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Title details for Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - Available

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen
Elizabeth Klett
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available

The protagonist is seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland. She is invited to spend some time with family friends in Bath where she meets Henry Tilney, and the two fall in love with each other. However, she soon finds herself in a love triangle, with not only Tilney, but another young gentleman called John Thorpe pursuing her. Catherine soon travels to Northanger Abbey, a place she imagines to be beautiful and mysterious based on the Gothic novels she loves to read so much and she has all sorts of adventures that she engages into because of the romantic notions taken from her books. The novel has a happy ending, but until that the reader is in for a lot more adventures and detours. Northanger Abbey is not only the very first, but perhaps also the most charming of all Jane Austen novels. The plot is driven by a sweet, romantic and naïve young lady, but the book is full of witty comments and comic elements that unmask the hypocrisy, the snobbery and the shallow social customs of Austen's times. In the beginning, Catherine has a hard time trying to decipher the complex communication strategies employed by almost everyone around her, especially as she is probably the only character in the entire novel who does not pretend to be anything else or anything more than she is, but little by little she learns the value of things and she finds out a lot about the power of wealth as well. Coming of age in this case also means the loss of a lot of dreams, but Catherine develops into a responsible and clever young lady able to have real feelings, that is sure.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 25, 2017

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781518939662
      • File size: 201568 KB
      • Duration: 06:59:55

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Jane Austen once said that if she'd been a painter, she would have been a miniaturist, for she loved the fine details. Reader Anna Massey is wonderfully attentive to those details. General Tilney is sufficiently ponderous, Mrs. Allen suitably vapid, and Catherine Morland, albeit sensible, just silly enough to make her flights of imagination entertaining as she enters the mysterious world of the handsome Henry Tilney. Massey renders palpable all of Catherine's delight and confusion in this new world. Though not as interesting as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE or EMMA, Austen's first novel argues forcefully for the seriousness of the novel as a form, pokes good humored fun at some of the silliness of the gothic, and tells a delightful story to boot. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Although published after her death, Northanger Abbey is one of Jane Austen's first novels. Like Don Quixote, it satirizes a popular literary genre of the day and draws distinctions between reality and illusion. Whereas Cervantes's novel took on a life--an archetypal one, in fact--independent of its original joke, Austen's novel suffers without at least a nodding acquaintance with the Gothic novels of Ann Radcliffe. A sheltered young woman mistakes relatively innocent actions for the sinister clues she reads about. A comedy of errors, of course, ensues. Academy Award-winner Glenda Jackson does an admirable job, particularly with Austen's memorable characterizations. Her touch is perhaps a bit too heavy for the aery narrative. But finding just the right tone for this author has eluded many a fine actor. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Sarah Childs appears to revel in a mannered reading of Jane Austen's satire of gothic novels. The posturings and prejudices of 18th century middle-class attitudes are exclaimed in an arch parody of the Edith Sitwell style. Unfortunately, Childs fails to comprehend much of what she is reading. While the conversational sallies between Catherine and her companions are sprightly, narrative sections often stumble. The elegant phraseology loses its thrust in a tangle that suggests lack of rehearsal. Very poor production editing emphasizes these problems with hesitations and mistakes left uncorrected. The overall effect is amateurish. S.B.S. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Austen's parody of a gothic novel gets an elegant reading to match its elegant prose. Sheltered Catherine Morland goes to fashionable Bath with a wealthy neighbor and discovers society and love. Juliet Stevenson gives each character a unique voice--the duplicitous Isabelle; Catherine's suitor, Henry Tinley; and Catherine's vacuous hostess--and invests each conversation with energy and importance. At the same time, as Austen, Stevenson steps back and comments on gothic heroines and Catherine's failures at becoming one. The delivery of Henry's fanciful description of the Abbey as a dark and mysterious place is a mini-classic in itself. Those who love Austen's fiction will appreciate this classy production. J.B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      In this Woman's Hour dramatization, Juliet Stevenson elegantly presents Austen's novel with wry, nuanced humor. Stevenson captures impetuous, breathless Catherine's overactive imagination, fueled by the gothic novels she reads. From the vague, shallow Mrs. Allen to Catherine's intriguing, smooth-voiced suitor, Henry Tinley, Stevenson does a terrific job dramatizing all of Austen's characters, creating a new voice and persona for each. Stevenson's artful ability to convey Austen's characters and to dramatize their exchanges is underscored when she shifts back to the narrative voice reserved for Austen's ironic observations on their behavior. This audio program is so delightful that it's quite likely to send listeners looking for an unabridged version. J.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      With her natural elegance, fine ear for the English language, and hint of mischief, Emma Thompson has the ideal voice to narrate this Jane Austen classic. The first to be written (1798) and the last to be published after Austen's death (1818), the gentle gothic satire concerns clergyman's daughter Catherine Morland, who is introduced to high society with all its manners, teas, and dances. Young up-and-coming British actors Ella Purnell and Jeremy Irvine play the star-crossed lovers and lead the ensemble in this full-cast production, which includes plenty of period music and sound effects such as the clinking of fine china. Still, it's Emma Thompson who will mesmerize listeners. She and Jane Austen make a perfect pair. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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