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Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

Start date: November 1, 2014

Finish date: November 30, 2014

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Oct 18, 2014 Johanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

I bought this book at the same time as I bought 'Persuasion', also by Jane Austen. I bought them partly because of their being on the numerous listings of classics, but also because of the general recommendations by many that Jane Austen is an author that very much gave shape to the English novel.

The story follows a girld named Catherine Morland as she follows some of her family acquintance to Bath in order to meet new people. Catherine is an avid reader of Gothic Novels, and when she later gets I bought this book at the same time as I bought 'Persuasion', also by Jane Austen. I bought them partly because of their being on the numerous listings of classics, but also because of the general recommendations by many that Jane Austen is an author that very much gave shape to the English novel.

The story follows a girld named Catherine Morland as she follows some of her family acquintance to Bath in order to meet new people. Catherine is an avid reader of Gothic Novels, and when she later gets invited to a new friends' house in Northanger Abbey, her imagination runs off as she imagines the mysterious Abbey setting as protrayed in the novels she reads.

Northanger Abbey is Jane Austens first written work, but also the last published as it was published first after her death. The major themes of this book is Three; (1) Romance, (2) Gothic Novels/Mysticism, (3) Social commentary. While the general pretext that all Jane Austens works center around a romance and marriage also prevails in this work, Jane Austen also manages to blend it with gothic themes (as popular at the time), and social commentary and satire towards the concept of class and rural vs city living.

What expected is hard to say. What I didn't expect was a mystery plot - as my presumption towards Jane Austens novels have been that their main theme is romance and marriage.

The book is written in a very interesting way. The perspective of the narrator moves from being a third person, omniscience narrator, to the perspective of the Author. Several times, you presumably leave the story, and the author directly turns to you - the reader - with commentary on the story as it is being told.

I found this book interesting, funny and I liked the concept of it being a genuine novel, with satirical points on, among other things:

- Who the generic reader of novels is
- Readers in general
- Heroines and Heros of a story, and how they are presumed to act
- Rural vs City living / also a concept of class
- Genuinity and Superficial personalities
- Gossip
- Prevailing ideas of woman interests

If you haven't read Jane Austen Before. This is a quick, funny, and lighthearted read overall that I would recommend. ...more

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