Mansfield Park

One of my very favorite Jane Austen books - timeless themes (ex: struggles to meet family expectations, generational gaps, daily challenges with practicing one's virtues and values...) I have such a soft spot for Fanny and her persistence of goodness and kindness in spite of her hardships and trials (*a bit of a Cinderella story and an ending that I can get behind :) :) ) I also appreciate how Austen's own convictions come through this novel alongside the witty and thoughtful dialogue penned throughout

Reread I think this is definitely one of the more underrated and complicated books by Jane Austen. Like most Austen novels, it follows a young woman, Fanny Price, who comes from a poor family but is raised by her wealthy relatives as she tries to figure out where she fits in the social order of the time. It’s also written in the usual Austen style – a scathing social commentary disguised as romance, tucked neatly under polite conversation. The themes fall right into that space too - what counts as acceptable behavior, how morality is shaped, and how much of who we become is influenced by the people raising us. Let me start with the adults. Sir Thomas, a plantation owner, does take in a child who needs a home, but he’s also distant and overly authoritative, and not entirely blameless for how entitled and unchecked most of his children turn out, with maybe Edmund as the exception. Mrs. Bertram somehow turns being delicate, vague, perpetually tired, and completely unaware of anything beyond her own comfort into a full-time personality. And Mrs. Norris is the kind of person who would expect applause for breathing if she could manage it. So, what could such adults hope to produce in terms of morals or integrity among the children in their care? When it comes to the young people in this book, as well as young people in general, whether wealthy or poor, raised with comforts and a sense of entitlement or faced with struggles beyond their years - will make mistakes. And if we are fortunate, at least some of them will learn from their mistakes and make amends. In the case of this book, adults, too. I love how Austen gives voice to such a wide range of personalities and then shows who evolves, who doesn’t, and who hovers frustratingly in between.

Loved it soooo much! Hated most of the characters though except for Sir Thomas, Fanny and, sometimes, Edmund. But mostly I absolutely despised Mrs. Norris: worst character ever, accompanied only by Henry. 

This is still great because it's Jane Austen. The writing is excellent. The characters, though, are all mostly insufferable, and the story is just so long.

My last Jane Austen novel. Like so many other young girls, my first was Pride and Prejudice, spurred on by visions of the dashing Colin Firth. I finished the other four in college, in between re-readings of P&P (gets better with age, if you ask me). For some reason, I could never get to Mansfield Park. It didn't help that in Jane Austen Book Club they always totally pan it. What I will say about this book is: it wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't my least favorite. That title is reserved for Persuasion. Just couldn't get into that one. At least with this one there was some juicy scandal at the end. But seriously, it was right at the end. Until then, it was rather dull. I have been reading this one since the summer, mostly on my phone, which is not super great, but it's much nicer to have something to read than nothing. In the past week or so I decided to nut up and just finish it, but it still took quite a while to get to the good stuff.

This is kind of a tough read. Fanny has nothing to recommend her to a modern audience like Lizzy, with her sparkling wit and self-deprecation, or Emma, with her foibles and follies. Fanny is, in short, boring. She is so good and quiet and well-behaved that even when people aren't behaving that badly around her, it seems like they are. But people start behaving pretty badly after a while, so that's at least enough to keep some interest. Fanny can't even speak most of the time because she's so painfully hindered by her own sensitivities and decorousness. It's enough to make you want to slap her. Or maybe that's just because I'm kind of more of a Mary Crawford, for better or for worse. There are people out there who are so completely inhibited by their fears and emotions, and Fanny Price is the embodiment of them. The rest of the cast of characters are not too awesome. Edmund's annoyingly somber and self-righteous (not in the nice teasing way of Mr. Knightley or the meant-to-be-pricked way of Mr. Darcy). Maria, Julia, Mrs. Norris, Lady Bertram, Henry Crawford, and Mary Crawford are all petty, flawed, self-absorbed characters meant to be the moral foils of Fanny and Edmund, who don't so much shine by comparison as make everything seem too much like a morality play. Which it is, I just don't enjoy it.

There is some wildly juicy scandal in the last fifty pages (I was actually so shocked I gasped aloud!) which made some of the dullness of the rest of the novel not so bad. But still not the best of her novels.

However, I am thrilled to finally have read them all. Woo. Now go read P&P.