“I never look at it,” said Catherine, as they walked along the side of the river, “without thinking of the south of France.”
“You have been abroad then?” said Henry, a little surprised.
“Oh! No, I only mean what I have read about. It always puts me in mind of the country that Emily and her father travelled through, in The Mysteries of Udolpho. But you never read novels, I dare say?”
“Why not?”
“Because they are not clever enough for you–gentlemen read better books.”
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe`s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again; I remember finishing it in two days–my hair standing on end the whole time.”
This conversation between Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney occurred during a walk around Beechen Cliff near Bath, Northanger Abbey, Chapter 14. The ITV film adaptation is coming to PBS’s Masterpiece Classic, Sunday, January 20th, 2008 at 9 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. Central. Will Henry say these immortal words to Catherine in the film? Stay tuned and find out.
- Read the Mysteries of Udolpho by Anne Ward Radcliffe at Project Gutenberg.
- Also read my other post about Northanger Abbey: The Long Publishing Journey of Northanger Abbey
- Masterpiece Classic, PBS, Northanger Abbey
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Jane Austen's World 
Looking forward to this one! I have not read the novel and I don’t think I saw the 1985 adaptation (was that really the only one?!) so I’m not familiar with the story. This will either mean I won’t be disappointed with the new adaptation or I won’t have any idea what’s going on.
He almost says it. I enjoy this one, actually, though they of course take some liberties. However, as adaptations go, it’s pretty decent. In some ways it manages to shave away some of the weird things Austen did in this one…I always think that she simply got tired of the book by the end and sort of went “meh, whatever, I’m just going to be difficult and rambly now.” They got rid of some of what makes me think that.
From the recent ITV Austen adaptations, this is my favorite, not perfect but still very enjoyable. :) As Gilana said they did take some liberties and this was one of them.
Hello, Ms Place! First, thanks for visiting my new blog and leaving your kind words! I’m afraid I used to be intolerably stupid, but I’m trying to fix that. ;)
And thank you for posting that view from Beechen Cliff–it’s wonderful!
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