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A review by heroineinabook
Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid
4.0
The Austen Project books ([b:Eligible|25852870|Eligible (The Austen Project #4)|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1460477855s/25852870.jpg|26428236] by Curtis Sittenfeld, [b:Emma|23395733|Emma|Alexander McCall Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1418764787s/23395733.jpg|26428246] by Alexander McCall Smith, [b:Sense & Sensibility|17349163|Sense & Sensibility|Joanna Trollope|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363291870s/17349163.jpg|24034602] by Joanna Trollope) have been panned so much the last two books (Mansfield Park and Persuasion) are not being published (If they are, I cannot find anything about them) with [b:Eligible|25852870|Eligible (The Austen Project #4)|Curtis Sittenfeld|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1460477855s/25852870.jpg|26428236], published this year, as the last one. (Even the website has been removed and now forwards on to a small press's website, a division of Harper Collins.)
I do not care. McCall Smith's was the weakest one of the bunch but overall, I absolutely adored them. (You'll be hard pressed to find me not loving the Austen pastiches since I'm a big fan of such things. Even [b:Manga Classics: Emma|23332879|Manga Classics Emma|Stacy King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416178949s/23332879.jpg|42885636] and the Marvel graphic novels of P+P and Emma. The exception, for me, seems to be the Darcy side / continuation / retelling so much it doesn't even remotely look like the original books. Those tend to be dreadful. After the first couple, I couldn't even hate read them.)
I'm probably a poor person to review The Austen Project books as I'll more than likely give them four or five stars as for the most part, the retelling seem to catch the spirit of the original even if the language, and in some cases canon, may not highlight Austen's voice.
With all of that being said, I adored McDermid's version of Northanger Abbey and I only have a few quibbles, with those being inserting the book into modern day. Oh, it works to the extent I could see Cat(herine) reading her Hebrides Harpies (think Twilight with mystery involved) books, curled up in the corner with a hot cup of tea by her side and texting and facebooking on the side. But Cat's mannerisms, speech, and interactions with the other characters show a well-rounded teen while her texting / social media text and tone have her come off as a half-cocked character. It's as if McDermid interviewed a few teenagers, got the gist, and attempted to emulate the youths. The difference in tone is not jarring so much as it is surprising when you come across these texts but they are few and far between so I forgive McDermid for that. The setting, Northanger Abbey is in the Borders and much of the action takes place during Edinburgh's Fringe festival, which makes sense as McDermid calls Scotland home and it would be natural to set the story there.
If you search for "The Austen Project" and the titles currently published, you'll see scathing reviews by big time websites / magazines to the occasional book bloggers, with the main gripe being it's humorless, poorly written, and leaves nothing to the imagination. (Which is funny with the poorly written as McDermid has won numerous awards for her writing.) What they seem to forget is Northanger Abby in and of itself was a parody of the gothic novels of Austen's age so yes, some of the language and characters and the settings seem a bit gruesome and over the top, but that is the whole point!
Austen's characters and story lines are universal which is why her work still speaks to us 200 years later. The foibles, struggles, happiness, and everything inbetween she brilliant encapsulated in her work is everywhere you look. Human condition is the human condition and writing about what propels us, excites us, and scares us, and critiquing the the things around us gives the opportunity for others to connect and empathize. This is all the reasons why Austen "purists" who denounce the pastiches and similar works make me want to backhand them into next week. You don't have to like those stories but to reject them for whatever reason is to reject what Austen was writing and thinking about all those centuries ago.
Long story short: Read it. Enjoy it. Don't over analyze or think it. Just remember a story is a story and what stories is to give us entertainment whether it is fictionalized or not.
(P.S. I apparently have OPINIONS about such things.)
I do not care. McCall Smith's was the weakest one of the bunch but overall, I absolutely adored them. (You'll be hard pressed to find me not loving the Austen pastiches since I'm a big fan of such things. Even [b:Manga Classics: Emma|23332879|Manga Classics Emma|Stacy King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1416178949s/23332879.jpg|42885636] and the Marvel graphic novels of P+P and Emma. The exception, for me, seems to be the Darcy side / continuation / retelling so much it doesn't even remotely look like the original books. Those tend to be dreadful. After the first couple, I couldn't even hate read them.)
I'm probably a poor person to review The Austen Project books as I'll more than likely give them four or five stars as for the most part, the retelling seem to catch the spirit of the original even if the language, and in some cases canon, may not highlight Austen's voice.
With all of that being said, I adored McDermid's version of Northanger Abbey and I only have a few quibbles, with those being inserting the book into modern day. Oh, it works to the extent I could see Cat(herine) reading her Hebrides Harpies (think Twilight with mystery involved) books, curled up in the corner with a hot cup of tea by her side and texting and facebooking on the side. But Cat's mannerisms, speech, and interactions with the other characters show a well-rounded teen while her texting / social media text and tone have her come off as a half-cocked character. It's as if McDermid interviewed a few teenagers, got the gist, and attempted to emulate the youths. The difference in tone is not jarring so much as it is surprising when you come across these texts but they are few and far between so I forgive McDermid for that. The setting, Northanger Abbey is in the Borders and much of the action takes place during Edinburgh's Fringe festival, which makes sense as McDermid calls Scotland home and it would be natural to set the story there.
If you search for "The Austen Project" and the titles currently published, you'll see scathing reviews by big time websites / magazines to the occasional book bloggers, with the main gripe being it's humorless, poorly written, and leaves nothing to the imagination. (Which is funny with the poorly written as McDermid has won numerous awards for her writing.) What they seem to forget is Northanger Abby in and of itself was a parody of the gothic novels of Austen's age so yes, some of the language and characters and the settings seem a bit gruesome and over the top, but that is the whole point!
Austen's characters and story lines are universal which is why her work still speaks to us 200 years later. The foibles, struggles, happiness, and everything inbetween she brilliant encapsulated in her work is everywhere you look. Human condition is the human condition and writing about what propels us, excites us, and scares us, and critiquing the the things around us gives the opportunity for others to connect and empathize. This is all the reasons why Austen "purists" who denounce the pastiches and similar works make me want to backhand them into next week. You don't have to like those stories but to reject them for whatever reason is to reject what Austen was writing and thinking about all those centuries ago.
Long story short: Read it. Enjoy it. Don't over analyze or think it. Just remember a story is a story and what stories is to give us entertainment whether it is fictionalized or not.
(P.S. I apparently have OPINIONS about such things.)