daft. The book is partially meant to be a parody of Gothic novels, and Catherine is the perfect character to be used to carry this off, with her kookiness and love of romance novels making it only natural that her imagination should grow wild in an abbey at night, in the presence of cabinets and candles and a hot-tempered man. The fact that the abbey is perfectly modern and well-lighted, and that there are numerous signs that point to her assumptions being wrong, only makes the whole situation even more humorous. Henry Tilney, thankfully, is not only wise and firm, but also tactful and forgiving. Catherine does become more street-smart and mature from these experiences.

In one of the chapters, Austen talks about the importance of reading novels. And yet Catherine's wild imagination is the result of reading too many novels. Austen is perhaps warning her readers that while novels are enjoyable and educational in what they teach us of human nature, we cannot base our lives on novels, and have to be discerning about what we learn from them. Or perhaps, by laughing at her characters, Austen is also laughing at her novels.

This was rather bumpy and unpolished, but I liked it because it was not just a romance novel. Through Austen's satirical irony and the concept of a parody, I felt Austen was talking to the reader between the lines, making this a more satisfying and enriching read. ...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Rebecca Graf rated it liked it

I had never read this classic until now. If you are not into the classics, this might not be a book you just sit down and enjoy reading. The style is very different than most books found today.

I did enjoy it, but one reading was enough for me. :)

How do you define a classic? Is it a popular piece of literature or one that is lucky enough to stand the test of time? Maybe it is one written by a famous author and all his or her works become classics. I wonder these questions as I finish reading Jane ...more

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