"What do you think of my gig, Miss Morland? A neat one, is not it? Well hung; town-built; I have not had it a month" ~James Thorpe (pg. 22) 
 Ha, I never imagined boys used to brag about their carriages the way boys do about sportcars (penis extensions). Thanks for James Thorpe and his well hung carriage, Miss Austen. The world hasn't changed so much in over 200 years after all. 
 Jane Austen's characters are the reason her novels keep being reread and reimagined in film. Fashion changes, but girls like Catherine still have to deal with macho self-absorbed guys like James and (view spoiler)[fake friends like Isabelle Thorpe. (hide spoiler)] We all learn that people say one thing and do another. 
 Catherine is too naive to be my favorite Austen heroine. There are times when I want to shake her. Were there truly girls that innocent and impressionable? However, I love her overactive imagination and obsession with Gothic novels. 
 Northanger Abbey is also interesting for all of the metafiction passages--the commentary on novels, novelists, gender and the Reader. Jane Austen parodies the Gothic novel and reveals the negative stigma attached to novels in general during her time period. Sometimes the digression is distracting, but in the end, it truly makes this novel unique. 
 It's also worth reading for the sweet love story.