Northanger Abbey Readalong: Chapters 1-9 #NARead

Readalong: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Participant list and schedule can be found on this post.

I read chapters 1 through 9 of Northanger Abbey and my first thought was "Wow, this doesn't read like a classic." Which, to me, is a good thing. I took some notes for each chapter, which I'll share below. There won't be any spoilers beyond chapter 9, as I purposely didn't read ahead.

Chapter 1
We meet Catherine Morland and learn her background. As a child, she was a tomboy, plain looking and not very bright (or perhaps just bored.) She liked causing trouble and rebelling against the norm which sounds a lot like most modern kids.

At 15, she grew to be more feminine in both her looks and her actions. It seems as though she tried harder to become educated and conformed in order to belong.

At 17, she has never found a crush-worthy guy. She speaks a lot of heroines and their adventures. I begin to believe that perhaps she takes the books she reads a bit too seriously.

Chapter 2
Catherine seems naive to me, or at least she has lived a very sheltered life (beyond that of her peers.)

Her father allows access to unlimited amounts of money. She leaves without promising to write to her sister. Her mother worries about the trip, which seems to be the only normal thing going on in her family dynamics.

Mrs. Allen is introduced. She is described as being kind of catty. I'm don't know why that's important, but it seems to be foreshadowing.

Catherine and Mrs. Allen attend a ball. Mrs. Allen appears to be taking pleasure in Catherine's discomfort, but my view of this may be colored by the earlier description of Mrs. Allen.

Chapter 3
We meet Mr. Tilney. He seems to be flirting with Catherine. Also, it's mentioned that he is a clergyman.

Chapter 4
We meet Mrs. Thorpe and her daughters. Her son is friends with Catherine's brother.

A sudden deep friendship develops between Catherine and Mrs. Thorpe's oldest daughter Isabella.

Chapter 5
Catherine seems to be overly concerned about seeing Mr. Tilney again.

Catherine continues her friendship with Isabella.

A long portion of this chapter focus on reading novels and how women should be embarrassed to read fiction.

Chapter 6
Catherine and Isabella talk about men and about the books they read.

Chapter 7
Catherine and Isabella's brother's arrive.

John Thorpe, Isabella's brother, is obnoxious.

The rest of the chapter consists of everyone praising each other about a variety of things.

Catherine once again feels shame for reading.

Chapter 8
John Thorpe ditches Catherine at a party, so she is stuck with Mrs. Thorpe and Mrs. Allen. She feels completely humiliated.

Mr. Tilney appears with a woman assumed to be his sister.

Catherine must turn down a dance with Mr. Tilney because of Mr. Thorpe.

Catherine hangs out with Tilney's sister and seems to interact with her solely as a means to Tilney.

Chapter 9
Catherine is swept off on a carriage ride with Isabella, John Thorpe and her brother James.

John continues to be obnoxious and conceited.

Isabella ignores Catherine for most of the day in order to pay attention to James.

While with the others, Catherine misses her opportunity to see Mr. Tilney and his sister.

My overall thoughts so far
Northanger Abbey is easier to read than I had expected. It's lacks the over-description and fancily phrases that usually turn me off to older books. And of course, as a book lover, I thoroughly enjoy all the book talk.

Most of the women seem kind of awful. Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe spend time together, not because they like each other, but because they don't have anyone else to talk to. Isabella seems to be using Catherine as a means to James, just as Catherine appears to want to do with Tilney's sister. True friendship is definitely not a theme here.

The men aren't much better. Mr. Allen escapes as often as possible. John Thorpe is, well, atrocious and I hope he gets run over by a carriage. I can't seem to get a handle on Mr. Tilney and what his purpose is.

Catherine needs to just stop it. Seriously. She meets some guy once, he sort of flirts with her and now she's obsessed with him? So obsessed that she's willing to use his sister to get to him, just as Isabella is doing to her? But why? None of these men have done anything of remote interest since they've arrived.

To sum up: I am enjoying Northanger Abbey and reveling in hating most of the characters. I would love to see someone (anyone, really) become the victim of manslaughter via carriage.

More Week 1 Posts
Chelle's post @ The Prairie Library
Vicki's post @ The Wolf's Den
Cat's post @ Tell Me a Story
Booksnob's post @ Book Snob

Discuss your thoughts, opinions, questions, etc in the comments. If you've written your own post, leave the link and I'll add it to this post.