Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen. I first read Pride and Prejudice when I was 12, (I know, a bit ambitious). From then on I was hooked. I read five of her six novels, as I could never finish Emma. But I remember absolutely loving Northanger Abbey, although now I cannot tell you why. The chance to reread it was an exciting one.

Surprisingly, I did not like it at all. I mean, the novel was funny for sure, but I did not like a single character. Catherine seemed weak and silly. Her imagination laughable. Isabella was transparent from the beginning. Henry felt ridiculous to me for still wanting Catherine even after finding out how naive she is. There was not a true plot and it took three-quarters of the book for something exciting to really happen. Then it finished with an anti-climatic happy ending. The wedding scene was pretty much glossed over entirely. Whereas in other Austen novels the happiness at the end is at least lingered on enough to feel satisfactory.

All in all, I was unimpressed. I could not at all figure out what I loved about it. Perhaps it was that Northanger Abbey is so wildly different from all of Jane's other novels. Or maybe it was that I liked the silly, mystery in it. But to look at it now, almost ten years later, the only thing I can appreciate about it is that it is a nice and comical attempt at a novel. Since it was Jane's first written novel, although not published until after her death, it makes sense why it is an oddball among all of her other work.

It is no longer my favorite Austen novel, but I did still enjoy rereading it. I would not recommend
it as the novel one would use as an introduction to Jane Austen. But for one who is well versed in other Austen novels, it is worth reading. If only to see the growth she made from Northanger Abbey all the way to Persuasion. Everyone has to start somewhere.