Haiku on a hot day
July 24, 2010 (0 comments)
Northanger Abbey - Finale
July 12, 2010 (0 comments)
While I greatly enjoyed Northanger Abbey, I have to say I found the ending a bit anti-climactical. Perhaps it's the unromantic part of my nature that is never quite satisfied with the marrige of an 18-year-old girl--not to mention, the very 21st century side of myself! At any rate, I found Catherine far more interesting before she and Henry Tilney came together and the book came to a rather abrupt end. I found the suspense and Catherine's fairly high-spirited nature to be enough of a hook to keep me reading. Granted, she is no Elizabeth Bennett or even Emma Woodhouse, but Catherine Morland certainly had her own special virtues. I only wish she'd have coolly told off her "friend" Isabella Thorpe at some point in the book. I feel that Catherine's character was a bit "flat" in some respects, though she did have a healthy curiosity. Also, I would have enjoyed a bit more banter toward the end between Catherine and Henry--this is what I appreciated most about the book, his teasing and cajoling. He was clearly flirting with her in such a pre-Victorian manner!
Next on my list (or I should say, already in progress) is Lady Susan.
My Everything Austen II Challenge List
July 7, 2010 (0 comments)
I have been terribly remiss in not posting this sooner! But here, in all its glory, is my list of Austen and Austen-themed literature, film, and pastry to be read, viewed, and baked within the next 6 months:
1. Read Austen's Northanger Abbey (ah, the suspense, romance, and witticisms!)
2. Read Austen's Lady Susan (somehow, I only just discovered this one!)
3. Read Cathleen Schine's The Three Weissmanns of Westport
4. Watch BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (b/c really, I have never been satisfied with any other version!)
5. Watch the most recent version of Northanger Abbey
6. Attempt some form of scone, Sally Lunn bun, or other Jane Austen-era pastry. This will be quite the experience/experiment!
Not to mention, I actually lived in Bath for several months back in 1996, as a doe-eyed college student, so this entire challenge makes me a touch sentimental--in the best possible way.
Northanger Abbey Continues
July 7, 2010 (0 comments)
So the young Catherine Morland was just rudely and perfunctorily cast--by the peculiar General-- from the home of the Tilneys. She was packed off in the wee hours of the morning by her loyal and apologetic friend Eleanor, who had to deliver the humiliating decision of her father. This was too much for Eleanor, and highly unfair of the General to put upon her. But clearly, so much more is at work in the secret world of General Tilney, and I am more than eager to discover what else lurks behind his strange and contradictory demeanour. For now, it's back to my desk job--but later this evening, I will be curled up with my Kindle, clicking through to the end of Northanger Abbey.
Reading Northanger Abbey
July 3, 2010 (0 comments)
I began reading Northanger Abbey a couple of weeks ago, thinking I'd already read it--perhaps I imagined I had, since I have now seen two film adaptations. I must say, I am greatly enjoying the book--moreso than the film versions. A film can never quite capture or convey the witty intelligence that exists in each carefully written line of a Jane Austen novel. Not to say that I do not greatly enjoy the film versions of Austen novels, but each time I read or re-read her books, I find something else to admire about her written words. Jane Austen has, and always will be, an inspiration to me as both a writer and lover of books.
I am eager to complete Northanger Abbey and move on to the next part of the Everything Austen II Challenge!