Jane Austen July 2025 discussion
2019
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Northanger Abbey readalong (SPOILER FREE/in time with schedule)
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The schedule is on the group home page. I'll add it into the top of this discussion board as well.
Katie wrote: "Angela wrote: "Is there a schedule for this one yet?"The schedule is on the group home page. I'll add it into the top of this discussion board as well."
Thanks, Katie!
This is my first time to read NA and I love Chatherine's statements which sounds more daring than the others. I don't understand why it has been mentioned as the least favourite book of JA among readers.
Harper wrote: "This is my first time to read NA and I love Chatherine's statements which sounds more daring than the others. I don't understand why it has been mentioned as the least favourite book of JA among re..."It's a strange thing but NA is usually the one I read last when I'm re-reading Austen's novels.
It is my least favourite Jane Austen novel but still one of my favourite novels, IYSWIM.
This my first time reading NA. Starting off-I think it's pretty hilarious!
“for if it be true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman’s love is declared, it must be very improper that a young lady should dream of a gentleman before the gentleman is first known to have dreamt of her.”Wow, straight culture is wack.
Veronica wrote: "“for if it be true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman’s love is declared, it must be very improper that a young lady..."It's tongue-in-cheek like "It a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." This novel is a spoof on the Gothic novel craze of the 1790s and the silly young women who read them. It is the one Austen novel that translates best to modern times. Replace horrid novels with the vampire craze of a decade ago and fast carriages with fast cars. The Assembly Rooms is a club of sorts or wherever it is young people go to meet people these days. Bath was a social and cultural center for the elite to go to see and be seen in the 1790s. Catherine is from a more solidly middle class family and thrust into this world that seems exciting and romantic.
Okay, as an American I am at a total loss as to what is a “pump-room”. Please enlighten! Thanks!
Jill wrote: "Okay, as an American I am at a total loss as to what is a “pump-room”. Please enlighten! Thanks!"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_P...
Katherine wrote: "Jill wrote: "Okay, as an American I am at a total loss as to what is a “pump-room”. Please enlighten! Thanks!"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_P..."
Ah, thank you! I did t think it was an actual place but a term for a a type of social gathering.
Bath is situated on the site of a hot spring. The Brithon Celts built a shrine to their goddess Sulis. The Romans came in and pushed the Celts out building their own complex of temples over the hot springs. Bathing in the hot springs became fashionable in the medieval period and again in the 18th century. The truly ill and invalid HAD to take the waters but the hypochondriacs flocked to Bath to "take the waters" either by bathing or drinking. The elite went to the Pump Rooms to socialize and drink the nasty water. It was where one went to see and be seen! In the 18th century, when Northanger Abbey takes place, Bath was a fashionable resort town. Today the Pump Room is a restaurant and the hot spring water but the baths are now part of the Roman Bath Museum. Dancing in Regency Bath Upper Assembly Rooms
The Lower Assembly Rooms and Bath Society
Of course the best way to learn all this is to visit Bath! It's a lovely city and I wish I could go again. I loved it!
This is a re-read for me and I'm loving every minute of it.
This discussion board is for talking about the book as we go - so, feel free to discuss what's happened in the chapters assigned for the day on which you're posting, or before, but PLEASE be considerate to other readers and avoid spoilers if you've already read this novel or are reading ahead of the schedule. I will delete any posts that I think might spoil the novel for new readers.
Our schedule is: 15th-28th July, 31 chapters,
• 15th July: Chapters 1, 2, 3
• 16th July: Chapters 4, 5
• 17th July: Chapters 6, 7
• 18th July: Chapters 8, 9
• 19th July: Chapters 10, 11
• 20th July: Chapters 12, 13
• 21st July: Chapters 14, 15
• 22nd July: Chapters 16, 17
• 23rd July: Chapters 18, 19
• 24th July: Chapters 20, 21
• 25th July: Chapters 22, 23
• 26th July: Chapters 24, 25
• 27th July: Chapters 26, 27, 28
• 28th July: Chapters 29, 30, 31
If you're behind schedule, it's probably best to avoid the boards until you catch up.
If you've already finished the book - head over to the SPOILERS board.