Comments on: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen http://www.girldetective.net/?p=992 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Tue, 12 May 2026 06:15:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=992&cpage=1#comment-8867 girldetective Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:59:15 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=992#comment-8867 Argh, Kate, I hate losing comments. I do have to approve them before they appear, though, so that might explain a delay. I'm having a hard time imagining MP as a farce. I just watched the 1999 movie last night, which I'll have an entry about soon. It was a good movie, but definitely an adaptation since many liberties were taken in departing from the text, and it was more clearly farcical than the novel. I don't see MP being more farcical than, say, Northanger Abbey, P & P or Emma. All of them contained class commentary, serious issues, comical characters, and sly skewerings. I like your friend's idea of attending MP classes. I've accumulated a huge list of links about it, and seriously doubt whether I'll have time to follow even a fraction of them, but I'm hungry to learn more about the book. The cover of the dvd said it was Austen's favorite. I wonder if Fanny--ethical and good to a fault, with no habit of running her mouth off--was a character Austen wished she were more like. I'm thrilled to hear you liked the new Bangkok book. There was such a qualitative difference for me between 8 and Tattoo, and I'm heartened to hear you think it's more like 8, which I loved. I just finished chapter 11 in HP, and wish I had all the time in the world to read. Story of my life. Ha! Argh, Kate, I hate losing comments. I do have to approve them before they appear, though, so that might explain a delay. I’m having a hard time imagining MP as a farce. I just watched the 1999 movie last night, which I’ll have an entry about soon. It was a good movie, but definitely an adaptation since many liberties were taken in departing from the text, and it was more clearly farcical than the novel. I don’t see MP being more farcical than, say, Northanger Abbey, P & P or Emma. All of them contained class commentary, serious issues, comical characters, and sly skewerings. I like your friend’s idea of attending MP classes. I’ve accumulated a huge list of links about it, and seriously doubt whether I’ll have time to follow even a fraction of them, but I’m hungry to learn more about the book. The cover of the dvd said it was Austen’s favorite. I wonder if Fanny–ethical and good to a fault, with no habit of running her mouth off–was a character Austen wished she were more like.

I’m thrilled to hear you liked the new Bangkok book. There was such a qualitative difference for me between 8 and Tattoo, and I’m heartened to hear you think it’s more like 8, which I loved. I just finished chapter 11 in HP, and wish I had all the time in the world to read. Story of my life. Ha!

]]> By: Kate http://www.girldetective.net/?p=992&cpage=1#comment-8862 Kate Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:21:02 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=992#comment-8862 Nooo! I just wrote a long response which was lost! I completely agree with you regarding the length of time it took me to read the book. As I mentioned elsewhere, this book took me far longer than I anticipated, and I even had to set it down and do/read other things before picking it back up. I also agree that Fanny seems to be unfairly maligned. I'm not sure what's behind that other than she doesn't have the same color to me as Elizabeth Bennett. She's a very different Austin character. My mom said she (and others, she's an English prof), read Mansfield Park as a farce rather than straight. It makes for an interesting read, because the book becomes funnier when I believe Austin is poking fun at some of her characters. However, while I enjoyed it, and while this might be a symptom of the increasing complexity of the story, I didn't fall into it like her other books. I can lose myself in Pride and Prejudice each time, but with Mansfield Park, I always felt like I knew I was working through this book. Not a bad thing, but a different experience. A friend of mine, when she was in grad school, would scan the syllabi of all the English classes offered, looking for when they would discuss Mansfield Park. She marked the days on the calendar ("Mansfield Park day!") and sit in on them all, whether she was in the class or not. I don't really have that feeling about the book at all. On another note, I just finished Bangkok Haunts--the hooker certainly does NOT have heart of gold in this one. Well worth the read, and it felt more like B8 to me than Bangkok Tattoo. Now I'm just spinning my wheels till Saturday rolls around with my Potter book. Nooo! I just wrote a long response which was lost!

I completely agree with you regarding the length of time it took me to read the book. As I mentioned elsewhere, this book took me far longer than I anticipated, and I even had to set it down and do/read other things before picking it back up.

I also agree that Fanny seems to be unfairly maligned. I’m not sure what’s behind that other than she doesn’t have the same color to me as Elizabeth Bennett. She’s a very different Austin character. My mom said she (and others, she’s an English prof), read Mansfield Park as a farce rather than straight. It makes for an interesting read, because the book becomes funnier when I believe Austin is poking fun at some of her characters.

However, while I enjoyed it, and while this might be a symptom of the increasing complexity of the story, I didn’t fall into it like her other books. I can lose myself in Pride and Prejudice each time, but with Mansfield Park, I always felt like I knew I was working through this book. Not a bad thing, but a different experience.

A friend of mine, when she was in grad school, would scan the syllabi of all the English classes offered, looking for when they would discuss Mansfield Park. She marked the days on the calendar (”Mansfield Park day!”) and sit in on them all, whether she was in the class or not. I don’t really have that feeling about the book at all.

On another note, I just finished Bangkok Haunts–the hooker certainly does NOT have heart of gold in this one. Well worth the read, and it felt more like B8 to me than Bangkok Tattoo. Now I’m just spinning my wheels till Saturday rolls around with my Potter book.

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