Which may describe my reaction to the end of the novel and Fanny Price, or may also describe the general tone of the book with regard to cosmopolitan society.
I admit that I was disappointed with Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park" -- and it turns out it wasn't even on my canon booklist. While not altogether a waste of time, I found myself ready to tear out pages in annoyance with Fanny, allegedly the "heroine." Rather than flounder around in adjectives to describe my despise, I'll just say that she strongly reminded me of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (kiss. of. death.). Bottom line: Mary should have ended up with Edmund and Fanny with Henry; everyone involved would've been the better for it, but instead there was no mixing of the pot and things ended similarly to how they had begun, conveniently minus the three most irritating characters. Austen does make it clear that no one character is without flaws, but I'd rather sympathize with the vivacious socialite Mary Crawford than the morally stuck-up sensitive Fanny. There really wasn't any particular point in the novel where I admired Fanny or thought of her as the heroine (see: Lionel Trilling's essay).
UPDATED: Lo and behold, this commentary from The New Inquiry: Mansfield Park is melting in the dark
I think this actually put me in a mildly grumpy mood. On to better things. Picked up some Camus, Cather, and "Zorba the Greek" at the local Border's closing sale. Probably returning to Sontag shortly, so I don't have another ridiculous two-month gap in posting here ... Gotta keep up the momentum!
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