Mansfield Park - Likewise Book Reviews

"I was rooting for Fanny Price the whole time! It was interesting to see how the elite lived at that time and their views of how to conduct themselves. "

"Austen’s novels transport me to another era. Mansfield Park is one of her longer books, which allows for more societal missteps, misunderstandings and conundrums among the decidedly good and decidedly roguish characters. "

"This was my first Jane Austen book! At first, it was very hard for me to follow along in the conversations. Maybe if I had watched the movie before reading the book, I would have understood it better, but it was like I was just reading gibberish for the first few chapters. Continuing though, the drama just sucks you in and keeps you reading. The characters were not very favorable to me, and the book ended on a weird note, but I'm hoping my next Jane Austen book will be better. "

"If you like drama, then prepare to enjoy! This is one of my favorite comfort books; I love going back to all the characters and reliving the story again and again"

"I absolutely loved this book. It was, in my opinion, her most interesting book. Every single new situation felt so real and fit so well with all the characters that it makes as simply impossible to put down. It also challenged my expectation of a love story and ever time I thought I knew what was going to happen next I was so wrong. Her depiction of sensibility and delicacy also made me take a look at myself and how gentle of a person I was as compared with who I wanted to be. Anyways, slow moving but so so good!"

"Mansfield Park is the fourth of Austen’s works that I have read. I was not too thrilled with the last one I read, Persuasion, but I did love Mansfield Park. Fanny was rather shy for a main character, but she was a lot of fun. And the ending made me happy."

"So I found a delightful BBC dramatization with Felicity Jones as Fanny, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Edmund! Needless to say I throughly enjoyed it, but I would like to go back and read the full story at some point, since I adore Jane Austen and she deserves multiple re-reads and all the performances of her works, be it radio or movie or tv. Though nothing compares to her witty writing style and ingenious social commentary!"

"This is probably my favorite Austin. It’s much more serious and deals with political issues as well as her usual classicism. A knowing protagonist and the classic romance is embellished in darker look at the society of Austin’s time. "

"Definitely one of my favs!! I love how different a character Fanny is compared to the rest of Jane Austen's other characters."

"I honestly don’t know why I love this story as much as I do, being that the two protagonists are hoity-toity prudes lol. Alas, it’s always been a favorite Austen, always will be. Fanny + Edmund 4ever"

"Not my favorite Jane Austen book, but still thoroughly enjoyed reading it."

"This book was very back-and-forth for me. Overall, I liked it about as well as I like the others from Jane Austen.<br/>In the beginning, I just could not focus on the book and could only pay attention to vague details about what she was trying to say. Once the scandal of the play started to pick up, it became much easier to focus and I liked the book pretty well after that. The struggle of feeling compelled - or desiring, as the case may be - to do something one feels is improper or sinful is an unending struggle of youth in all generations.<br/>I enjoyed the book, that is, until Fanny went back home for a time. Austen could not have picked a better way to make me despise her opinions unless she had outright stated despisable opinions! I will attempt to describe why and make my opinions clear, although I will fail.<br/>I agree with the morals of Fanny Price in her propriety and self-sacrifice for the needs of others. However, when she comes home, she is repelled by her family's style of living, which I cannot condone. Half of her complaints come from the fact that they aren't rich and don't have a big enough parlor, or can't afford enough servants to show the proper hospitality and greetings. Austen justifies this disgust by giving most of her family bad character traits like drinking, belittling the maids, or disobeying parents. Those things are wrong, I agree. But the substance of her complaints is that her family isn't "proper" and is "too loud" and runs around playing in the house. In other words, 80% of the complaints (except the bad character traits Austin threw in to make it justifiable) are that her family does not act in the "well-managed," serene, proper, wealthy way she believes all respectable people should.<br/>I strongly disagree, and this has been one of my main battles all through life. Many people believe that (especially of concern in children) people should not act "improperly," by which they mean that they shouldn't be loud, or run and play, or have an imagination, or break things. They need to always be clean, and always keep their house clean, and never do anything that could cause "trouble." Many of those things <i>can</i> be bad, but they are not bad by default. I specifically believe people <i>should</i> be those things. They then should care about the morals that actually matter, like loving your neighbor, justice, empathy, and hard work. It can be a fine line, because you should be mindful of other people's possessions, yet you should be allowed to experiment and be creative, even if it might break something. You should be allowed to be loud and play inside, but you should be mindful of the time and not keep others up when they need to sleep. This can go on and on.<br/>This difference finally explains why I like the morals of L. M. Montgomery so much better than those of Jane Austen. Austen's morals revolve around people being "proper." Montgomery specifically fights against the idea that people need be "proper." "Proper" truly is the best term I can find for the distinction. Most of Montgomery's heroes and heroines in the Anne series are those that society looks down on because they are strange, or childish, or too energetic. They all love life too much to be "proper." They instead are loving, empathetic, joyful, vivacious, and caring. If they were placed into an Austen novel they would immediately be dismissed by the heroine as having low breeding and horrible impropriety. Both authors argue for most of the same morals, but the way they mean those morals to be carried out differs drastically. I would argue Alcott is somewhere in the middle, but much closer to the side of "having good morals" than "being proper."<br/>Thus reads my poorly-said opinion and I sincerely hope that I can never be induced to change it, even as I become more and more grown up, and more and more people want me to. I believe the best, most moral life is that of Anne or Green Gables, not that of Fanny or Elisabeth.<br/><br/>Thus, I could have liked Mansfield Park well enough, but because of the egregious disparagement of the "improper poor," I am almost inclined to rate it even lower. However, more people would do well to heed the lesson of care when marrying a man with a concerning past who may appear for a moment to be reformed. This is still a good book with great writing and good morals. But I am poor, and do not want to be rich, even if I have money. Austen wants us all to be proper and at least act rich, even if we are not. I want to be improper and act poor even if I am not. So, we will likely never get along."

"Austen is one of my favorites!"

"Surprised by the content of this classic"

"Such an interesting story of the elite, their country houses, and the traditional sexism purported by that life! I love Austen's satire in this novel and the irony it creates "

"I love Fanny Price’s wit!"

"Austen's richest character development"

"Interesting, little talked about book by Jane Austen. "

"Actual rating: 4.5 stars<br/><br/>I've been listening to Jane Austen's novels in order of publication, and this is the third installment. I had only a passing knowledge of the plot, despite the fact that I have seen two different film versions of this story. My memory of the 1999 movie version is mostly of Johnny Lee Miller, and the fact that my Gram said several important things were changed from the novel - including Fanny's characterization and constitution. The other version I have seen also miscast Fanny - the 2007 TV movie with Billie Piper. I don't remember much about that version, other than that they wanted to put on a play.<br/><br/>So, going in, I didn't really know a lot about the details of this story. I had read some brief summaries, citing that this is her most complex novel.<br/><br/>I enjoyed it, and bits and pieces of the movies I've seen came back to me as I listened. There were some times when I found it difficult to stay engaged, but that didn't last long and didn't happen that often.<br/><br/>I felt like I identified with Fanny more than any Austen's heroines that I've read in the previous two novels. I felt so sad for her during the course of this novel. I felt like she didn't really get the love and attention she wanted (and deserved) anywhere. She was ill-used by most people in her life. While I think it's a bit weird to be in love with your cousin, I can't really blame Fanny for being in love with Edmund. He was the only one who ever really showed her kindness and love on a consistent basis. Her aunt Bertram does not show her the love of a mother, but does care for her. I couldn't help but immediately have a distaste for Mrs. Norris - not only from her characterization, but simply from her name. I guess that's what happens to ardent Harry Potter fans.<br/><br/>Anyhow...I feel like there was a lot more I wanted to say, but I've forgotten. Since I usually listen in the car or at the gym, I can't easily take notes while I read to help with my reviews. But, as I said, I did enjoy this novel. I gave it 4.5 stars instead of 5 just because it was a little more dense, and complex, than the two previous novels."

"If you like the book, don't watch the movie."