We have had many discussions in class, contemplating the intended audience for this novel with many saying it was directed towards females, or that females might enjoy it more than males. I, being in female, can say that I found this book, not boring, but bland. While they did discuss a lot about fashion, balls , and carriage rides I found no real interest in any of this subject matter. The only thing I found kind of interesting was when John Thorpe told Catherine all about his horse because that was something I could relate to. Which is one reason why I think a lot of people had trouble relating to this story, nothing in the story was really relevant to today's society. While many of the things discussed are relevant they have all been modernized to fit into today's society.
Another thing that made this story difficult for me to relate to is the fact that nothing happens, as we discussed in class the book is not-action oriented. Honestly I feel that that is an understatement. Every time that Catherine created some sort of situation in her mind, like in the novel she was reading, I found myself getting really excited that maybe some sort of crime was going to be discovered. While in the back of my mind I was thinking, wow she is being really dramatic there was a small part of me that wanted it to be true, just so there was some action in the book. While I did find it slightly more interesting when they transported the story to the Abbey, but with the change of scenery nothing really dramatic happened. However I still have about 15 pages left to read, so maybe before the end someone will die and Catherine will solve their murder. One can only hope.
I agree with the majority of this post by Caroline. I also found this novel to be “bland.” I could not truly relate to Catherine and the experiences she had in this novel. For example, I have never lived for an extended period of time in someone else’s residence that was not related to me. Also, I think this story may not relate to my personal experiences because Northanger Abbey was written over two hundred years ago. As the attitudes and values in our society have changed, I believe our experiences have changed from two centuries ago.
ReplyDeleteI was also disappointed by the lack of action in the novel. I realized that there was a very small chance of a crime occurring with about ten pages to read in the book. Upon finishing the novel, I began to think about how this story relates to our class theme of crime and literature. I am still unable to determine how Northanger Abbey fits into this theme, or if the novel even relates to this theme at all.
I agree with Caroline and Page that the novel was rather bland and uneventful. I disagree, however, that it was due to the fact that the novel was "unrelatable" and that a lot of the social practices/graces described in the novel are "out-of-date". We can see many similarities (to our modern society) in many of the interactions that Austen describes, such as simple conversations, the process of courting/dating, and societal expectations.
ReplyDeleteI agree, though, that this novel was difficult to read because of its lack of action. There were many times that I was So sure something exciting was going to happen, when it turned out just to be Catharine's imagination running wild. I think the fact that this happened several times throughout the novel helps to bolster the idea of the power of fiction, as Catherine's "ideas" come from her reading of Gothic novels.