Jane Austen Book Discussion: Pride & Prejudice
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15 years ago
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15 years agochristinmk z5b eastern WA
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My Long Post; Free Kindle books on the iPod
Comments (2)I have been guilty of the same thing I love pixel of ink. Plus I also have a ton of ebooks in epub format too. I have no idea how I will read them all. So many great free books I don't know why I would need to buy any....See MoreJane Austen on Masterpiece Theater
Comments (146)Miss Austen Regrets was on TV last night. As always the settings of country mansions, parkland etc were beautiful and Olivia Williams as JA was good but . . . I found it difficult to follow the 'plot', such as it was, and was confused by all the young men Jane flirted with. At 40 years old she was well over middle age by the standards of those days and my, didn't she hit the bottle. I understand that her sister burnt most of her letters and I'm sure Jane would have never started so many sentences with "Oh my God!" Very modern. btw the actress, Phyllida Law, who played JA's mother is 'in real life' the mother of Emma Thompsom....See MoreLate Viewing of Pride and Prejudice
Comments (25)I enjoyed this newest version very much because I felt that all of the characters were more sympathetically portrayed. Although I love the Firth/Ehle epic for its faithfulness to the text, parts of it crawled (reading letters), made me cringe (Darcy's face in the mirror), and served up caricatures (Miss Bingley, Mr. Collins, Mary, and Mrs. Bennet in particular -- what's not to dislike?) The country ballroom scene was delightful with its vigorous dancing and multi-generational costuming -- I have no idea if the dances were accurate, but it certainly conveyed the provincial atmosphere that Darcy found distasteful and Bingley, refreshing. Small details explained characters' foibles like Mrs Bennet's vulgarity (alcohol) and Mr Bennet's scholarly passivity (dragonfly on pin). I felt sorry for Mary, who would have gladly accepted Mr Collins (watch her face in the aftermath of his proposal to Lizzie). Tom Hollander's portrayal was touching -- Mr Collins so earnestly wanted to do the right thing(s) but was undone by frigidity, not smarminess. Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth Bennet was dutifully portrayed, but she never struck me as more than mildly witty and quite buxom. In contrast, Keira Knightley's performance was much livelier and passionate. The same comparison could be made between the actors playing Darcy -- except for the buxom part. The only character I did not like was Charlotte -- what a wimp! The pragmatic portrayal in the E/F version was much better. I think that the movie would have been better w/o the US ending (very un-Austen), a panoramic shot showing the pair driving up to Pemberley would have been better. I also wish that a director would allow Darcy to "express himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do" -- there's the place for a passionate kiss....See MoreJane Austen, where should I start?
Comments (7)I guess this shows I am in the minority! I found Mansfield Park the most interesting of Austen books with a much smaller cast of characters to keep track of and actually more interesting & less frivolous characters. Plus I thought Fanny was the nicest of all Austen's 'heroines' and had the least expectations of life. Pat...See Moreannpan
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15 years agochristinmk z5b eastern WA
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