Northanger Abbey (Collins Classics) Paperback – 8 July 2010

Reading this first novel Jane Austen ever wrote (but which was the last to be published) was a very pleasant experience. Below, more of my impressions, with very limited SPOILERS.This is the story of coming of age of Catherine Morland, aged 17, a silly and immature but good-hearted, honest and likeable young damsel, who meets two very different suitors during her sejour in the good city of Bath somewhere around 1810. The heroin, let's stress it again, is very likeable but not particulalry clever and especially she is mentaly completely immersed in her favourite books - gothic novels. This lack of maturity and common sense as well as a certain estrangement from reality will play her a couple of nasty tricks, from which she will have to learn some valuable lessons... I will say no more about the plot.Other than the usual delights of Jane Austen humour, wit and sharp social observations, this book offers an extra treat - it is the one in which we can see the real birth of author's talent. The first half of the book makes for a pleasant reading but not much more, as author, who was only 23 when writing her first novel, clearly was still hesitating, treading carefully and learning her trade. But past the middle point, suddenly we see the young writer spreading her wings and soar! Some writers graduate from honest labourer to gret master from one book to another but I think it is the first time I saw the birth of a major writer in the middle of a novel. It impressed me greatly.My personal copy of "Northanger Abbey" was a Barnes & Noble "old style" hardback, part of "Barnes & Noble Classics" collection. Its very "passé" aspect (going as far as artificially yellowed paper and irregularly shaped edges of pages) actually increased the pleasure I took in reading this very pleasant, entertaining and in many moments quite amusing short novel. I will definitely keep this book and pass it one day to my kids...I will say no more here about the book. Get it, read it, love it and one day come back to it. ENJOY!

Country vicar's daughter, seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland, a naive and attractive young girl who hugely enjoys reading gothic novels, is invited to the town of Bath by her wealthy neighbours the Allens. At Bath Catherine meets Isabella Thorpe, a flighty and duplicitous young woman, and her equally duplicitous brother, John. Catherine also meets a very agreeable young gentleman, Henry Tilney, and his sister, Eleanor, both of whom she is keen to become better acquainted with - however, Catherine's hopes for friendship with the Tilneys is initially thwarted by John Thorpe, who is envious of Catherine's partiality to the well-mannered and affable Henry. However, despite John Thorpe's efforts to come between Catherine and the Tilneys, she is invited to stay with Henry and Eleanor at their home, Northanger Abbey, and Catherine is excited about the prospect of staying in what she imagines to be a mysterious Gothic building. At Northanger Abbey, which is not quite as she imagined, she compensates for her disappointment by allowing herself to fantasize wildly about the fate of Mrs Tilney, who died nine years earlier. Was her death a natural one? Or was she imprisoned in her chamber and then murdered by her husband the General? And what effect does Catherine's over-active imagination have on her nascent relationship with the more grounded Henry?In 'Northanger Abbey', which is essentially a parody of Gothic fiction, Jane Austen cleverly shows the reader how the materialism and superficiality of fashionable Bath society and the company of those who cannot properly distinguish between fantasy and reality, actually place Catherine in greater potential danger than any mystery she might encounter at Northanger Abbey. Although I have read and reread Jane Austen's novels many times over the years, 'Northanger Abbey', though enjoyable as a light satire and certainly deserving of at least a four star rating, is not my favourite of her novels - Austen's biographer, Claire Tomalin, has commented that this novel, with its more obvious comedic content and its many literary allusions was intended as a lighthearted parody and one that would have been particularly enjoyed by her parents and siblings - however, satire aside, one of the main purposes of this review is to talk about the lovely new Vintage Classic editions of Jane Austen's classics. This particular novel has an especially attractive cover designed by artist and illustrator Leanne Shapton, with inner flaps to the cover to make the book feel more substantial, is also attractively decorated on the inside and has a brief, but interesting introduction by P.D. James. Very pleasant to handle and entertaining to read - if you are looking for a paperback copy of this novel, and do not require a comprehensive introduction and notes, I can certainly recommend this new edition.4 Stars.

It cannot be doubted that Jane Austen is a talented writer. She is, however, what WH Auden referred to as an 'Alice' and as such 'in danger of over-fastidiousness'. Northanger Abbey is, I'm afraid, a book I'm glad to have read, but not one I'd pick up again. Austen 's themes are at once overly archaic, while at the same time being relatively modern. The characters are fantastically well written and seem as realistic as any, though unfortunately the situations in which they are placed often drag on and come across as being rather dull. At the risk of sounding like a frightful sexist, I would have to say that Austen isn't an author who I can recommend to a male audience; there is very little to appeal to men in her prose, and most talk on the subject of masculinity is simply the idle gossip of women in tea rooms.