Reader discussion: Northanger Abbey

Public reader discussion about Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

Favorite and least-liked classics publisher.

By simple-market5111

I feel like this is one of those “everyone talks about it” bookish questions, at least on Booktube, but when I searched here I didn’t really see it, unless I just missed an old thread. Anyway, favorite publisher of classic lit for me is Penguin Classics. I know it’s kind of the default pick, but they’re just such a good deal. You get a lot for the price, the paper and binding seem solid, and the critical essays are usually really good. Also their catalog is huge—everything from fiction to Greek philosophy. The one downside is the spines seem to get that white cracking pretty easily. I haven’t really gotten into it yet, but I’ve got a Thomas Hardy in the Norton Classics line and it looks super inviting. I also haven’t read my copy of *Northanger Abbey* (Modern Library Classics) yet, but I’m honestly impressed already—nice looking print and it feels like it’s built well, plus it’s got that flexible feel that should be comfortable to actually read. My least favorite is Tor Classics. The books just look and feel cheap to me—ugly paper, small print, and the cover art is pretty mediocre. It gives off that dime store pulp vibe.

I want to start reading Jane Austen :) Is Northanger Abby a good place to start?

By luckyRibbon

I just got the Penguin Clothbound set of Jane Austen books and they’re seriously gorgeous. I’ve been wanting to read her for a while, and since I’ve been stuck in a horror/gothic classics mood lately, I figured I’d start with Northanger Abbey. Has anyone read it? Any other suggestions on what I should try next, or what you thought about starting there?

Is Jane Austen Really An Author Of Romanticism?

By HawkBirch2001

Hey everyone, I’ve been mulling this over a lot. I’m really into Romantic literature—stuff like Victor Hugo, the Brontës, Byron, etc.—so when I see Jane Austen thrown into “Romanticism” lists, I’m honestly not sure it fits. To me, Romanticism is tied up with medieval vibes, strong feelings, ideas of beauty and childhood, that kind of idealism. Austen feels way more… critical than that. In Northanger Abbey she basically takes shots at Gothic novels, and I just don’t think of Romantic writers as doing much satire like that. It doesn’t feel like the usual emphasis on emotion/idealism, at least not in the way Austen works. And I’m not saying either of them is “bad” or anything—I love both. They just seem different to me. Austen makes me think more of Pope and Swift, which I usually connect with Enlightenment / neoclassical writing. So yeah—what do you all think? Is Jane Austen actually “Romantic,” or is that kind of a stretch?

Reading a Jane Austen book for the first time!

By Notebook-Ash1973

I keep hearing how awesome her books are and how super loyal her fans are. I’ve watched the movie versions of Jane Austen stuff too, and I always feel like the book is better than the film. I’m also at the point where I’m like, okay, I should probably read one before I’m out of time. It’s sitting on my “to-read before I die” list. I’m finding the language kind of brutal for a modern reader, but I’ve already actually laughed out loud at a couple of the characters and the things she has them say. Now I’m just hooked on finding out what happens next. She really goes after those smug, pretentious types from back then, and also people who step on others to climb up socially. So yeah, I’m trying—though going from Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You to Persuasion is a huge jump in style and all the social rules. You could probably make some kind of interesting comparison between the two, too.