The Next Best Book Club discussion

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Carrie, I hope you do like this one, and will pick up other books by Austen. My favorite is definitely Pride and Prejudice, with Emma being the only one I disliked. It's been a long time since I read this one, so am looking forward to rereading it this month.

I definitely picked up on Austen's bitchiness. I loved it! This was my first Austen, and I'm fairly certain that she & I would have been great buds, smoking in the girls room back in high school, judging all the other girls in our class.

This is the first Jane Austen book I've managed to finish, and I enjoyed it. Ok, actually the only other Austen I've attempted was Sense and Sensibility. Maybe Northanger Abbey was just more concise, both in length and not having that many long-winded passages. Maybe I was too young back then; I find that the older I get, the more tolerant I am towards classics!

There was a sentence at the beginning of one of the chapters where she describes the passage of time something along the lines of:
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday had passed..."

For some reason, I found this so much more satisfying than "a week later..." Maybe the spelling out of each day made me feel a little better the actual passage of time.

Carrie wrote: "Eliza Doolittle popped into my head. The encounter definitely was not of such commoner vs. gentleman as it is in Pygmalion, but I wondered if it would go there. Catherine seems more "mannerly" than Eliza, so maybe it won't...."

Catherine reminded me a bit of Cher from Clueless, lol! The first half of the book was so much like a high school rom-com, with all the talk of muslin and boys...

Carrie wrote: "Also, I peeked at your review of the book on your profile and liked your reference to Cher from Clueless! That reminded me, isn't Clueless loosely based on Emma? Never occurred to me that Austen may be the originator of cattiness.a..."

LOL, I think it was inspired by Emma, so I hear (I've never read Emma".

YES!!!! Austen must have been the originator of cattiness! And she does it in such a classy, underhanded way - I just had to imaginarily high-five her and mutter "good one" under my breath. I can imagine her saying some of these catty things (like your example of "a trifling turn of mind") in real life and leaving the recipient wondering if s/he had just been insulted or not, haha.

Carrie wrote: "P.S. Does anyone know what the Pump-yard is?"

Here's some info re the Pump Room in Jane Austen's time:

http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com...

If you scroll down this one has some great photos:

http://austenonly.com/2011/01/16/wint...

Carrie wrote: "...beginning with the second chapter, she occasionally addresses the audience directly. Phrases like "for the reader's more certain information" and other mentions of the reader pop up enough for me to wonder if this is common in her writing."

Actually, this way of addressing the audience directly was fairly common with authors of that time. Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Mark Twain come readily to mind as examples of other authors who did this.

Persuasion was another good one by Austen, and Jessica (meesage 10) is correct when she says Clueless was based on Emma. Rather ironic that -- considering I loved the movie but disliked the book, lol.

Loved the movie (Clueless), haven't read the book (Emma)

Hah, Jessica, I reckon I would have been friends with Jane Austin as well! ;)

I studied this book two years ago at uni. I'd already looked at Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility but I actually think that this is my favourite of the three!

Carrie, I think that I've been able to see Austen appearing as a character in every book of hers I've read. It's definitely not just you. I'm also up for reading Persuasion along with you if you end up doing that next month! *grins*

Austen is so funny here. We studied the other contemporary books that she is making fun of in this book. Have many of you got the footnoted edition of Northanger Abbey? Cause you're missing out on half of the fun of this novel if you're just taking it at face value.

Love this book! I'm so stoked we're going to be talking about it for the next month. :D

Which character was Austen?

Hey Jessica :) I don't mean that she was a named character. I mean that with Jane Austen's books, you commonly get a lot of her opinion of the way to see characters, families, situations, etc.

Carrie gave a good example of it up the top: "A family of ten children will be always called a fine family ... but the Morlands had little other right to the word," for example.

Austin often tells us what she thinks we should think at various times in her books (particularly this one as it's meant to be a comedy!) and, in so doing, makes space in the novel for herself.

Does that make sense? :S

Ah, yes it does. Thanks!

Heather L wrote: "Actually, this way of addressing the audience directly was fairly common with authors of that time. Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Mark Twain come readily to mind as examples of other authors who did this."

This is where my eyes usually glaze over when I read authors like those. When I was younger I didn't have the patience for it, but now I feel more tolerant and I'm able to skim through quickly to get to the next part. I know I'm meant to read it properly and probably get something out of it, oh well... maybe next time haha!

As for the authors directly telling the readers what to think, I seem to encounter that a lot when reading classics. Sometimes I find it ok, sometimes not really. But I like getting a sense of how authors perceive a certain type of person through how she/he makes it known through the characters.

Jane Austen is my favorite author, so I am very familiar with this book. For those who never read Austen before, hopefully you'll be caught by the "bug." On a silly note, the book, "The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler and the movie adaptation are wonderful parodies that encompass Austen titles in one contemporary storyline that you'll surely enjoy.

Carrie wrote: "For all the steady reading I've done over the last fifteen years or so, I'm still so incredibly unfamiliar with most classics, and so I thank you, Heather L and Jessica of Message 19, for explainin..."

I'm also not very familiar with the classics, though I read alot, so I too very much appreciate the insight I get from others in this group!

I actually have Persuasion on my bookshelf downstairs. Picking it up, I've read the synopsis on the back: "...some of the most withering satire that Jane Austen ever wrote."

Carrie, I'm on the edge of my seat for this one! Just let me finish The Casual Vacancy first. Don't want to overload myself with too many long books at the same time ;)

Udolpho was one of the books we read in the same class I took with Northanger Abbey. It helps to read both it and Lewis' The Monk, which finds fewer but still relevant references in Northanger Abbey.

I read Karen Joy Fowler's book exactly for that reason, Tina, and I wasn't a fan. It really disappointed me because I so wanted to like it for all the reasons you listed! :( Is the movie very much like the book, or do they take it from a different angle?

I'm not familiar with the classics either, except trying to read them and then giving up after a while. That's why I like participating in the classics group reads when I can. Motivation to persevere and finish the book!

Tina, while I'm not exactly caught by the Jane Austen bug, I'm now less likely to give up halfway through one of her books!

Wow Carrie! Let us know how those go, especially Udolpho!

i am in. starting this weekend:)

Northanger Abbey was the last copy I obtained of the Austen novels. BTW, english is not my maternal language so please be tolerant with my spelling ;) Believe it or not, the last decade was really hard to find a nice spanish copy of her novels. And sice I dont read digital or ancient english (too hard) I had to wait until I found one.

I enjoyed this book a lot, it made me LOL. I´ve read all Austen novels and this is unique, in the sense that the style and mood is totally different to her usual writing. Usually she mocks ridiculous characters, but here, she just smack them off haha.

I think is time I reread this book so I can enjoy with you =D

I also read Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, right after Northanger Abbey and I was a little disapointed. I expected more true horror and less moaning of the protagonist. But I read somewhere that Udolpho was a huge hit when published. Maybe I´m just spoiled by the actual horror books that actually manage to give me insomnia haha. As a horror book I prefered The Monk, some chapters were truly horrific. I enjoy it a lot, although the author is a little too biased against the church institutions (for my taste anyway).

I really enjoy reading Austen novels, I appreciate the sense of humor (very rare in this kind of novels) but even I enjoyed the reading, isn't one of my favorites :)

For those of you who are quick readers, and those who aren't the biggest fans of Northanger Abbey but love some of Austen's other works, we're picking up Persuasion from about the 15th of this month and talking about it here:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I'm on chaper 12 and this book brings back all those emotions from high school. It makes you remember what it was like to be a girl with a crush and nothing mattered in a whole day but that one moment when you might get to see him. Such genuine emotion come through in Austin's characters.

I have to admit Northanger Abbey isn't my favourite Austen novel. There are times when I just want Catherine to be a little less naive. However, she is a pretty lovable character and she's grown on me over time. I also just really love Austen's defense of the novel.

Catherine is young and naive, but the most funny thing during the book is how her imagination take her to this macabre scenarios when there is really nothing in it. It is like the protagonist is a novelist and all her stories happen in her mind.

In every Austen novel there is irony and sarcasm in the dialogues, but in this book (and probably cause it is a parody) there is sarcasm EVERYWHERE, and the main source of it is the narrator itself. :O

Yes, this isnt my favorite Austen novel, but I have to accept I´m enjoying it a lot this 2nd time.

That part when Catherine find (view spoiler)[ an old piece of furniture in her room at night and frenzied seach inside finding this old paper and suddenly the candle blow out; only to find out in the morning that it was garbage paper HAHAHA ... (hide spoiler)] That chapter was awesome. =D

I finished the reread last night and just another comment. SPOILER ON THE END, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
After Catherne found out that she has been letting her imagination get the best of her accusing (view spoiler)[ Cpt Tilney of murdering her wife =0 (hide spoiler)] , all the rest of the novel recovered the usual tone of Austen. Less sarcasm and more society intrigues ;D

Finished my reread last week. I had forgotten how abrupt--rushed, even--the ending seemed to be. Having died some months before it was published, perhaps Austen did not get the chance to actually "finish" it?

I thought the same thing when reading the ending.(view spoiler)[It was like quickly tied up in a neat little "and they all lived happily ever after" bow. (hide spoiler)]

I don't think Austen could portray teenage girls and their world any better. Gossip, love, fashion... Catherine and Isabella could have easily been two characters in a book written in the 21st century by how quickly they came to love each other and how fickle and self serving both of their actions in this novel initially were as well as the things that they choose to fuss and worry over. Catherine, however has a better head on her shoulders. She is described as not being exceptional, whereas Isabella is, in the sense that she does not show as much interest or care into items deemed worthy of a girl of her age and stature (beauty, art, fashion, education, reading). While she tries to pretend to fit in to order to win friendship and love I believe she learns a few valuable lessons by the end.

Surprisingly, my favourite character was Henry as he was just so blunt and sarcastic and I found that he complimented the flakiness of some of the female characters (such as Isabella and Mrs.Allen), but more specifically his father, General Tilney. (view spoiler)[ Interestingly enough, and I believe this to be intentional, I think the most despicable character in novel is General Tilney because he as been playing into this immature world a lot longer than all of the other characters and shows his true colours at the end. The point being that the flakiest character in this novel is not actually a woman, but rather a man. I think that Austen was really trying to make a point by noting this. Especially since Henry bashed women a few times in conversations with both Isabella and Catherine. Austen is pointing out that the real culprits in her shallow society are actually men. (hide spoiler)]

Ultimately I think what (view spoiler)[ drew Henry and Catherine together in the end, despite what Henry's father desired, is that over her period at Bath and Northanger Abbey, Catherine grew up a little bit (and Henry did too with the actions of his father) and had to deal with some unpleasant situations and really assess some of her youthful ambitions. For Catherine, Isabella's disgrace in regards to her engagement to her brother as well as being ushered unpleasantly out of Northanger Abbey ended some of her romantic ideas about of love and friendship. In the end though, I believe she acknowledged the experience, gained a true friend (Miss Tilney), found a love that was meaningful and true (unlike Isabella) and received and recognized the approval, comfort and love from her family. (hide spoiler)] She was able to find herself and the things that mattered despite the unrealistic immature world she tried to live in.

I agree that the book shows Catherine growing up. She became more independent and realistic and she realised that true love is based on friendship and understanding not romance and flirting.

Also, she learns a little bit how to separate reality from her fancies.

Hmm. This makes me wonder, Northanger Abbey: a coming of age story? Yes or no?

I loved this one - almost like chick-lit

This was a vastly entertaining read. Austen was so snarky as the narrator!