Tharindu Dissanayake's Reviews > Northanger Abbey

"The person, be it gentlemen or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

This is my third Austen novel: Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility being the first two, and when I reviewed the first two, I felt that I did not do justice to the author, mainly because I thought myself not nearly qualified to review them. And now that I'm finished with Northanger Abbey, I have to confess, I still cannot shake that feeling off. But still, when one enjoys a book - a lot, it's hard not to say something - though that something might not measure up to the standards of the author's typical audience.

"To come with a well-informed mind is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid."

Being a little familiar with two of Austen's novels prior to this, I did expect Northanger Abbey to share some similarities - in the the style of writing, protagonist's way of seeing the world and how the reader is allowed to empathize in quite an interesting way - and they were there. However, to me, Northanger Abbey seemed like a comedy for the majority of the book. True, the beginning and the ending chapters did not share this, but still, most middle chapters appeared to be written with the chief aim of making the reader laugh, more than anything. And in my case, it did so quite well.

"man only can be aware of the insensibility of man towards a new gown."

Again, I don't believe I'm qualified enough to comment on Austen's writing skills, but cannot help mentioning how beautifully narrated everything is. It's the same exulting feeling I got while reading Pride and Prejudice, and, though Northanger Abbey might not be as well written or detailed as the former, I loved it almost the same. I'm gonna let this one be kind of a incomplete review, and one I'm someday going to re try (and hoping I'd be somewhat better by that time to better appreciate everything). But for now, I'll be content in saying I like this one better than Sense and Sensibility, but not quite as much as Pride and Prejudice.

"To be guided by second-hand conjecture is pitiful."