This is one of my favorite videos of all time! You did a fantastic job speaking about these books-- I'd read them all before, but still gained insights from your discussions. I'm also inspired to re-read them all over again. :)
I'm not sure that Northanger Abbey is my favorite Austen novel, but it's the one in which I feel most represented. Baby girl who is left out of every joke, takes things literally, and is so sheltered and naive, reminds me of my younger self. Except, I was never into sensationalist romances and I took learning seriously. I'm still not quick witted like Austen's other heroines.
I really love this perspective! I think it's important that she has heroines like Catherine, Fanny, and Anne alongside the ones who are more quick-witted
Fantastic. I, too, love Persuasion, but there's nothing in this list that I wouldn't enjoy rereading. I'm glad to see you back and glad that you've decided to spend some time with English lit.
What an absolutely delightful video, Jennifer - thank you! My favourite is Persuasion, for much the same reasons you gave. I'm currently bingeing "The Thing About Austen" podcast, all about the material world of her novels; as well as providing valuable context, it's extremely entertaining.
Loved the video. I just read my last Austen novel (Sense and Sensibility) twenty-four years after my first (Pride and Prejudice) so I get to watch this without spoiling anything for myself.
What a fantastic 2025 project! And there are separate chapters in the video for each of the books, so feel free to come back and watch the individual sections whenever you happen to finish the individual books!
so glad you're back ! I love Jane Austen and it's so cool to go through all her books again ! So much fun, and it's always a pleasure to read her again. As for Northanger Abbey, Catherine is so naive and loves these silly books and I loved the movie adaptation because it really showed how innocent and naive the two protagonists are ! I think it's her funniest one. As for me, I think it's P&P because it's the first one I read and loved it immediately.
Watching this feels like revisiting Austen's books with a like-minded friend. Persuasion is also my favorite and is to blame for me becoming a voracious romance reader and eventually a writer. I'm always chasing the feeling I had reading Frederick Wentworth's letter to Anne for the first time.
💜💜💜 The first time I read the Wentworth letter was SUCH a moment for me! And I also think it's what tipped me off that I would really enjoy romance novels
Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favourite novels. Mrs Bennet is hilarious to me and I love that Austen included dick-crazy Kitty and Lydia, and then Mary to balance everything out. It's so satisfying how all the character-arcs are tied together at the end. I had the privilege of going to the Austen museum in Bath because it's less than an hour from my parents' house near Bristol.I found out Austen had a severely disabled sibling that they sent away to be cared for in some other house... and I also bought Lady Susan which is meant to be one of her more scandalous novellas... Northanger Abbey is my least fave novel from what I've read by her so far. I didn't like that we get people reaching into cabinets expecting a dead hand or something, only for there to be nothing there... It felt like such a cheap way to critique gothic clichés. I also didn't like that everything gets tied up with a marriage again, which is what has put me off reading other Austen novels, as you can always tell that they have the same narrative conclusion... oh they kind of half like each other at the moment but you know they'll fall out over something and then get married at the end.... Anyway, thank you for the fabulous return to youtube!
What, pure and simple, a delight of a video. I rejoiced when I saw it in my feed, I laughed hard a few times, I was engaged and educated from beginning to end. Surprised and most interested to hear you describe Tilney as "horrible." I am generally slow to judge people anyway, but, in this case, I'm struggling to think of Tilney doing or saying anything, "horrible." He is dry, he is not above poking fun in a way some would find irritating though I find it amusing, notably when he picks on the overused word, "nice." His concluding example of niceness, "and you are two very nice ladies" is funny. Though it's been years since I read the book, it surprises me that one would come away motivated to say that it is Tilney who is horrible in a book that includes General Tilney and the hilarious but unbearable John Thorpe. Northanger Abbey used to be my favorite Austen, (I enjoyed your "do you love yourself?" remark) but I have since become a conformist and realized Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. I guess the best I can attempt for a defense is to say, while I completely hear you and you raised some good points, some of which I had never thought of or considered, I do find Northanger Abbey well crafted, I do find the romance cute, I do find the commentary, while straightforward, truthful and funny, and sometimes that's all one needs (granted, I haven't read it in some years). As for P&P, again it's my favorite Austen. As such, I very much agree with all your praise for it. A book that is often hilarious and always brilliant, it's about how we are tested by the so-called little things. How many of us, if we were entirely honest with ourselves, would visit our ill sister if it meant traversing miles on foot, the day after heavy rain, wearing expensive shoes and a dress that are both entirely ill-suited to the venture, ruining said expensive shoes and at the end of it being rewarded by meeting Darcey, the man we despise most in the world? As I love to say, Austen has tremendous compassion for the smallness of life. Whether that smallness is a refused dance or a walk all the way to Netherfield Park in the mud. I'm in the minority on Persuasion, I don't care for it much and it may be my least favorite. I think it's a bit *too* slow with very little happening, and when something does happen it's sometimes something of little interest to me. For instance, we find that Mr. Eliot has committed some faults, some of which we don't much care about today but some of which, while they are very old faults, are, if I recall, too self-centered, even cruel, to forgive until he actually asks for forgiveness and does his best to set it right. This reveal goes on for pages, it lasts too long. Considering how little we knew of Elliot beforehand it's simply hard to care. It's not as if Anne had really even encouraged his advances in earnest, she was simply somewhat open to him, but still seemed very much in love with Wentworth instead. The book bet on me being horrified, titillated, and relieved for Anne that Mrs. Smith saved her, as if Anne had been head over heels in love with Elliot, and it lost the bet. Thank you for this wonderful, cozy, day-making tour of my very favorite author's works. I love that you even took the trouble to do some Jane Austen-y cosmetology. Till next Sunday, all the very best, Jennifer.
This is unbelievably kind and thoughtful! And I definitely appreciate your thoughts on Persuasion too; I agree with most of the faults you've mentioned. (And for your peace of mind I can clarify that the "horrible" comment wasn't about Henry Tilney; the "self-assured man" in that scene is Isabella Thorpe's brother! Although I can see how my wording didn't make that clear)
@@InsertLiteraryPunHere OOPS. That shows how good *my* listening comprehension is. 😅😆 Needless to say, I have no complaints about your saying John Thorpe is horrible. Thanks for clarifying! So much for my main disagreement with your video. As for Persuasion, I'm so glad you found some agreement with some of my criticism. I certainly don't despise the book, it obviously is still well-crafted. But, with the exception of some good moments, it's not for me, or it hasn't been on my previous re-reads. And I'm so glad you found my comment kind, I really appreciate that! Cheers.
Hooray, it's Sunday morning and that's Jennifer-uploads-morning. Ohmygosh, it's about Jane Austen! Wait, it's an hour long!? FREAKING PRAISE THE LORD I DON'T BELIEVE IN!
This video was such a treat, thank you! I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing about Jane Austen's novels. My favourites are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, in that order, but my favourite love interest is Mr. Knightley. My least favourite and the only one I've read only once is Northanger Abbey. I agree with you that one can tell it was Austen's first novel. Honestly, the reason I didn't like it was because I thought Catherine Morland was really stupid. Now I think that may be too harsh but she is very naïve and not an intellectual match for Henry Tilney. Your point about them not being equals in that respect was spot on!
I haven't thought about my favorite of the love interests before but I think I agree with you that Mr. Knightley is the best (and I always end up loving him the most in the various Emma adaptations too!). There's something about him clearly pining, but also pining with dignity and maturity? Maybe that's the balance that works so well
What an incredible video, beautifully edited. I’ve only read P&P and Emma, and you’ve made me want to read the rest. (If only days were longer, and I didn’t need to sleep!) So glad you’re back, you’ve always been one of my favorites. ❤
I still have two to read (Emma and Mansfield Park). You're making me want to start them both right this second. 😅 i will come back and listen to those 2 sections once I've read them.
Wow Emma and Mansfield Park are such good ones to end on! These were probably my two favorite rereads this time around, you honestly couldn't pick a better pair to finish with
This was amazing! I just read Northanger for the first time this year and liked it more than I thought I would but of course it can’t hold a candle to p&p or Emma.
Ive only read Emma and here's what I wrote about it: matrimony and the histrionics of match making. But this is an excellent (like Elinor's heart) introduction and comprehension of Austen. Loved it. Also, the video production is duely appreciated 👍 Ps: eager for a Middlemarch video
Like you, I generally consider Persuasion my favourite. And Pride & Prejudice is a tour de force...a masterpiece, practically perfect in every way. But I do really, really enjoy Northanger Abbey, and I do think that Tilney and Catherine are well suited...she's a little bit silly but she will grow up to be interesting yet sensible, and he is clearly a mature and thoughtful person who is witty but sometimes swept away by trying to fit into the culture at large. I believe they would balance each other out in married life. I also have a theory about how the nastiness of the rake character in an Austen novel is exactly inversely related to how much growth the heroine needs to go through.
I like your phrasing of Catherine and Tilney ultimately balancing each other out. Something I found myself thinking while rereading Northanger Abbey is that this is the main couple I wish we could check back in on later in their lives!
I think because I had heard so much about Pride and Prejudice it's not my favorite of her books, but it's obviously up there. I had heard so much about the book that it didn't feel like I was able to discover its merits on my own, but was told them. Does that make sense? I still cannot decide between Emma, Mansfield Park, or Sense and Sensibility as my all time favorite. Persuasion has risen in ranking on my list having reread it three times. I would like to do videos on some of my favorite authors such as Kate Morton, but I keep delaying it. I always make the excuse that I need to reread her books multiple times before I feel confident enough to make a video discussing the work, but I often get sidetracked by other books. I was able to visit Bath briefly back in September, but it was only for a short while. We were doing a group tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and then Bath, hence not being able to spend as much time in the city as I would have liked to.
Love Persuasion - The Letter, the letter, the letter! I’ve always wondered why such a big deal was made about Anne being “on the shelf” and there seems to be no concern about Anne’s older sister Elizabeth also being similarly unattached.
Amazing overview! I love all of Austen's novels (though have not yet completed Mansfield Park, which I'm reading right now). But Emma is my favorite hands down, the one that earned Austen a place among my most admired authors. Probably because to the very end it's so hard to tell how I feel about Emma as a person, and it surprised me how much I enjoyed ... basically rooting for her downfall, which I suspect is a fairly common experience for first time readers. I'd like to return to it and see how I feel on a second read, but after my first read I still hadn't fully warmed to her by the end, I was still skeptical of whether she'd learned any lesson other than just how to pretend to be less selfish to gain others' approval. I've thought for a while now though that I might feel differently when I read it again 🙂 Also yes! I knew it was Knightley you were talking about ... the narrator sets it up so that he basically comes across as Emma's conscience for most of the first read-through, totally faultless. Except for the fact that he likes Emma 😂 But, as you say I think that ends up being a credit to Emma in the eyes of the reader since Knightley clearly has good sense and taste. And I do think she has a good heart ... just hasn't quite developed the self-awareness to use it productively. In general I like how Austen's narrators all tend to fall somewhere in between representing one particular character's perspective, and a more removed third-person omniscient narrator. Makes you a bit more skeptical of the narrative once you notice that's what's going on.
Also I really like Northanger Abbey and I think it's generally underrated, but your criticisms of it are all fair and it can be tough to see Catherine frequently ridiculed even by the narrator. I appreciate that it feels like a "first novel" and less refined than the others, which at least makes it unique and really surprised me.
This was amazing but as a non native speaker, Jane Austen is so difficult. I struggle with the language. I've only read Duma i uprzedzenie (Pride and Prejudice in Polish). This was an unfortunate struggle as well.
It's completely the same for me when I try to read an older classic in Spanish or Czech! (My Polish isn't even at the level where I would try yet.) For some reason I never feel more like a non-native speaker than when I try to read some of the major books that native speakers read in school
A few years ago, I read Austen and the Brontes, one right after the other, and ranked them. 5 out of the 6 Austen works ranked higher than the Brontes' works. S&S is my ultimate favorite (5 stars) Jane Eyre and P&P (4.5 stars) Persuasion, Mansfield Park, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Agnes Grey , Lady Susan, Emma and Shirley(4 stars) Villete and The Professor (3.75 stars) Wuthering Heights and Northanger Abbey (3 stars)
I have read about 100 pages of Sense and Sensibility. I didn't dnf it, I lost it and way led on to way and I took the way away from Sense. Mansfield Park is the only book by Austen which Nabokov included in his Cornell Lit. class on great lit. I have no opinion about that, but maybe someone will want to gain an insight. The lecture is published in a collection of those lectures.
This is one of my favorite videos of all time! You did a fantastic job speaking about these books-- I'd read them all before, but still gained insights from your discussions. I'm also inspired to re-read them all over again. :)
This was the first of my new batch of videos that I edited and it took me an absolute age, so a comment like this is SO appreciated, thank you ❤️
I'm not sure that Northanger Abbey is my favorite Austen novel, but it's the one in which I feel most represented. Baby girl who is left out of every joke, takes things literally, and is so sheltered and naive, reminds me of my younger self. Except, I was never into sensationalist romances and I took learning seriously. I'm still not quick witted like Austen's other heroines.
I really love this perspective! I think it's important that she has heroines like Catherine, Fanny, and Anne alongside the ones who are more quick-witted
Fantastic. I, too, love Persuasion, but there's nothing in this list that I wouldn't enjoy rereading. I'm glad to see you back and glad that you've decided to spend some time with English lit.
This is just wonderful, Jen. I’m so glad you’re back.
Thank you so much! 💜
What an absolutely delightful video, Jennifer - thank you! My favourite is Persuasion, for much the same reasons you gave.
I'm currently bingeing "The Thing About Austen" podcast, all about the material world of her novels; as well as providing valuable context, it's extremely entertaining.
Loved the video. I just read my last Austen novel (Sense and Sensibility) twenty-four years after my first (Pride and Prejudice) so I get to watch this without spoiling anything for myself.
I absolutely love this timing! And honestly Sense and Sensibility is such a charming way to end the first leg of your Austen journey
Wow! ::seated::
Wow. So appreciate the effort you put into this, although I suspect you enjoyed doing it.
so fun, a nice chunky video --- glad you're back!
I re-read Emma every Christmas, so this is just perfect
What an excellent re-reading choice on your part! Emma really is on another level
I love Northanger Abbey because she understands how to speak about the patriarchy.😊
Gotta love some good lines about the patriarchy!
Ooh I’m doing this next year. So I have to save your video to watch until then. Merry Christmas, Jennifer 🎄
What a fantastic 2025 project! And there are separate chapters in the video for each of the books, so feel free to come back and watch the individual sections whenever you happen to finish the individual books!
2nd watch in, and I think it’s time I finally read Sense and Sensibility 👀
I read all of Austen’s work this year. This video was a walk down memory lane. I need to ponder a bit more before I pick a favorite.
Belated heartfelt welcome back from your number one fan (and probably the only consumer of contrived detective novels among your subscribers).
so glad you're back ! I love Jane Austen and it's so cool to go through all her books again ! So much fun, and it's always a pleasure to read her again. As for Northanger Abbey, Catherine is so naive and loves these silly books and I loved the movie adaptation because it really showed how innocent and naive the two protagonists are ! I think it's her funniest one. As for me, I think it's P&P because it's the first one I read and loved it immediately.
Great whirlwind tour and a wonderful analysis.
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
Watching this feels like revisiting Austen's books with a like-minded friend. Persuasion is also my favorite and is to blame for me becoming a voracious romance reader and eventually a writer. I'm always chasing the feeling I had reading Frederick Wentworth's letter to Anne for the first time.
💜💜💜 The first time I read the Wentworth letter was SUCH a moment for me! And I also think it's what tipped me off that I would really enjoy romance novels
Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favourite novels. Mrs Bennet is hilarious to me and I love that Austen included dick-crazy Kitty and Lydia, and then Mary to balance everything out. It's so satisfying how all the character-arcs are tied together at the end. I had the privilege of going to the Austen museum in Bath because it's less than an hour from my parents' house near Bristol.I found out Austen had a severely disabled sibling that they sent away to be cared for in some other house... and I also bought Lady Susan which is meant to be one of her more scandalous novellas...
Northanger Abbey is my least fave novel from what I've read by her so far. I didn't like that we get people reaching into cabinets expecting a dead hand or something, only for there to be nothing there... It felt like such a cheap way to critique gothic clichés. I also didn't like that everything gets tied up with a marriage again, which is what has put me off reading other Austen novels, as you can always tell that they have the same narrative conclusion... oh they kind of half like each other at the moment but you know they'll fall out over something and then get married at the end....
Anyway, thank you for the fabulous return to youtube!
What, pure and simple, a delight of a video. I rejoiced when I saw it in my feed, I laughed hard a few times, I was engaged and educated from beginning to end. Surprised and most interested to hear you describe Tilney as "horrible." I am generally slow to judge people anyway, but, in this case, I'm struggling to think of Tilney doing or saying anything, "horrible." He is dry, he is not above poking fun in a way some would find irritating though I find it amusing, notably when he picks on the overused word, "nice." His concluding example of niceness, "and you are two very nice ladies" is funny. Though it's been years since I read the book, it surprises me that one would come away motivated to say that it is Tilney who is horrible in a book that includes General Tilney and the hilarious but unbearable John Thorpe. Northanger Abbey used to be my favorite Austen, (I enjoyed your "do you love yourself?" remark) but I have since become a conformist and realized Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. I guess the best I can attempt for a defense is to say, while I completely hear you and you raised some good points, some of which I had never thought of or considered, I do find Northanger Abbey well crafted, I do find the romance cute, I do find the commentary, while straightforward, truthful and funny, and sometimes that's all one needs (granted, I haven't read it in some years). As for P&P, again it's my favorite Austen. As such, I very much agree with all your praise for it. A book that is often hilarious and always brilliant, it's about how we are tested by the so-called little things. How many of us, if we were entirely honest with ourselves, would visit our ill sister if it meant traversing miles on foot, the day after heavy rain, wearing expensive shoes and a dress that are both entirely ill-suited to the venture, ruining said expensive shoes and at the end of it being rewarded by meeting Darcey, the man we despise most in the world? As I love to say, Austen has tremendous compassion for the smallness of life. Whether that smallness is a refused dance or a walk all the way to Netherfield Park in the mud. I'm in the minority on Persuasion, I don't care for it much and it may be my least favorite. I think it's a bit *too* slow with very little happening, and when something does happen it's sometimes something of little interest to me. For instance, we find that Mr. Eliot has committed some faults, some of which we don't much care about today but some of which, while they are very old faults, are, if I recall, too self-centered, even cruel, to forgive until he actually asks for forgiveness and does his best to set it right. This reveal goes on for pages, it lasts too long. Considering how little we knew of Elliot beforehand it's simply hard to care. It's not as if Anne had really even encouraged his advances in earnest, she was simply somewhat open to him, but still seemed very much in love with Wentworth instead. The book bet on me being horrified, titillated, and relieved for Anne that Mrs. Smith saved her, as if Anne had been head over heels in love with Elliot, and it lost the bet. Thank you for this wonderful, cozy, day-making tour of my very favorite author's works. I love that you even took the trouble to do some Jane Austen-y cosmetology. Till next Sunday, all the very best, Jennifer.
This is unbelievably kind and thoughtful! And I definitely appreciate your thoughts on Persuasion too; I agree with most of the faults you've mentioned. (And for your peace of mind I can clarify that the "horrible" comment wasn't about Henry Tilney; the "self-assured man" in that scene is Isabella Thorpe's brother! Although I can see how my wording didn't make that clear)
@@InsertLiteraryPunHere OOPS. That shows how good *my* listening comprehension is. 😅😆 Needless to say, I have no complaints about your saying John Thorpe is horrible. Thanks for clarifying! So much for my main disagreement with your video. As for Persuasion, I'm so glad you found some agreement with some of my criticism. I certainly don't despise the book, it obviously is still well-crafted. But, with the exception of some good moments, it's not for me, or it hasn't been on my previous re-reads. And I'm so glad you found my comment kind, I really appreciate that! Cheers.
Hooray, it's Sunday morning and that's Jennifer-uploads-morning.
Ohmygosh, it's about Jane Austen!
Wait, it's an hour long!?
FREAKING PRAISE THE LORD I DON'T BELIEVE IN!
haven't finished this yet but the quality of the wrinig and editing of this video is superb! P.S. Persuasion is the only Austen I love
The editing process in particular was a JOURNEY so I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!
Delightful! thank you!
This was a very entertaining video
Video of dreams!
Savoring this content ❤
This video was such a treat, thank you! I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing about Jane Austen's novels. My favourites are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, in that order, but my favourite love interest is Mr. Knightley. My least favourite and the only one I've read only once is Northanger Abbey. I agree with you that one can tell it was Austen's first novel. Honestly, the reason I didn't like it was because I thought Catherine Morland was really stupid. Now I think that may be too harsh but she is very naïve and not an intellectual match for Henry Tilney. Your point about them not being equals in that respect was spot on!
I haven't thought about my favorite of the love interests before but I think I agree with you that Mr. Knightley is the best (and I always end up loving him the most in the various Emma adaptations too!). There's something about him clearly pining, but also pining with dignity and maturity? Maybe that's the balance that works so well
What an incredible video, beautifully edited. I’ve only read P&P and Emma, and you’ve made me want to read the rest. (If only days were longer, and I didn’t need to sleep!)
So glad you’re back, you’ve always been one of my favorites. ❤
I appreciate this so much; thank you. I'd be curious which of her books you ultimately decide to try next!
I still have two to read (Emma and Mansfield Park). You're making me want to start them both right this second. 😅 i will come back and listen to those 2 sections once I've read them.
Wow Emma and Mansfield Park are such good ones to end on! These were probably my two favorite rereads this time around, you honestly couldn't pick a better pair to finish with
This was amazing! I just read Northanger for the first time this year and liked it more than I thought I would but of course it can’t hold a candle to p&p or Emma.
Ive only read Emma and here's what I wrote about it: matrimony and the histrionics of match making. But this is an excellent (like Elinor's heart) introduction and comprehension of Austen. Loved it. Also, the video production is duely appreciated 👍
Ps: eager for a Middlemarch video
This was incredible.
Like you, I generally consider Persuasion my favourite. And Pride & Prejudice is a tour de force...a masterpiece, practically perfect in every way. But I do really, really enjoy Northanger Abbey, and I do think that Tilney and Catherine are well suited...she's a little bit silly but she will grow up to be interesting yet sensible, and he is clearly a mature and thoughtful person who is witty but sometimes swept away by trying to fit into the culture at large. I believe they would balance each other out in married life.
I also have a theory about how the nastiness of the rake character in an Austen novel is exactly inversely related to how much growth the heroine needs to go through.
I like your phrasing of Catherine and Tilney ultimately balancing each other out. Something I found myself thinking while rereading Northanger Abbey is that this is the main couple I wish we could check back in on later in their lives!
@@InsertLiteraryPunHereRIGHT?!?
Yes!
Fabulous video!
I think because I had heard so much about Pride and Prejudice it's not my favorite of her books, but it's obviously up there. I had heard so much about the book that it didn't feel like I was able to discover its merits on my own, but was told them. Does that make sense? I still cannot decide between Emma, Mansfield Park, or Sense and Sensibility as my all time favorite. Persuasion has risen in ranking on my list having reread it three times. I would like to do videos on some of my favorite authors such as Kate Morton, but I keep delaying it. I always make the excuse that I need to reread her books multiple times before I feel confident enough to make a video discussing the work, but I often get sidetracked by other books. I was able to visit Bath briefly back in September, but it was only for a short while. We were doing a group tour of Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and then Bath, hence not being able to spend as much time in the city as I would have liked to.
PERSUASION is my favorite.
Love Persuasion - The Letter, the letter, the letter!
I’ve always wondered why such a big deal was made about Anne being “on the shelf” and there seems to be no concern about Anne’s older sister Elizabeth also being similarly unattached.
Amazing overview! I love all of Austen's novels (though have not yet completed Mansfield Park, which I'm reading right now). But Emma is my favorite hands down, the one that earned Austen a place among my most admired authors. Probably because to the very end it's so hard to tell how I feel about Emma as a person, and it surprised me how much I enjoyed ... basically rooting for her downfall, which I suspect is a fairly common experience for first time readers. I'd like to return to it and see how I feel on a second read, but after my first read I still hadn't fully warmed to her by the end, I was still skeptical of whether she'd learned any lesson other than just how to pretend to be less selfish to gain others' approval. I've thought for a while now though that I might feel differently when I read it again 🙂 Also yes! I knew it was Knightley you were talking about ... the narrator sets it up so that he basically comes across as Emma's conscience for most of the first read-through, totally faultless. Except for the fact that he likes Emma 😂 But, as you say I think that ends up being a credit to Emma in the eyes of the reader since Knightley clearly has good sense and taste. And I do think she has a good heart ... just hasn't quite developed the self-awareness to use it productively.
In general I like how Austen's narrators all tend to fall somewhere in between representing one particular character's perspective, and a more removed third-person omniscient narrator. Makes you a bit more skeptical of the narrative once you notice that's what's going on.
Also I really like Northanger Abbey and I think it's generally underrated, but your criticisms of it are all fair and it can be tough to see Catherine frequently ridiculed even by the narrator. I appreciate that it feels like a "first novel" and less refined than the others, which at least makes it unique and really surprised me.
This was amazing but as a non native speaker, Jane Austen is so difficult. I struggle with the language. I've only read Duma i uprzedzenie (Pride and Prejudice in Polish). This was an unfortunate struggle as well.
It's completely the same for me when I try to read an older classic in Spanish or Czech! (My Polish isn't even at the level where I would try yet.) For some reason I never feel more like a non-native speaker than when I try to read some of the major books that native speakers read in school
A few years ago, I read Austen and the Brontes, one right after the other, and ranked them. 5 out of the 6 Austen works ranked higher than the Brontes' works.
S&S is my ultimate favorite (5 stars)
Jane Eyre and P&P (4.5 stars)
Persuasion, Mansfield Park, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Agnes Grey , Lady Susan, Emma and Shirley(4 stars)
Villete and The Professor (3.75 stars)
Wuthering Heights and Northanger Abbey (3 stars)
🥰
I have read about 100 pages of Sense and Sensibility. I didn't dnf it, I lost it and way led on to way and I took the way away from Sense. Mansfield Park is the only book by Austen which Nabokov included in his Cornell Lit. class on great lit. I have no opinion about that, but maybe someone will want to gain an insight. The lecture is published in a collection of those lectures.
I really like the idea of Nabokov selecting Mansfield Park! Now you've made me curious to find that lecture and see his exact reasons for that choice