Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0140620753 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Sobergirl of Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on 2/8/2006
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Sobergirl from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Different cover art

Amazon.com
Though Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's earliest novels, it was not published until after her death--well after she'd established her reputation with works such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Sense and Sensibility. Of all her novels, this one is the most explicitly literary in that it is primarily concerned with books and with readers. In it, Austen skewers the novelistic excesses of her day made popular in such 18th-century Gothic potboilers as Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho. Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers all figure into Northanger Abbey, but with a decidedly satirical twist. Consider Austen's introduction of her heroine: we are told on the very first page that "no one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy, would have supposed her born to be an heroine." The author goes on to explain that Miss Morland's father is a clergyman with "a considerable independence, besides two good livings--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters." Furthermore, her mother does not die giving birth to her, and Catherine herself, far from engaging in "the more heroic enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush" vastly prefers playing cricket with her brothers to any girlish pastimes.
Catherine grows up to be a passably pretty girl and is invited to spend a few weeks in Bath with a family friend. While there she meets Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor, who invite her to visit their family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Austen amuses herself and us as Catherine, a great reader of Gothic romances, allows her imagination to run wild, finding dreadful portents in the most wonderfully prosaic events. But Austen is after something more than mere parody; she uses her rapier wit to mock not only the essential silliness of "horrid" novels, but to expose the even more horrid workings of polite society, for nothing Catherine imagines could possibly rival the hypocrisy she experiences at the hands of her supposed friends. In many respects Northanger Abbey is the most lighthearted of Jane Austen's novels, yet at its core is a serious, unsentimental commentary on love and marriage, 19th-century British style. --Alix Wilber --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



The Jane Austen centre, Bath






Journal Entry 2 by Sobergirl from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Tuesday, January 8, 2008
As I have now bought a volume called "The Complete novels of Jane Austen" this one will now travel the world as an int bookray.

Guidelines:
PM me to join
You must be willing to mail internationally to join, surface/economy mail more than fine
Make a JE when you receive the book
Read it within a month
Contact the next person on the list for their address
Make a JE saying what you thought of the book
Send the book along

Questions? Please PM me!

Participants:

Scrutiny, Hong Kong
Alienagr, Greece
Molekilby, UK

Journal Entry 3 by scrutiny on Thursday, January 31, 2008
Arrived today - will get reading very soon!

Journal Entry 4 by scrutiny on Sunday, February 3, 2008
Thoroughly enjoyable Austen book, don't know why I hadn't read it any earlier! Catherine is not my favorite Austen heroine by far, and in my opinion the feelings of Henry could have been better expressed (you are not given a clue as to his feelings until the very end), but otherwise a good read. I recommend reading the very informative introduction as well!

Off to Greece it goes!

Journal Entry 5 by Alienagr from Thessaloniki - Θεσσαλονίκη, Thessaloniki Greece on Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Arrived today!!!Will start reading it very soon! Thank you Sobergirl and scrutiny!!

Journal Entry 6 by Alienagr from Thessaloniki - Θεσσαλονίκη, Thessaloniki Greece on Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A very funny and enjoyable reading!!! I really really liked it! I surely recommend it to all Jane Austen's fans!

On its way to Molekilby!!!

Journal Entry 7 by molekilby from Brithdir, Wales United Kingdom on Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Arrived today in a sealed Hellenic Post bag as the packaging had ripped, but in perfect condition. Thanks Sobergirl for organising and Alienagr for sending on. I have a couple of books before this, but will have it read within a month.

Journal Entry 8 by molekilby from Brithdir, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, April 18, 2008
This was an OK read, but not as good as Sense & Sensibility. I did enjoy the humour in the book and ast times it seemed Jane Austen was parodying herself.

Journal Entry 9 by Betty22 from Wandsworth, Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, April 20, 2008
I picked this up at the Convention yesterday as I am visiting Bath early next month for a wedding. I will try to release it either at the Jane Austen centre, or somewhere else with a theme!!!

Journal Entry 10 by Betty22 at Jane Austen Centre in Bath, Somerset United Kingdom on Monday, May 5, 2008

Released 15 yrs ago (5/3/2008 UTC) at Jane Austen Centre in Bath, Somerset United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Left especially for a Jane Austen fan to find and enjoy!

Journal Entry 11 by Elduda from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Found it somewhere on the Tube or bus in London, I think.
On my shelf at the moment. Part of the Novel course I'm studying. Am not looking forward to it but am willing/hopping to be surprised.
Watch this space.

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