Mansfield Park (Penguin Classics)

Edition Review: The Chiltern classics are classy, collectible, and most definitely giftable. Each copy is a work of art in the gorgeous raised cover art, gilt-edged pages, thick paper stock, ribbon bookmark, and well formatted pages and font. Just above the size of a paperback and comfort-cushioned hardbound feel in hand. Readers will love this edition. Book Thoughts: Most people would turn their heads and stare to know that I love this second when I rank the six Jane Austen novels. I felt an urge to pick up this well-narrated audio version and listen in once again. I will share a ramble of thoughts on what jumped out at me this go around rather than a well-constructed review. As a teen, I think I related to Fanny's shyness, awkwardness, and I knew an underdog when I saw one. None of those early reactions of changed. Oh, granted, I've noticed her youthful immaturity come into play with her jealous condemnation or quick repudiation of some of those around her without the softer way an adult can hold to conviction with compassion and understanding (note I say 'can' because even as adults, we are quick to pounce on other people's mistakes or missteps at times). It's easy to forget Fanny is but eighteen here and she is the youngest of all the principal characters. She possesses a poise and gravity that her fickle, vain female cousins and even her aunts do not. Mary Crawford is the only of the female characters who can come close to rivaling her in intellect when she makes an effort while at Mansfield, but once back in the bosom of her shallow London friends, she shelves her brains to conform (and no, I'm not grudging people some frivolity and entertainment now and then) that it's okay to detest one's spouse and the only serious consideration when choosing said spouse is advancement or money. One can gripe to their friends about their misery and have their fun afterward even if it means sporting with or shattering another marriage. And, that sporting with other people's affections and lives is what struck me so hard this time about Henry Crawford and Mrs. Norris. Gasp, I know. I put two such people in the same sentence. He's rakish and she's parsimonious so they don't appear to have a lot in common. But, in their own ways, they share a liking for twisting people to do their will and take pleasure in it. And, that segues me nicely into why I appreciate this one. Austen is both poking fun at the all too serious folks with conviction while also giving them the grave nod that one should have discernment. The movie adaptions make most of the characters shine so they appeal while the book paints them all with a darker shade so their unappealing sides are more visible. Mary Crawford's character is where I see that most and, I do not blame the filmmakers for this choice. Someone has to be likeable, right? We wink with her over her flaws, but the book presents her with more mercenary designs that Fanny sees because her partiality shields her from the dazzle and attraction of the Crawfords. And, to give due credit, Fanny's educated and thought-filled mind help her parse out what her Bertram cousins can't and won't see particularly in Henry Crawford. Wanda McCaddon did well with the range of voices from old to young, gender, class, and personality so that I had no trouble delving into the story each time I clicked it on. The fact is I enjoy this book because I see it as part cautionary tale, part entertainment as Austen rolls out so many disparaging characters and brings them together at MP, but also part subtle complexity in that things are not only one faceted from the characters to the plot. Timid Fanny doesn't sparkle or have great appeal, but she has an inner strength that stands pat when she hits a pivotal moment of decision with everything and everyone ranged against her.

When Mansfield Park first appeared in print in 1814, it was thought of as the least romantic novel by Jane Austen. In the story, as the result of her aunt Norris’s guiles, Fanny Prices comes to live with her Aunt Lady Bertram and Uncle Sir Thomas Bertram at Mansfield Park at a young age. Fanny Price’s own family has nine children and the father is an old sailor who drinks, as Fanny’s mother, unlike her two sisters Lady Bertram and Aunt Norris, has married beneath her. The Bertrams have four children--two boys, Tom and Edmund and two girls, Maria and Julia. Of all the four children Edmund is the one who befriends and helps Fanny. Although Fanny’s situation in Mansfield Park is much better than what it would have been in the home that she was born, she is nevertheless beneath the family’s own children and often is the receiver of Aunt Norris’s contempt. Still, Fanny becomes an indispensable companion to Aunt Bertram, and although she is shy and deferential, she is better accepted once all the children reach young adult status. At this time, both Maria and Julia have come out (as debutantes) in the society, but nobody has thought of Fanny, and Fanny has never been to a ball. Edmund still is a best friend to Fanny and is becoming ready to be ordained. In the meantime, Sir Thomas leaves for Antigua to take care of his plantations. About the same time, the Crawford siblings Henry and Mary arrive in the neighborhood, Henry begins flirting with Maria, who falls for him, and Edmund goes after Mary while Fanny has secretly fallen in love with Edmund. Then all the young people get involved in the production of the play. Up to here in the story, I had to force myself to read on because the social class distinctions and the fake politeness of speech and manner got to me, which I am sure, an author of Austen’s caliber correctly portrayed the English society of early nineteenth century. With the production of the play and the events that followed it, the story finally captured me and I read it to its end. As to its end, nearly everyone gets married and is not all that happy, except for Edmund and Fanny. Although I am not all that much in favor of first cousins marrying, it has been done in most societies and the twists and turns just before that have made the reading of this novel quite interesting. The writing style of the author is insightful not only where the characters are concerned but also with the social structure, scenery and settings, and civility and ethics requirements of the times. One thing that separates Austen’s style from that of today’s understanding of style is that author information as to Austen’s judgment is inserted quite often and especially during denouement; however, the writing is detailed and empathetic specifically where Fanny is concerned. Also, the author begins by showing a setting or an event, and then she zeroes into the characters. As such, most of the internal story is told by the author and not shown by the dialogue or other tools of fiction. Characterization is exquisite with most of the primary characters’ behaviors differing from one another. The ending is told not shown and it ends abruptly with the author saying, she is purposely not showing the details of events or the realization of the change in Edmund. “ I purposely abstain from dates on this occasion, that every one may be at liberty to fix their own, aware that the cure of unconquerable passions, and the transfer of unchanging attachments, must vary much as to time in different people. I only entreat everybody to believe that exactly at the time when it was quite natural that it should be so, and not a week earlier, Edmund did cease to care about Miss Crawford, and became as anxious to marry Fanny as Fanny herself could desire.” Unlike most readers who love Victorian or Georgian Romance Novels, I had always stayed away from them because of what I deemed as pretentiousness that turned me off. After reading Mansfield Park, however, I am getting warmed up to reading another such novel.

Reviews call this the darkest of Austen's novels. It has a psychological dept that her other books, lighter and more satyrical, lack. A good insight on trauma, love and honor.

On retrouve des thématiques chères à Austen, entre une vieille tante méchante avaricieuse qui rappellera (en encore plus mesquin) la Fanny de Raison et Sentiments; une pauvre mère (celle de l'héroïne) qui donne littéralement sa fille pour qu'elle ait un futur; un amour entre deux personnes de rang inégal (quoique) et enfin, un beau mariage pour une jeune fille méritante, au caractère trempé, à la morale inflexible, mais à la timidité bien d'époque. Admirable dans la manière dont le récit est cadré, et ambiance délicieuse. Enfin, excellente édition pas chère et de qualité, permettant d'acheter et de racheter les volumes, dans le cadre de voyages.

ジュリエット・スティーブンソンによる『マンスフィールド・パーク』の 朗読ＣＤ（完全版：Unabridged）について。 ＣＤ14枚で約16時間50分。 ジュリエット・スティーブンソンの声はクリアでとても聞きやすいです。 また皮肉っているところなどは、くすっと笑わずにはいられないほど、です。 登場人物毎に声や話し方を変えるので、聞いているうちに情景が目に浮かぶようです。 さらにそれぞれの人のやさしさやずるさなど、色々なものが聞いているうちに、 すっと心に入ってきます。 声の強弱や力の入れ方などが巧みで、はらはらどきどきしながら 「この先、どうなるのだろう？」と聞いています。 朗読者の声や話し方、スピードなどが不安であれば、版元のNaxos AudioBooksで 試聴できるので、そちらでまずはお試し下さい。 なお、硬い紙箱の中に、厚紙で１枚ずつ包装されています。 ジュリエット・スティーブンソンの朗読はとても聞きやすいので、オススメします。

wonderful read. I love the characters. Jane has turned ordinary people into snarks, louts, borderlines, and a few quite lovely people.

Mansfield Park. I first read this book back when I was a teenager and I wasn't that fussed on it. I didn't take to Fanny Price, the heroine of this tale, thinking that she was a bit of a drip, and I didn't find the story romantic enough. I decided to read the book again wondering how differently I'd see it being that much older. I am so glad I decided to re-read it, as I felt I appreciated it so much more than I did before. Fanny Price's mother suffers from a surplus of children compared to income. As was fairly common at the time, Fanny is taken in, at age 10 by another relative, her aunt (Lady Bertram) who is married to Sir Thomas Bertram, the owner of Mansfield Park. The Bertrams have 4 children, two boys, Tom and Edmund, and two younger girls, Maria and Julia, the youngest of which is about 2 years older than Fanny. Also heavily involved over at Mansfield Park is Lady Bertram's sister, Mrs Norris. There is no real expectation that Fanny will be brought up as one of them as her prospects would always have been less; she is brought up instead as a poor relation. The children aren't especially all that interested in her, aside from Edmund, 6 years Fanny's senior who takes pity on her and looks after her. Indolent Lady B finds her useful for being at her beck and call and Mrs Norris (who is a truly horrible woman) really dislikes Fanny. Mrs Norris seems to feel that any kindness she shows towards Fanny will somehow be disrespectful towards her other nieces, who she very much spoils. Although taught good manners the Bertram children are not encouraged to learn good principles - they aren't compassionate, thoughtful or self-denying. Edmund is the only Bertram child who has much in the way of principles, and they must have been innate to him. The main events of the book begin when the Crawfords come into the area. Mr Henry Crawford is a very vain man, who thoughtlessly enjoys making young ladies fall in love with him, and he succeeds with both Maria (who is engaged to an empty-headed man of fortune, Mr Rushworth) and Julia Bertram. Henry's sister Miss Mary Crawford, is attractive and charming, but neither of them necessarily have good principles either. This book took a while to get into, as most of the characters are pretty unlikeable. Fanny herself, although a good person, is so timid and shy that it takes a while to like her rather than merely feel sympathy for her. For a modern reader some of the things which I presume would have been obvious to a contemporary reader weren't immediately understandable. For example, in Sir Thomas's absence to visit his plantation in Antigua a decision is made to put together a play and both Fanny and Edmund are vehemently opposed to this scheme as being improper. For a modern reader it's hard to understand why this would be the case - the play they choose is obviously inappropriate, but it seems as though the principle of putting any play on is improper. Another thing that doesn't necessarily translate to a modern reader is Fanny's distrust of the Crawfords. In many ways they are quite likeable, even though he is quite rakish and his sister sees no problem with this. I can understand why Fanny didn't like them but I DID like them. Fanny herself I grew to like, but she is not as easy to like as other Austen heroines. She is a good person, and very unloved, and put upon. She is quite intolerant of weakness of character in others, although she is careful not to let this show inappropriately. She is quite a clear-sighted and shrewd judge of character but she is quite unforgiving in her judgements. I was beginning to despair in her, but she shows a bit of growth in her tolerance levels when she gets to know her sister and realises how principled she is despite the environment that she has grown up in. A strong theme in this book, and one which gave me a lot of food for thought, is nature v nurture. How the Bertram siblings turned out with an indolent mother, a harsh father, and brought up mostly by an interfering old busybody aunt who spoilt them and encouraged them to think well of themselves and what they were due and denied them nothing. How the Crawford siblings turned out, brought up in a home with a very unhappy marriage, clear 'sides' and no principles. How alike in nature Mrs Price and her sister Lady Bertram are, and how differently they now are due to the big difference in their financial situations. A visit to her mother's home in Portsmouth (where Fanny is even more unloved than in Mansfield Park) teaches Fanny a lot and she realises how much being at Mansfield Park has shaped her character. A crisis calls her 'home' to Mansfield Park - finally Fanny is appreciated more truly there, and her family there have also begun to know themselves and each other more truly too. Once I got into this book I really enjoyed it. I won't leave it so long until the next re-read! I'd like to find a good DVD adaptation of it too; I've seen a couple which I wasn't that impressed with, but I don't suppose that this is the easiest book to translate to the screen.