How do you define a classic? Is it a popular piece of literature or one that is lucky enough to stand the test of time? Maybe it is one written by a famous author and all his or her works become classics. I wonder these questions as I finish reading Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.

It has been many years since I’ve read any of Ms. Austen’s work. I never read Northanger Abbey until I joined a book club that was reading it. I was thrilled. I’m to a point in my life where I’m revisiting all the books I hated in school or managed to avoid. I’m discovering that I’m enjoying most of them.

Northanger Abbey proved to a hard read for me. I couldn’t understand why until I really thought about it. I was so used to contemporary writing that reading a piece of English literature from more than a hundred years ago proved difficult for me. The plot seemed to drag and become nonexistent. I was truly disappointed. The story could have written in a quarter of the pages and delivered with a bigger punch.

I know that all the Austen fans will be calling for my head. Truly, I tried. I don’t think less of Ms. Austen. In fact, have another book of hers lined up to read. It was this one in particular that did not trip my trigger.

If you want to read more of the classics and are just getting started, you might want to put this novel off and read some of the others. You might love it. You might hate it. I would put this in the category of a back-burner classic to read.

This was a public domain book and came with quite a few formatting and editing issues. It did not detract too much from the reading. For free, I couldn’t complain about the issues.

Note: I purchased this book with my own funds.