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A review by agrippinaes
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
3.0
This was recommended to me as I was trying to choose which Jane Austen book to read next and everyone who knows me assured me I would love it. I confess to 2 things – I adore the 2007 adaptation of Northanger Abbey and I have read a modern retelling of it written by Val McDermid, which I think I gave 3 stars. So, I was already familiar with the plot and the characters, I just hadn’t read the book itself.
Unfortunately, this was a really good example of why I don’t really read that many ‘classic’ novels. I think if I hadn’t already been really familiar with the plot I would have struggled to follow what was going on. The writing is very much of its time – it’s very wordy and very dense to read, and I found a lot of it quite dull. The plot and the characters still charmed me, and I’m glad I stuck with it (especially given it really isn’t a very long book!) but I don’t think I’ll be rereading it at any point.
Unfortunately, this was a really good example of why I don’t really read that many ‘classic’ novels. I think if I hadn’t already been really familiar with the plot I would have struggled to follow what was going on. The writing is very much of its time – it’s very wordy and very dense to read, and I found a lot of it quite dull. The plot and the characters still charmed me, and I’m glad I stuck with it (especially given it really isn’t a very long book!) but I don’t think I’ll be rereading it at any point.