'No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine.' Northanger Abbey is a comedy about reading and misreading-of books and the world-and about different kinds of peril, both imagined and real. In it, Austen's youngest heroine, Catherine Morland, must navigate financial disadvantage, social constraint, and sometimes quite ruthless manipulation. The absurdities of fashion and conspicuous consumption, voguish ostentation and social competition are seen first in shark ...
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'No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine.' Northanger Abbey is a comedy about reading and misreading-of books and the world-and about different kinds of peril, both imagined and real. In it, Austen's youngest heroine, Catherine Morland, must navigate financial disadvantage, social constraint, and sometimes quite ruthless manipulation. The absurdities of fashion and conspicuous consumption, voguish ostentation and social competition are seen first in shark-infested Bath, (the premier health resort and marriage market of the day) and then in a more tranquil pocket of rural Gloucestershire that turns out to be a hotbed of materialism and greed. Jane Austen combines making fun of the excesses of the Gothic novel with larger moral issues: the folly of letting literature get in the way of life, and the inexcusability (especially for women) of not thinking for oneself. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
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Seller's Description:
Good. 2005 edition. Slight storage bends. Shelfwear to edges & some gentle scuffs/creases. Scratches to front cover. Small black ink blot on edge of p. xxii, no impact on text. Small black mark on first page. Content in very good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 288 p. Contains: Illustrations. Barnes & Noble Classics.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. The book is perfectly readable and fit for use, although it shows signs of previous ownership. The spine is likely creased and the cover scuffed or slightly torn. Textbooks will typically have an amount of underlining and/or highlighting, as well as notes. If this book is over 5 years old, then please expect the pages to be yellowing or to have age spots.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. The book is perfectly readable and fit for use, although it shows signs of previous ownership. The spine is likely creased and the cover scuffed or slightly torn. Textbooks will typically have an amount of underlining and/or highlighting, as well as notes. If this book is over 5 years old, then please expect the pages to be yellowing or to have age spots. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages.
50-something discovering the talents of Ms Jane Austen. The books are always better than the movie, BBC or other ??
ZEDSREVIEW
Oct 11, 2009
Satire of Romance Novels
I had not thought of Austen as a satirist prior to reading Northanger Abbey. Within the first chapter the author addresses what the book is not ? a gothic romance, thought it is fashioned similarly, and named similarly. Austen points out the heroine?s father did not lock up his daughters, there was no lover of unknown origin, (something Emily Bronte uses years later in Wuthering Heights), and the heroine?s mother does not warn her of the seduction of barons. Rather, when the teenage heroine, Catherine Morland, leaves for a resort town to stay with neighbors, everything is done ?with a degree of moderation and composure, which seemed rather consistent with the common feelings of common life...? 6. With the contrasts Austen makes to the typical gothic romance she conveys the message that life is not like the popular novel.
Austen makes some straight forward comments in Northanger Abbey, without irony. Throughout the book she comments on novels, a rather new and popular form in the late 18th century. The novel, evidently, was looked down on, but was also a guilty pleasure. A person would suggest reading Milton or Pope or Addison, but would condemn books by Anne Radcliffe. Even novelists would do this. But Austen, as narrator, would not. She does, however, illustrate problems for those who read such novels, as the character Catherine experiences. Catherine is disappointed that Northanger Abbey isn?t ancient nor dark nor in ruins. She is terribly mistaken in her perception of General Tilney, suspecting he has imprisoned his wife in the Abbey, based on what she had read in novels. I?m not sure if all statements of judgment are ironic or not.
The satire is strong only in a few chapters of the book. Otherwise it is something of the standard Austen work, with characters pairing up according to society?s expectations, then finding out they are mismatched. Though no one may expect Catherine to be a heroine, she is a very good character, practical, sociable, yet refraining from coquetry, earnest. The book tells of her maturation through the age of courtship.
Corgi
Mar 9, 2009
Austen's least important book
Wouldn't it be great for one's least work to still be a joy forever?
This is Austen's throw-away. It's the shortest, it's the least fated love, and the heroine is the only one who isn't fully identified with Austen and the reader.
Catherine is a very ordinary girl, not especially bright or mature, but warm-hearted and a little bit pretty.
As she enters "society" on a visit to Bath with family friends, Catherine's expectations of life are skewed by the vice of novel-reading. Her flaw is romanticism.
This is what Austen has fun with, and why this least romantic of her romances is still so enjoyable.
Momx3
Dec 25, 2008
Great Classic
Jane Austen is one of our favorite authors. This book is one of her best.
