Sweet Northanger

So what did you think of Northanger Abbey?  I have to confess that I watched a screening copy last week, along with Mansfield Park (which I'll be blogging on this week for PBS's Remotely Connected), and now they're all getting confused in my little brain. 

I loved it, though.  Catherine was sweet, Henry was sweetly sarcastic, Isabella was sweetly evil, Eleanor Tilney was elegant and good, and John Thorpe was absolutely creepy and horrid.  If everything didn't exactly follow the book, I thought they kept the spirit of it, and I'm thrilled to have an adaptation of this little-adapted novel.

Of course, Andrew Davies wove in a bit of latent (and at times not-so-latent) sexuality.  Catherine seemingly longing to be ravaged by outlaws and villains was a bit silly.  In the book she has an air of complete innocence, and is silly enough on her own.  Apparently there was a bath scene which was cut out of the PBS version -- not entirely sure about that.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing it again. And I hope it will introduce tons of people to this fun little book, which they likely haven't read. Would love to know your thoughts.

Seems like we all had the same reaction to Persuasion.  And yes, I thought that, too, that Anne's sister Mary reminded me of Molly Shannon.  Did a bit of a double-take.

This week -- my absolute least favorite Austen novel:  Mansfield Park.

Felicity Jones as Catherine Morland.  ©ITV plc (Granada International) for Masterpiece™

Comments

[Gina Dalfonzo]

Nice review! I loved it too. Good script, good performances all around, and Catherine was perfect.

I thought it was clever of them to weave her Gothic-novel-inspired imaginings into the plot, but perhaps they did go a little far with some of them. It's a very long time since I read the book, but it did occur to me that some of this didn't look very Austenian. :-) Actually, the part that seemed the least Austen-like and most over the top to me wasn't one of those scenes at all, but the one where she was reading the book about the monk. There are Gothic novels and Gothic novels -- at least that's the impression I get, not having read many Gothic novels -- and that one seemed pretty far beyond the pale.

Can't wait to read your post at the PBS blog!

[Felicia]

I thought the adaptation was very lovely. I have not seen any other adaptation (of NA)so I have none to compare with, but I just finished re-reading the book and it liked the movie very much.

[Hannah]

I did enjoy "Northanger Abbey," although I do wish it could have been made a bit longer. Like last week's showing of "Persuasion," I would've like to see a little more of certain characters. I would've like to know Miss Tilney better and perhaps a bit of Catherine's pining for Mr. Tilney after being abruptly sent home. Nitpicking aside, it was still very delightful.

[Brittanie]

The movie was okay. I liked the book better :)

[Molly]

I too loved this adaptation! True, it's the only one I've ever seen but none the less I loved it. Catherine and Henry were perfectly cast and the mutual attraction that was apparent in the novel is clearly shown on screen. I caught myself saying several times during the movie, wow, this is really good and so close to the story line. I think the reason this worked so well for a movie adaptation is the length of the novel is not too long. Most of Austen's novels have very lengthy character development (which I love!) but this little gem is like a snippet! It's just light-hearted fun and I completely and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm eager to see the next installment of Mansfield Park since the last version I saw with Frances O'Connor was torture for me to watch. How's that for honesty??

[Susan Peeler]

I have to admit that I was a bit worried over certain scenes. Especially since my daughter ( age 16) had just read Northanger Abbey for her Girls Book Club and just loved it. She did reassure me that the book was tamer than the adaptation. Overall we enjoyed watching it together. I gave her your book for Christmas and she has really enjoyed it.

[Seastar]

I enjoyed the film. I thought that the casting was perfect. I would have liked a little more Henry and Catherine time at Northanger but overall it was a fair adaptation.

I didn't love the blatent telling of Isabella Thorpes doings. I like that it is left to the reader in the book.

I am going to have to get the DVD since so much was cut for this showing on PBS.

[Jennifer Meadows]

I must chime in that I, too, think some of the "dream" sequence content could have been left out.

I loved way that Catherine was portrayed, but I feel that the bedroom scene with Isabella and Tilney was not needed.

Directors need to trust some things to our imaginations. Not everything needs to be played out for us.

[Tina]

Hi Austen Fans. Lori Smith has a fabulous interview over at She Plants a Vineyard today. Here is the link:

http://tinaannforkner.blogspot.com/2008/01/walk-with-jane-austen.html

[Bonnie Buckingham]

Modern, but Catherine was very good.
It could have had better looking men
in the cast. That was the consensus in
our audience of a 10, 11, 17 and 52 year
old!

I love Jane's endings, no matter what!

Bonnie

[SusannaCrain]

I liked this adaptation, it's better than the one made in the eighties. I thought the spark between Henry Tilney and Catherine was wonderful and I thought that Felecity Jones did a great job of portraying Catherine's innocent curiosity. Northanger Abbey, to me, is Jane Austen's least "consequential" book. Nice, well written, but not one that sticks with you like Persuasion or Pride and Prejudice.