Jane Austen's version of the Cinderella story. A classic! ( )

After reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen earlier this year, which I really loved, I decided to pick up another Austen novel and chose Mansfield Park because I had read that it is different from her more popular books.

n this novel, the ten year old Fanny Price is taken from her poor parents' home to live at Mansfield Park and be brought up with her rich cousins. Here the difference in class becomes very apparent, her cousins feel superior to her so they ignore her most of the time, however her cousin Edmund is different and he becomes Fanny's only friend. While her uncle is away in Antigua, the Crawford's arrive in the neighborhood and as they become closer to the family the story unravels into a moral and social dilemma.

It started a little slow and halfway through the book I was still waiting for something to happen, it just seemed to dwell on the day-to-day lives of the Bertrams and the Crawfords, without giving much importance to Fanny. I found some of the characters in this book to be really hateful, I especially hated Mrs. Norris and how she treated Fanny, taking credit where it was not deserved and spoiling Fanny's cousins. At times I just wanted to talk some sense into their heads to stop being so selfish. The two characters that I liked from the very beginning were Fanny for how sensible she was and Edmund for how kind he was to his cousin when everyone else pretty much ignored her, and as the story developed I also started liking Sir Thomas Bertram more and more. The last two hundred pages is when the story started to get really interesting. I really wanted Henry Crawford to be successful in his quest, I believed that Fanny changed him. I certainly was not expecting the ending, it seemed that the character's lives were too dull for such things to happen to them so it came as a surprise to me, and although I was disappointed in some of them I was also very happy with how it ended. At the end of the the book I realized that the time spent getting to know the characters in the beginning was well worth it because it gives you a better understanding of their actions.

I love the detail that Jane Austen puts into her characters, it makes you feel like you know these people and you're part of the story. Although Mansfield Park is not as edgy as Pride and Prejudice, it's still a great classic and I would recommend it to any classics or Jane Austen fan. ( )

Mansfield Park is only bested by Pride and Prejudice. Truly one of Austen's better works. Even the fact that the male protagonist is at times unbearably weak does not detract from the greatness of this book. ( )

Perhaps the least popular of Jane Austen's six major works, this is still one of my favourite novels of all time. Fanny Price, isn't a Elizabeth Bennet or a Emma Woodhouse but the character has it's own endearing charm (who could not admire a character who stays true to her own character, whilst constantly meeting with opposition and ill treatment and yet in the end still triumphs?) Similarly, the relationship between Fanny and Edmund is not a high-blown romantic drama but nevertheless is still wonderfully written.
The tone is in some ways more serious than others but Austen's wit still sparkles through with characters such as Mrs Norris and her sister Lady Bertram. I have read this quite a few times now and each time I find more and more things to admire in it. ( )

The most unpopular of Jane Austen's novel but I loved it. I particularly liked its young heroine Fanny Price though she is in many ways the least Austen-like. I am biased perhaps because I like to think I am like Fanny in some ways. It was refreshing to see people realize a sense of propriety is more valuable than vanity and selfishness, however charming and attractive. Wonderful social and psychological commentary and brilliant writing as always. ( )