Me too. I read all his books (I have them in my library), I saw all the movies and series made over the years starting with Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy. I visited his memorial house in Chawton Village twice and I am fascinated by the time he lived. Pride and Prejudice is the first movie and book I saw and read when I was a teenager, a long time ago. Then there were Emma, Ellinor and Marianne, Persuasion, etc. By chance I came across Northanger Abbey in an antique shop and read it in two days. Was awesome. When I became an adult I tried to read absolutely everything about Jane Austen like a person. Beautiful timesI am a huge Jane Austen fanatic. And given some of the comments I've seen on the boards recently, I know I'm not alone. Perhaps we might want to start discussing the books after the holiday/new year insanity has settled down? Including the juvenalia--I think Love and Freindship (sic) is one of the funniest things I've ever read! If interested or you have any ideas for a book discussion, feel free to chime in.
I have been a fan for years and have all the books, and the DVD versions going way back.....the original PBS versions are hysterical! You can see tank traps as the charactors walk along the paths....Up again?
How is it that I am not surprised of finding janeites on a figure skating thread?
My "order of preference" among novels is :
- Emma (with the most loveable of Austen's wonderful male pictures, unfortunately no adaptation did him justice, far from it, though BBC 2009 had a character who could have creditably played Robert Martin, which is saying a lot; and Mark Strong was not a bad choice in A&E 1996 but Andrew Davies really didn't catch the depth of this character in the scenario, quite the opposite; after all maybe the "least wrong" was Paul Rudd in Clueless, to me the best adaptation, the choice of skipping his character an let him aside being anyway compulsory in a mere movie);
- Pride and Prejudice, having the best adaptation maybe because the novel is so well fit for a mini-series, with its "operatic" construction (I mean Italian opera, as Jane Austen has shown to like in Persuasion) alterning sentimental comedy, farce, social drama... and Andrew Davies nailed it, plus it had wonderful music and wonderful actors : I find this adaptation "faultless in spite of all its faults". I couldn't watch more than ten minutes of the 1980 BBC adaptation because Mr Bennet is shown as such an abusive, tyrannical father. I saw short extracts of the 1967 adaptation and liked them. I didn't like the 2005 adaptation at all, a sort of modern construction upon the theme, but still in costume...
- Northanger Abbey, for its staunch humour, but also more subtle with Eleanor Tinley, whose triple entendre "such a sister-in-law, Henry, I should delight in" deserves a place somewhere near Price and Prejudice opening sentence among Jane Austen's so memorable quotes; I liked very much the 2009 adaptation;
- Persuasion, so mild in rythm — just like the way of life imposed to Jane Austen herself — yet full of feelings;
- Sense and Sensibility, which 1995 adaptation I liked much, mostly for its pictural quality;
- Mansfield Park, last only because I like less dark stories; I must say there I really see Henry as a villain, and understand very well why Fanny, should she not have been in love with Edmund, would never have accepted it, seing well through him; had she accepted him, he would have after a few months, let her rot in some remote place, maybe without even any means of living, while going back to London life and seduce married women while complaining about his misfortune in having married such a bland woman; I suspect him to be, instead of the not-so-interesting Mr Wickham, the inspiration behind the character of Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones Diary (at least, the short extracts I saw). I have never tried to watch any adaptation.
I have not read her letter, but I did her juvenilia, Lady Susan, Sanditon and The Watsons.
Its running again. I am watching Marie Antonnette....there is only so much period stuff I can handle....LOL!Is anyone watching the adaptation of "Sanditon" written by Andrew Davies, and currently playing on PBS in the USA? If so, what do you think?
Belated reply to your post @skylark, but yes still watching Sanditon now Season 3. I am an Austen fan... so enjoy being able to watch a program that employs her style of dialogue even if the overall/deeper writing and character is not of the quality of her books. Are you still watching? What do you think?Is anyone watching the adaptation of "Sanditon" written by Andrew Davies, and currently playing on PBS in the USA? If so, what do you think?
There are parts of “Sanditon” that I enjoyed very much but other aspects really bothered me, especially the implied sibling incest. It’s hard to imagine Austen putting anything like that into her novels, notwithstanding the marriage of 1st cousins Fanny and Edmund in “Mansfield Park.”Belated reply to your post @skylark, but yes still watching Sanditon now Season 3. I am an Austen fan... so enjoy being able to watch a program that employs her style of dialogue even if the overall/deeper writing and character is not of the quality of her books. Are you still watching? What do you think?
Jane Austen Purist! I guess I am not. I dont think she could write a climatic love scene to save her tush.......Just about every DVD I have of a Jane Austen work cleans up this flaw.....There are parts of “Sanditon” that I enjoyed very much but other aspects really bothered me, especially the implied sibling incest. It’s hard to imagine Austen putting anything like that into her novels, notwithstanding the marriage of 1st cousins Fanny and Edmund in “Mansfield Park.”
Overall, IMO “Sanditon” seems in many ways like a toned-down version of “Bridgerton.” At heart, guess I’m just a Jane Austen purist.![]()