Mansfield Park is my least favorite Jane Austen. But even my least favorite Jane Austen is still a book by Jane Austen. This is at least the third time I've read it but I can't be sure it isn't more.
I keep hearing about how this book improves upon reading multiple times or deeper readings - or maybe just the age and experience of the reader. That was certainly the case for me with Persuasion. I thought it was boring as a teen but love it now and would say it is one of my favorites (just don't ask me to name them because I might come up with 4 :-) But Mansfield Park is just...not my favorite.
I reread this at a friend's suggestion, focusing on relationships and parenting. I did find her Austen's observations about those areas very interesting and I always enjoy seeing her commentary on life through her characters and descriptions. That part is great. But Fanny. I really want to love Fanny for her uprightness. I do. But she's so boring. No, its not really her fault she's boring but she is. And even being boring, she deserves better than Edmund.
I know I should read it as one really should read all Austen novels, not just a romance novel or even predominately a romance novel but as a book about society and norms. I get that. And I won't say it isn't objectively good. It is! I just don't like it as much as her others. I'm sure I'll revisit it again in a decade or so and maybe I'll end up kicking myself for not liking it as much as it deserved. Maybe.
Mansfield Park is my Back to the Classics Challenge Book about a Family.
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