It looks so lovely outside when I gaze out
the window, but I know it is bitterly cold and windy today, which makes this
another good day to stay inside with a hot cup of tea and a good book…mmm!!
I had a meeting planned for Thursday
night for my Friends’ book group. We
were going to discuss Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and I had fully
intended to read this novel before the meeting.
I started this short novel early last week, but by Day 3 of reading, I
was only 50 pages in. I was also
scheduled to facilitate a book discussion group on Saturday with a Seniors’
group, and since I was facilitating that group, I thought I should give myself
enough time to finish that book before Saturday, so I gave up on Jane and moved
on to the other novel, which I will discuss later. When we met on Thursday night, I was relieved
to hear that the others in the group also struggled to read this selection,
that they were not swept along by Austen’s writing as so often happens with her
later novels, particularly Pride and Prejudice. I will summarize the comments here, or as
many of the comments as I can recall. One
member said that reading this novel was like taking medicine – it was not really
enjoyable, but she knews it was good for her.
The same member said that the writing was superior, and Austen’s art of
perception was amazing, the way she noticed and remarked on the smallest detail
of characters’ behavior. Another member,
who had never read Austen before, thought that it was too superficial, that she
preferred novels that explore the psychological aspects of characters, such as The
Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison. She
wondered how Austen would fare if she were writing today instead of 200 years
ago. Our “resident expert” on Austen
pointed out that the focus of Austen’s writing was more domestic, and more of a
social commentary than a psychological exploration. I
wondered if there was a modern-day equivalent to Austen today, but none of us
could come up with any names. I had to
agree with the astuteness of the observations and the superiority of the
writing, even in the few pages I had read.
I noted a passage that I thought rivalled her famous opening line of Pride
and Prejudice: “It is a truth
universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must
be in want of a wife”. The passage in Northanger
Abbey goes such: “But when a young
lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness of forty surrounding families cannot
prevent her. Something must and will
happen to throw a hero in her way”. To
the member for whom this novel was her first exposure to Austen, we all
recommended that she try P&P, a much later, and more polished, novel, which is full of wit as well as her characteristic social commentary. We also discussed the “gothic” aspect of the novel, and those who read
the whole book said that, when Catherine arrived at the Abbey, the writing
changed so drastically that it was as if it was written by another writer. They wondered why Austen put in this part of
the book, as none of her other novels are in the gothic style. I remember reading a bit of the introduction
which said that this book was written primarily in response to the gothic novels
that were all the rage at that time, particularly The Mysteries of Udolpho
by Mrs. Radcliffe. According to the
blurb on the back of my edition of the book, “Jane Austen in Northanger
Abbey gently satirized this class of fiction and gave us a delightful
heroine in consequence…” One member
commented on the juxtaposition of characters with opposite characteristics that
she thought was done intentionally to show the reader both sides of a person,
such as one set of siblings who are superficial and selfish, alongside another
set who are honest and true. She pointed
out that, at some period in art history, this technique was also used, for
example, to show the front and back of a
body. What else… I can’t really remember
any other specific comments, but I will admit that after this discussion, I
decided most definitely to finish the book, maybe even this afternoon. I really should read more Jane Austen, as so
far my reading experience is limited to P&P, Persuasion (many
years ago), and now this novel. I have
never read Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park or Emma. Hmmm… maybe a personal reading project? I’ll revisit this idea in the summer.
The other book club book I had to read this
week was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann
Shaffer and Annie Barrows. In case you
don’t know what this bestselling novel is about, it tells the story, through a
series of letters, of a writer in London who, shortly after the end of WWII, is
contacted by a resident of the island of Guernsey, requesting information about
Charles Lamb. Dawsey Adams got Juliet
Ashton’s name and address from the inside cover of a book she once had that
somehow made its way to a second-hand bookstore on the island. Thus a friendship and correspondence is struck, one that sees Juliet through a series of life-changing events and gives
her an idea for her next book. The cast
of characters is lengthy and eccentric, the information revealed about the
German Occupation of the island often heart-wrenching, yet often also
surprisingly moving, and the interconnected stories engaging. This book was a real “feel-good” novel, one
that I had a hard time putting down. Yet
I found it altogether too sweet and nice, which I had long suspected and had also
been warned about by another reader, whose response was similar. I can see why it would appeal to readers, and
will admit that, while I do not normally enjoy books that use letters to make
up a significant portion of the text, this book, consisting entirely of
letters, was compelling for me. I think
my problem with this book is that it took a serious topic, German Occupation of the island during WWII, and offered it up in a romantic and amusing way, sort of like German Occupation in WWII “Light”. I liken my response to this novel to my
response to The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which I felt offered up 1960s American Racism “Light”. Considering that both of these books were
bestsellers and that many thousands of readers loved them, my responses are clearly not
those of the majority. As it happens, the
meeting on Saturday had to be postponed until next weekend due to illness (not
mine), so I can't offer the comments made during the discussion here.
So what to read next… well, Jane Austen for
this afternoon, then possibly a mystery I picked up at the library yesterday,
about which I know nothing except that the author is Canadian: Brenda Chapman’s book, In Winter’s Grip
(the title is appropriate for the extremely cold weather we’ve been experiencing
these past few months!)
Bye for now…
Julie
Julie
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