Thursday, March 20, 2014

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

Title: Northanger Abbey
Author: Jane Austen
Pages: 254
Published: 2003 (first published 1817)
Challenges: Back to the Classics
Genre: Classics, Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal

Description: During an eventful season at Bath, young, naive Catherine Morland experiences fashionable society for the first time. SHe is delighted with her new acquaintances: flirtatious Isabella, who introduces Catherine to the joys of Gothic romances, and sophisticated Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who invite her to their father's house, Northanger Abbey. There, influenced by novels of horror and intrigue, Catherine comes to imagine terrible crimes committed by General Tilney, risking the loss of Henry's affection, and has to learn the difference between fiction and reality, false friends and true. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I first read this book back in November when doing the Unputdownables readalong for this book.  And like I said my previous review of this book, this book needed a second reading to understand it better (I read it the first time for the sake of saying said I had read the book) and also to appreciate it more.  And as I was reading it this last time, I did enjoy the book more than I did the first time I had read it.  What also made the difference is that I wasn't really juggling too many books at the time and that by reading basically this book, I was able to focus on the book and really appreciate what this book for what it is.

While it isn't Austen's best work, I can definitely see elements of her other books in this book  The book showed elements of themes that Austen tends to focus with more depth than she did here.  She also showed her appreciation of literature and also how somebody can get so obsessed with a book that you think that you are living it.

Bottom line: While it wasn't my favourite Austen (S&S and P&P are my favourites), I would have to say that its not at the bottom of my list.  It maybe a book that I read at some point in my life.  I probably wouldn't recommend the book to somebody who is starting with Austen and would probably suggest it was left until you have read the other books by her and that it one would read it twice before giving it a true opinion of the book.  Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

Pages for 2014: 3646

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