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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
So,Henry likes fanny, fanny likes Edmund, edmund likes Mary. Mary liked another dude.
I'm afraid only after reading a couple of Austen's work I'm starting to see a pattern here.. And this complicated plot is too much work to unweave for my bedtime reading
I'm afraid only after reading a couple of Austen's work I'm starting to see a pattern here.. And this complicated plot is too much work to unweave for my bedtime reading
I know that people think of Fanny Price as Jane Austen's least exciting heroine, but I really liked Fanny and Mansfield Park. Although Fanny was a bit of a goodie-two-shoes, I found myself truly engrossed in her tale and really unsure where the story was heading at times. I think that says a lot about Austen and this book, because she really did keep me guessing.
This is the last of Austen's novels that I had to read, and I saved it for last because I had heard from so many people that it is inferior. With that in mind, I listened to the audiobook by Juliet Stevenson, which was really excellent. I'll probably listen to all of her Austen readings.
I actually loved this book. Some reviews on this site say to read this as less of a romance and more of a social commentary and I agree. Other critiques say that Fanny doesn't develop in the same way as Austen's other heroine's, which is true -- but I also think that that's kind of the point. That Fanny is steadfastly good in spite of the people she grew up with is pretty incredible. And while Fanny didn't grow like Elizabeth or Emma, I think that many of the people around her grew -- and grew to revere her, as they should have done from the start.
While Fanny doesn't always sparkle, the other characters absolutely shine. Mrs. Norris, Lady Bertram, the Crawfords, the Prices, etc. were just the worst, but in the Jane Austen way, which means that they were wonderfully fun to read. I actually laughed out loud at the things they did and said. Austen is relentless in the way that she skewers her characters, and this is some of her finest work.
I can finally give my ranking of Jane Austen's works. Every one of her novels was a joy to read and I anticipate that this will change with subsequent re-readings, but as things stand now:
1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Northanger Abbey
3. Persuasion
4. Mansfield Park
5. Sense & Sensibility
6. Emma
I actually loved this book. Some reviews on this site say to read this as less of a romance and more of a social commentary and I agree. Other critiques say that Fanny doesn't develop in the same way as Austen's other heroine's, which is true -- but I also think that that's kind of the point. That Fanny is steadfastly good in spite of the people she grew up with is pretty incredible. And while Fanny didn't grow like Elizabeth or Emma, I think that many of the people around her grew -- and grew to revere her, as they should have done from the start.
While Fanny doesn't always sparkle, the other characters absolutely shine. Mrs. Norris, Lady Bertram, the Crawfords, the Prices, etc. were just the worst, but in the Jane Austen way, which means that they were wonderfully fun to read. I actually laughed out loud at the things they did and said. Austen is relentless in the way that she skewers her characters, and this is some of her finest work.
I can finally give my ranking of Jane Austen's works. Every one of her novels was a joy to read and I anticipate that this will change with subsequent re-readings, but as things stand now:
1. Pride & Prejudice
2. Northanger Abbey
3. Persuasion
4. Mansfield Park
5. Sense & Sensibility
6. Emma
OKAY. This one was so good! Imagine my surprise when, on finishing Mansfield Park, I discover that many people hate this book and its heroine, and find her passive and weak. I have to strongly disagree. Fanny Price has an iron will and she knows how to pick her battles. When her morals and integrity are at stake, she never wavers. This is a woman who has been constantly put down and reminded of her inferiority her entire childhood, and the portrayal of this kind of psychology was spot-on for Austen. I found myself wondering why I enjoyed MP so much more than S&S, when both books have moral female characters who end up being right in the end. But I think the difference is in Fanny’s suffering. She has endured so much, and this makes her actions and reactions so much more understandable compared to Elinor, who, though not rich, has essentially lived a charmed life. In addition, I found Fanny to be a more mature portrayal for Austen. She IS a romantic, she DOES cry when pushed to her limit, and Austen considers these virtues, while Marianne was considered silly for her romantic sensibilities. Another thing that makes Fanny likable, is that she remains un-fooled by Henry even when the reader IS fooled by him. We get duped by the Crawfords’ style and flashiness and warmth, and I began to really believe in the change in Henry and root for him. But Fanny was wiser than me, and I respect her for that. I feel this is Austen’s most mature and complex novel, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, on re-reading it, I update this rating to 5 stars. It doesn’t knock P&P from being my favorite… but one day it just might.
I liked it - but felt the book dragged. From the LONG portion about the "play" to constantly wondering if Fanny COULD even marry her First cousin - it really kind of bugged me that in the end she was right.
I wish someone had forced me to read this book when I was 15 or 16. I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even less than I did this time around, but I might have learned some useful life lessons. Such as: when you don't believe in the importance of your own opinions, you make a very boring conversationalist. When you sit by quietly and hope someone notices you, you rarely get the attention you want. When you gush praise for small favors and seem to minimally value your self, you end up annoying and embarrassing the person you're trying to thank. When you spend vast stretches of time dissecting all possible meanings of a small event, well, you're right back to boring again.
Reading Mansfield Park now that I have my adolescence firmly behind me, I spent a lot of time cringing as I remembered myself behaving in those Fanny-esque ways and saw how tiresome they were to observe from the outside. The thing is, as much as I recognize some familiar negative traits in Fanny, the positive traits that I would also expect to see in a well-rounded person are lacking here. Her positives seem to involve being virtuous and selfless--but 200 years on, her virtues resemble flaws, as in her Puritanical abhorrence toward participating in theatrics or her self-abnegation to the point of self-negation. She never seems to display a sense of humor about herself or anything around her, which Austen's other heroines do to some extent, and which would go a long way toward making her likeable. Austen's other heroines also generally have faults, act on them with some negative effect, and find that the process of moving forward involves a re-assessment of things they have assumed to be true, with a general reduction of the aforementioned faults as the characters mature. Fanny at the end of the book resembles Fanny at the beginning, and the things that go right for her in her life happen because of other people's actions, rather than as a result of her taking any action. This makes her hard to care about or root for.
The book reads as though Austen herself noticed how uninteresting it is to spend time with Fanny, since the narration steps inside other characters' heads regularly. The problem is, this technique drags the book out to much longer than it really needed to be, as many scenes are frozen so that we can hear what each participant thinks of the others at a moment in time. For comparison, imagine how much longer Pride and Prejudice would have been if each scene was stopped midway through so that we could look into the thoughts of each Bennet sister, both parents, Bingley, Darcy, Wickham, and whoever else happened to be present. Not only would this have made for a bloated tome, but it would also have removed the dramatic tension over what any of the characters were going to do next.
I've heard that this is meant to be a political book, conveying messages about things like the corruption of the landed class. I tried to read it in that light, but I enjoy social commentary much more when served up alongside good plot and entertaining characters. Lacking those, this book serves only as an artifact from a disappeared time, not as a good read.
Reading Mansfield Park now that I have my adolescence firmly behind me, I spent a lot of time cringing as I remembered myself behaving in those Fanny-esque ways and saw how tiresome they were to observe from the outside. The thing is, as much as I recognize some familiar negative traits in Fanny, the positive traits that I would also expect to see in a well-rounded person are lacking here. Her positives seem to involve being virtuous and selfless--but 200 years on, her virtues resemble flaws, as in her Puritanical abhorrence toward participating in theatrics or her self-abnegation to the point of self-negation. She never seems to display a sense of humor about herself or anything around her, which Austen's other heroines do to some extent, and which would go a long way toward making her likeable. Austen's other heroines also generally have faults, act on them with some negative effect, and find that the process of moving forward involves a re-assessment of things they have assumed to be true, with a general reduction of the aforementioned faults as the characters mature. Fanny at the end of the book resembles Fanny at the beginning, and the things that go right for her in her life happen because of other people's actions, rather than as a result of her taking any action. This makes her hard to care about or root for.
The book reads as though Austen herself noticed how uninteresting it is to spend time with Fanny, since the narration steps inside other characters' heads regularly. The problem is, this technique drags the book out to much longer than it really needed to be, as many scenes are frozen so that we can hear what each participant thinks of the others at a moment in time. For comparison, imagine how much longer Pride and Prejudice would have been if each scene was stopped midway through so that we could look into the thoughts of each Bennet sister, both parents, Bingley, Darcy, Wickham, and whoever else happened to be present. Not only would this have made for a bloated tome, but it would also have removed the dramatic tension over what any of the characters were going to do next.
I've heard that this is meant to be a political book, conveying messages about things like the corruption of the landed class. I tried to read it in that light, but I enjoy social commentary much more when served up alongside good plot and entertaining characters. Lacking those, this book serves only as an artifact from a disappeared time, not as a good read.
slow-paced
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
its a 3.5 but ill be generous this time
if the ending wasnt what it was i wouldve given it a 1 star
felt a little too long, i listened to the audiobook and it took me a month to finish it
if the ending wasnt what it was i wouldve given it a 1 star
felt a little too long, i listened to the audiobook and it took me a month to finish it