Book #5 - "Mansfield Park"

This morning I finished "Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen. I made it halfway through on Sunday and by this morning I only had 50 pages left. One of the quickest reads I've ever had for a book of this size.

In my opinion, "Mansfield Park" is Jane Austen at her finest. The characters are wonderfully created, and the feelings that she stirs in the reader towards each one of them is so very realistic. You can't truly hate any of them. Yes, there are a few which might offend or upset you, but I still found myself being somewhat understanding as to why they did what they did. And instead of wishing evil upon any of them, you wish that they would see the errors of their ways and improve.

The heroine, Fanny Price is completely lovable. She's not perfect, but her situation garners sympathy. The cast of characters that surround her- Sir Thomas, Aunt Norris, Lady Bertram, Edmund, The Crawfords, William - are not only colorful but realistic. Since it is a Jane Austen novel, there are various romantic developments, but Fanny's affections seem to take a much more natural course than many of Austen's other characters. Furthermore, while it may seem clear at first which way the various marriages will lead, Austen does an excellent job of causing the reader to believe otherwise, then gives a sudden (and hilarious) curve ball, which nicely wraps up the novel as one might expect.

This gives me an updated ranking of my favorite Jane Austen works:
#1 Mansfield Park
#2 Sense and Sensibility
#3 Emma
#4 Pride and Prejudice
#5 Persuasion

I still need to read "Northanger Abbey", but that may not come until close to the end of the summer.