Mansfield Park (Norton Critical Editions)

The book was true to its description and in great condition!

It was as described. Great Condition.

Cleaner than expected, wonderful copy

Lots of useful contemporary sources relevant to MP (including the full text of "Lovers' Vows"! ) and some moderately useful critical essays. Small print, though. I wouldn't buy this if you just want to read the book.

looks like a great, clean book and seems in perfect shape, besides the fact it probably got ruined in shipping. gonna ask for a return and new copy will hopefully be able to update with better news soon.

the book would have been fine. but I was missing over thirty pages of text in the middle of the novel. disappointed as this book was for a class

I wanted to reread the book after many years and did not need all the scholarly addenda. And the type was telephone book size....

If you take on Jane Austen’s MANSFIELD PARK, give yourself time to get acclimated to the slowness and turgidity of the language, so unlike most of what you’re likely to encounter in today’s fiction. In particular the dialogue — the sort so many people seem to enjoy, along with period costumes, in serialized adaptations of British classics on PBS— can be rather stilted on the page. Yet Austen ends the first volume of her novel with a dramatic flair that (I kid you not) brought Kaufman and Hart’s THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER to mind.
Principal character Fanny Price might fairly be classified as rather goody two shoes, but how could I not fall for someone about whom Austen observes: “ Her plants, her books — of which she had been a collector, from the first hour of her commanding a shilling …”Fanny is described as “being always a very courteous listener, and often the only listener at hand.” As others in her foster environment exhibit their snobbery and self-obsession, “Fanny looked around and listened, not unamused to observe the selfishness which, more or less disguised, seemed t o govern them all, and wondering how it would end.” That “more or less disguised” could serve as a key to Austen’s social viewpoint.Lest anyone think that conspicuous consumption and McMansions are anything new, Austen writes of “having visited more rooms than could be supposed to be of any use other than to contribute to the window tax, and find employment for housemaids.” Might it be a sound progressive notion to reinstitute a window tax or start a bedroom or bathroom tax?The nastiest, most opinionated, and therefore one of the most enjoyable characters in the novel is one of Fanny’s aunts, Mrs. Norris, who at one point observes that “there is very little sense in a play without a curtain.” (Most of today’s theater seems to have forsworn this, Mrs. Norris.)The Norton critical edition of the book features helpful notes and addenda, including related historical documents; critical essays by Lionel Trilling, Edward Said and others; and even the complete script of a period play that characters rehearse during some of the novel’s most memorable chapters.

There is nothing to complain about when it comes to Norton Critical Editions and the story itself is one of my favourites from Jane Austen but I'm really disappointed by the way the book arrived. The book is very expensive as it, plus with the added delivery fee the least I can expect is a book with good condition. The sides are completely distroyed and even has a tear right on the spine of the book. Even though it arrived the very next day, I can't say am happy with the way it was delivered at all.

Young Fanny Price comes to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram, at Mansfield Park in the county of Northampton. Fanny is a timid and shy young girl from a much poorer branch of the family (her mother having married beneath her) and she is left under no illusion from her Aunt Norris, who lives in the parsonage close to Mansfield Park, that she is very lucky to be taken into the Bertram household. At Mansfield Park Fanny comes into the orbit of the privileged Bertram children: Tom, the eldest, who sadly becomes a drinker and gambler; the two girls: Maria and Julia, who are quite shallow and vain and rather indifferent to Fanny's feelings; and the younger son, Edmund, who is the only one to show Fanny any real kindness and affection. As Fanny reaches young adulthood, her fondness for Edmund develops into something stronger, but with the arrival into the neighbourhood of the very attractive Crawford siblings, Henry and Mary, everything seems to change, especially when Fanny begins to realise that Edmund is rather smitten with the beautiful and witty Mary. And then Henry Crawford starts to pay special attention to Fanny - but is he serious in his intentions? And are Henry and Mary quite as charming as they initially seem?It must be said that as a hero Edmund is not the most attractive or exciting of Jane Austen’s male protagonists and, as a heroine, Fanny Price may appear a little too moralistic and virtuous for some modern day readers to be able to identify with well. However, Fanny’s Aunt Norris - who seems to make it her life's mission to make Fanny feel inferior - is a very convincing character whose behaviour towards her niece will soon have the reader sympathising with poor Fanny and hoping that she will finally be rewarded with the suitor she deserves. But will Fanny actually win the heart of the person she loves?I first read this book when I was about twelve years old and have read and enjoyed it on more than one occasion since - however, there is a lot more to this coming-of-age story than the 'will they, won't they' aspect of Fanny and Edmund's relationship, and this novel - with themes of marriage, money, morals and where even the slave trade briefly rears its ugly head - is one that deserves more than one reading. This particular edition, the Norton Critical Edition, which has a large amount of additional material provided for the reader, was one I bought as a study copy for my son, but if you are reading purely for enjoyment I would recommend the Penguin Clothbound Classics or the Vintage Classics Austen Series paperback, both of which contain a short introduction and also look very attractive on the bookshelf. I can also recommend the audio download version narrated Frances Barber, which I have just finished listening to.5 Stars.

Mansfield Park is a classic, so there's nothing else I could add to praise this book. I needed this particular edition for the critics. Norton Critical Edition is always very useful.

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