Books

This month's book re- views are provided by Amy Rosenberg, manager of the Dayton Memorial Library.

Northanger Abbey

It seems to me that when most people discuss Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice gets all the attention. Every other summer or so, I like to revisit my pal Jane and I reread all six of her published books. P & P has a well-deserved place in the literary cannon. It's arguably the first modern novel. Every formulaic rom-com you've ever seen has Pride and Prej- udice to thank, because it originated the formula. But I think it's time to give some of Austen's other works their due. I want to share with you my two favorite Jane Austen novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. They aren't literary heavyweights, but I love them all the same. They are, simply, really great novels.

Although it was published after her death, Northanger Abbey was actually Jane Austen's first book. It was written at a time when an educated lady or gentlemen rarely admitted to reading or, heaven forbid, enjoying a novel. The popu- lar novels of the time were gothics. Meant to be frightening and a little naughty, they were fun to read, but they did little to elevate the level of conversation at a dinner party. One such novel was The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliff, which plays a prominent role in Northanger Abbey.

Catherine Morland is a young girl in the grips of Radcliff's book. While va- cationing in Bath, she meets Henry Tilney and she is im- mediately taken with him. Tilney, by the way, is my Austen romantic hero. He's witty and a little sarcastic, which is an unusual trait for Austen. Catherine is even more taken when she finds out that he lives in Northang- er Abbey, which she imag- ines to be a dark, overgrown, mysterious old place with hidden doors and spirits. Under the influence of Udolpho, Catherine constructs the Ab- bey in her imagination into the gothic ideal, romantic, mysterious and dangerous. When she goes to stay with Henry at the Abbey (at his sister's invitation, of course; this is Regency England, af- ter all), she lets her imagination override her judgment. She begins to see terrible mysteries in every corner. But this isn't a gothic novel; it's a Jane Austen novel. So when reality asserts itself, it's a rude and uncomfortable awakening for Catherine.

What I love best about Northanger Abbey, is how Austen is able to approximate a gothic while all the time making fun of them. It has all the elements of a gothic novel; romance, mystery, a villain (more than one), and a hero. But it's also about what happens when you start mistaking fiction for real life and how events that are thrilling on the page can be truly hor- rific in reality.

Persuasion

While Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's first novel, Persuasion was her last. I think it's also her most poignant and personal. Austen n e ver married, but she did fall in love once. She nearly mar- ried him, but was persuaded that it was a bad match. Anne Elliot, Persuasion's heroine was similarly persuaded that the young, poor naval officer, Frederick Wentworth wasn't an appropriate match for the daughter of a baronet.

The novel takes place nine years after Anne breaks her engagement with Wentworth and they meet again. She's 27 and, by Regency standards, past her prime. She's faded into the furniture among her family group. Even her com- panion, Mrs. Russell, who is the only one to see her worth, rarely considers her opinions.

Unlike Northanger Abbey, Persuasion isn't a thrilling book. It's not a complicated book either. It's a simple straightforward plot and many of the characters are simplistic and shallow. But the language is gorgeous and the theme is universal. It's about a woman who has given up on finding love or even companionship. It's also about all the things that we let get in the way of our happiness and what happens when we let those things go.

Wool

If Jane Austen is a little too genteel for you, if you like your f iction a little... darker, maybe a little more science fictiony ( T hat's totally a word. Trust me, I'm a librarian.), you could try a little best-seller list juggernaut called Wool by Hugh Howey. Originally a series of novellas, Howey wrote and published Wool while working as a clerk in a book store. Normally I have a snobbish disdain for selfpublished books, but it was recommended to me by a reader with impeccable taste (who also happens to be a librarian). Since Howey wrote and published his first few short stories, Wool has gath- ered almost a cult following. It was picked up by Simon and Schuster, who published the series as an omnibus. 20th Century Fox has also purchased the movie rights.

Wool is the story of a civilization, cut off from their history, living in isola- tion on a dead planet. Their whole world is the 144 floors of a self-contained, selfsufficient, underground silo. Their only connection with the outside is a video screen on the first floor that proj- ects an image of the toxic landscape. They don't know how they came to live in the silo or what happened to the world outside; they only know they've been there for hundreds of years, maybe forever.

People of the silo are taught never to question the past, never to wonder what's beyond the hills they see on the screen. So, when Sheriff Holsten says he wants to go outside, he sets off a chain of events that will reveal the mysteries locked inside the silo. Jules is a mechanic in the "down deep," the very lowest levels of the silo where the machinery that supplies their world with electricity and air is kept. When she is tapped to replace the sheriff, she has to learn to fix machinations of a different kind.

Wool is fast paced and addictive. The characters are well rounded and sympathetic. As Jules and the other citi- zens of the silo move through the story, the momentum builds. It's not a book that's easily put down and it sticks with you even after you close the cover. It's about as far from Jane Austen as you can get, but it's a terrific piece of science fiction- even if you don't like science fiction.