Saturday, October 20

Book Review: Northanger Abbey


Author: Jane Austen
Title: Northanger Abbey
Genre: Historical Romance, Classic, Gothic, humor
Pages: 205
First Published: December 1817
Where I Got It: My shelf (bought at Goodwill)

"Northanger Abbey follows seventeen-year-old Gothic novel aficionado Catherine Morland and family friends Mr. and Mrs. Allen as they visit Bath. It is Catherine's first visit there. She meets new friends, such as Isabella Thorpe, and goes to balls. Catherine finds herself pursued by Isabella's brother, the rough-mannered, slovenly John Thorpe, and by her real love interest, Henry Tilney. She also becomes friends with Eleanor Tilney, Henry's younger sister. Henry captivates her with his view on novels and his knowledge of history and the world. General Tilney (Henry and Eleanor's father) invites Catherine to visit their estate, Northanger Abbey, which, from her reading of Ann Radcliffe's Gothic novel The Mysteries of Udolpho, she expects to be dark, ancient and full of Gothic horrors and fantastical mystery."

Finally finished this book. It took me a while, but I always take my time with classics and especially Jane Austen books. For the older stuff it's better that way...at least for me. It's been a couple days since I finished this, so I don't recall half of what I wanted to say and comment on. Mmmm, oh well I guess. 

I liked this, but I feel like I was missing how this was suppose to be funny. Yes, there was a couple funny bits, but I feel like I missed it. How was it funny?! I felt it was really sad and upsetting at points. I mean Henry teased the naive Catherine and points and Isabella was an idiot to the point it was funny. Catherine is odd, Mrs Allen is so out of it that its funny. Perhaps that was the humor? The same could be said about Isabella's brother. At first I really liked Isabella, but after a few chapters I wanted to slap some sense into that thick head of hers. Mmmmm.....but yes, I felt like this was more serious then I expected when I heard that this is "humorous". 

Even though I missed 90% of the humor, I really liked this! Oddly enough it is now tied to my third favorite of the Austen novels. I can't wait to watch the movie soon! Perhaps the movie can change my opinion of Mr. Tilney, because he bugged me. I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't a fan of him. I feel like he is more realistic to all the other lovely men in her novels. He is more complex and has more "depth", I suppose you can say. All the characters have that same realistic feel to them. It's really hard to explain until you've read all the other books and then this one. 

I loved the concoction that Jane Austen created with this one. There is romance, a little bit of humor, mystery, a small touch of Gothic, and adventure all mixed in one. This novel defiantly shows Jane Austen's genius with the pen. If only she had a chance to write more novels. *sighs* Oh well. I least I still have her short writes to read. ^.^


All-in-all, I really this and I am glad I saved this for last. The characters and the story kept me highly entertained and interested even though it took me an eon to read it. Life....I would recommend this for those that love Jane Austen and other classic novels. You will love this! I was worried I would hate this, but in the end I'm so glad I finally got myself to read this. Out of five stars I grant this 5 stars. It would be 4.5, but I don't give decimals, so I rounded. 


Favorite Character(s): Catherine (she was so naive, but I highly loved her), Isabella (at the beginning) James (Catherine's brother was so cute...poor guy), Mr. Tilney (near the end he got better), and Eleanor Tilney (a darling) 

Not-so Favorite Character(s): General Tilney (GAH), Isabella (middle and ending she made me hate her), and Mr. Thrope (I wanted to kick him from the moment he set foot on stage).

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<3CaroleRae

12 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Yeah Tileny is not exactly a Mr Darcy. But in one of the movies he is sure hot

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Carole Rae said...

hahaha I do plan to watch a movie version soon...hope its the one with the hot guy. ^.^

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