Reviewing Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey"

More than any other Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey chases the reader around with a morality hammer until it finally hits you over the head with “DO NOT LET YOUR IMAGINATION GET THE BETTER OF YOU!”

This is the first full novel Austen completed, so we have to be forgiving that her usual nuance is a bit clumsy and uneven. The gist of the storyline is simple: naïve clergyman’s daughter Catherine Morland is plucked from her idyllic country life and taken to The Big City of Bath to be introduced to society by a family friend. She makes several friends, but in her naïveté she tends to make them indiscriminately: some are quality and good-hearted, others have ulterior motives. But like Austen’s inexperienced writing, we forgive Catherine for being ignorant, because she’s too ignorant to know any better. 

Reviewing Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility"

I’ve already discussed a lot about Sense and Sensibility at length, so I’ll try not to retread familiar ground. Instead of the overall plot or characters, then, I’d like to talk about why this novel is relevant now.

When I suggest Jane Austen to teens (mostly girls, but I think the books could be profitable reads for guys too), I usually have S&S in mind. While Pride and Prejudice is Austen’s best, most famous, and most influential work, Sense and Sensibility has the most relevance for adolescents. Why?  Because it’s about walking the minefield of romantic relationships, a perilous journey that all too many teens embark upon unprepared.

"Pride and Prejudice:" A Review

I’m going to start with the Jane Austen novel that is the most famous and the most loved. It’s so commonly known (and its plot is so often copied in today’s rom-com movies) that I will forego the story synopsis and get right down to talking about the characters.

Pride and Prejudice was the reason I bought the complete Jane Austen novel collection; I had seen the Wishbone episode on “P&P” (as we Austenites affectionately call it) and wanted to read it myself.  Some of my fondest reading memories are of lying on the carpet behind our couch, head propped up on my wrists over the tiny lettering. 

It was from P&P I learned what “amiable” meant. (Jane Austen loves the word “amiable.”  Just read all her stuff and you’ll see I’m right.) It is also from P&P that my mom and sister and I gleaned the phrase “her lace slipped” as a euphemism for a low-cut blouse.

Unlike most Austenites, I don’t really care for Mr. Darcy, at least in comparison with other literary gentlemen. And I don’t even see what’s so particularly spectacular about our heroine, Elizabeth. But put them in a room together, and sparks fly.  The fact is, this novel has two flawed, normal characters who share the same shortcomings (pride and prejudice) as well as the same virtues (discretion, honor, common sense). Austen wrote with a wit that makes this book easily read as a romantic comedy, but make no mistake: there is real heart underneath the humor.