Hooray for NA!
Posted by Carolyn B on December 29, 1997 at 12:38:10:
In response to Northanger Abby, written by Janie on December 28, 1997 at 22:31:57
] We can't forget about our dear friend Northanger Abby! It was the first JA book that i read and truely liked.
NA was the first JA book I ever read, and until P&P2 sent me back to re-read P&P, I preferred NA to P&P. Now it's a toss-up. I like them both for different reasons.
I suspect that hard-core JA fans tend to regard NA as one of the lesser novels. Correct me if I'm wrong! When I once told a JA-fan/English major friend of mine that I liked NA better than P&P, she gave me this look that seemed to say "you poor philistine" - very similar to the reaction I got from a Beatles-fan friend when I told her I liked the movie Help better than A Hard Day's Night)
[snip]
When ever i debate with someone why books are better than movies I use this book.
Do you mean that books are better than movies in general or that Northanger Abbey the novel is better than the adaptation that was done of it? (I agree on the latter, but I still enjoyed the NA adaptation, especially Catherine's gothic fantasy scenes which are hilariously overdramatic)
Drama and Books are an on going debate in this book and i thought it was hilarious! Did anyone else notice these things?
I love the way JA makes fun of the literary conventions of other people's novels, and if you read the Gothic novels she refers to you may appreciate JA all the more for her brevity and wit. Kate suggests below doing just such a read in future.
I have twice attempted to read Mrs. Radcliffe's Udolpho which Catherine devours so eagerly. (Someone here at Pemberley has suggested I try starting with one of Mrs. R's shorter novels instead.) I read enough of Udolpho at least to recognize all the excessive (greatly detailed ) emotions the heroine feels, which JA spares us in Catherine's case.
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