I Love Austen Week Tag!

Hamlette at Hamlette's Soliloquy is hosting I Love Austen Week this week - a week dedicated to all things Jane Austen! Be sure to check out the festivities here if you feel so inclined. Here are my answers to the week's tag.

 

 

1.  Which did you experience first, a Jane Austen book or a movie based on one?

My first proper experience with Jane Austen was the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film. I didn't know much about the story beforehand and wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I LOVED it. So I quickly started searching out other film adaptations, and of course the books themselves. I think I had seen at least one film version of each book before reading it.

2.  What is your favourite Austen book?

Until a few days ago I would have said Sense & Sensibility, but I've recently started rereading Pride & Prejudice and suspect that it is about to take over. There are just so many good bits that I'd forgotten!

 

3.  Favourite heroine?  Why do you like her best?

This is quite a hard question! I think Elinor, Anne and Jane are the ones I would most like to know in real life. But I like all of them (except maybe Emma, but I like her character arc through the story).

 

4.  Favourite hero?  Why do you like him best?

I really like Colonel Brandon (especially Alan Rickman's version). He's just a really nice guy :) Although again, I find it difficult to pick a favourite.

 

5.  Do you have a favourite film adaptation of Austen's work?

My favourite Austen film adaptation (and possibly my overall favourite film) is the 1995 version of Sense & Sensibility. I basically just love everything about it. I also really like the Kate Beckinsale Emma, and both versions of Pride & Prejudice (controversial I know). (I wrote about my thoughts on different adaptations here.)

 

6.  Have your Austen tastes changed over the years?  (Did you start out liking one story best, but now like another better?  Did you think she was boring at first, then changed your mind?  Etc.)

Well, my actual first experience with Jane Austen was watching the first two hours of Emma at a friend's house, and I actually found it quite boring. However a few months later I watched P&P and decided that she was definitely not boring. Since then, though, my opinions have not changed materially, although possible I've come to appreciate different things about her stories than when I was initially introduced to them. [I do like Emma now (although it's not one of my favourite of her books, I really like the Kate Beckinsale film, although I still haven't seen the 2009 one all the way through), but I think it is a story that improves on acquaintance - I enjoy it more knowing the full story than I did before.]

 

7.  Do you have any cool Austen-themed things (mugs, t-shirts, etc)?  (Feel free to share photos if you want.)

No, although I do have a very nice boxed set of all of her novels.

 

8.  If you could ask Jane Austen one question, what would you ask her?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

 

9.  Imagine someone is making a new film of any Jane Austen story you choose, and you get to cast the leads.  What story do you want filmed, and who would you choose to act in it?

I would like someone to make a good, accurate version of Mansfield Park. I'm not sure about casting though - I don't think I know enough actors to make an informed decision.

10.  Share up to five favourite Jane Austen quotations!

 "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." - Pride & Prejudice (such a good opening line; indeed the whole first chapter of P&P is just so good)

"I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more." - Emma
 

 "We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing if you really liked him." - Pride & Prejudice

"People always live for ever when there is any annuity to be paid them." - Sense & Sensibility

"Oh!" cried Marianne, "with what transporting sensations have I formerly seen them fall! How have I delighted, as I walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! What feelings have they, the season, the air altogether inspired! Now there is no one to regard them. They are seen only as a nuisance, swept hastily off, and driven as much as possible from the sight."
   "It is not every one," said Elinor, "who has your passion for dead leaves."
- Sense & Sensibility

Jane Austen Adaptations

I wrote about my favourite Jane Austen adaptations here, but I've been meaning to write a post about all the ones that I've seen for a long time - so here it is! (You can also read my thoughts on books based on Jane Austen's novels here.)

 

Pride and Prejudice (1995 & 2005)

 

 

I feel like my opinion is quite controversial here, because I actually really like both versions. Overall, I think the 1995 version slightly wins out, but only slightly. It's longer, and thus includes more of the story, as well as being more historically accurate, but I do also like the more fast-moving story in the 2005 adaptation, and I prefer Keira Knightley to Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth. The 2005 version was also my first (proper) introduction to Jane Austen, which does bias me in its favour.

Sense and Sensibility (1981, 1995 & 2008)

 

 

The 1995 Emma Thompson adaptation of Sense & Sensibility is one of my favourite films, and I basically love everything about it. Even though they did add in some things that weren't in the book (such as giving Margaret a much greater role in the story and developing the start of Edward and Elinor's relationship a bit more), I mostly approved of these things. I think adding to or developing certain parts of the story is different to changing things (although they did change a few details), and the adaptation very much captures the spirit of the story.

The other two adaptations are pretty good too. They both have the advantage of being longer, so were able to include some things that were left out of the 1995 version (although they are still both under three hours and so still leave out some good bits; there needs to be a longer miniseries adaptation of this). The 2008 BBC version is very good, although there were some things that bothered me (such as the dramatic music which plays whenever Willoughby and Colonel Brandon look at each other, even before they have any particular reason to dislike each other), and it lacks some sort of charm that the 1995 version has, although I couldn't tell you precisely what it is. The older BBC adaptation is less good in terms of casting and acting and so on, but it's still quite enjoyable, and does stick more closely to the book. (Basically, I love the story, so am likely to enjoy any reasonable adaptation of it.)

 

Mansfield Park (1983)

 

 

 I've only seen one version of this, so I can't compare it to anything, although I believe this is the only adaptation that more than vaguely follows the book. It's not a great series, but it's not bad either. (Someone really needs to make a new version of Mansfield Park).

 

Emma (1972 and 1996 (ITV))

 

 

This is an easy choice; I liked some things about the 1972 version (it has possibly my favourite portrayal of Mr. Knightley), but overall it wasn't great.

The Kate Beckinsale version, on the other hand, I really really like. It is quite short, so the story moves quickly which means it can be a little bit confusing (and hard to keep track of who is supposed to be in love with who at which point in the story), and necessarily quite a lot of things are cut; and also, the ending is a little bit random and doesn't really make sense. But I do think it is a really good film.

I haven't seen the more recent BBC adaptation yet, which is something I do need to rectify. (I actually watched the first half of it ages ago and didn't really get into it, but that was before I was properly introduced to Jane Austen. I also think Emma is a story which improves upon acquaintance; I definitely appreciated it more after seeing it once or twice.)

 

Northanger Abbey (1987 and 2007)

 

 

The 1987 version is really terrible and downright creepy. (I watched it before reading the book, so didn't expect to enjoy it that much and was quite surprised when I did.) The 2007 version I think is quite good, although I've only seen it once and don't remember it that well; it was good, but not remarkable.

 

Persuasion (1995 and 2007)

 

 

Neither of these adaptations made a deep impression on me; I don't remember very much about either. I do remember enjoying the 1995 version. The 2007 version is also pretty good up until the last ten minutes or so which are just odd and make no sense. The endings of the book and of the 1995 film are much better. So I would probably recommend the first version.

 

Other Adaptations

 

 

 I also quite enjoyed Death Comes to Pemberley, Lost in Austen (mostly) and Becoming Jane (although it's been a few years since I last watched it).

 

Also, webseries! I quite enjoyed The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, although I didn't think it was amazing, but I really enjoyed From Mansfield With Love. I've started watching several other webseries adaptations but haven't got that far - I'm not very good at watching these consistently when they come out. Let me know if you have any suggestions as to what else I should watch!

Classic Remarks: Jane Austen Adaptations

This week's discussion prompt for Classic Remarks (hosted by Pages Unbound) is Which Austen adaptation is your favourite, and why?

My choice for this would have to be the 1995 (Emma Thompson) Sense and Sensibility, which is on my top five list of favourite films. I really like the story of S&S, and I think it is brought to life really well in this adaptation. Although it isn't the most faithful adaptation to the book, I feel that it captures the spirit of the story very well and I like the additions, such as the much greater development of Margaret's character - she is a very minor character in the book and basically only exists as a plot device in one or two scenes. The acting is also superb as well, and the characters are very well done. I enjoyed the two other versions of Sense & Sensibility that I've seen (the 2008 and 1981 ones), but although they were good they didn't quite manage to captivate me as much as this version did.
 

Honourable mentions have to go to both the 1995 and 2005 versions of Pride & Prejudice, and the Kate Beckinsale Emma, all of which I also greatly enjoyed. I've yet to see the 2009 Emma, but suspect it may make this list when I have done. I'm also hoping to see Love & Friendship pretty soon!!

Jane Austen Spin-offs and Sequels

There are a lot of them out there: continuations, sequels, spin-off, retellings, books inspired by Jane Austen's novels. Even though they are often not that great, for some reason I still end up wanting to read more. However, there are some good ones that I've discovered too. So I've decided to put together a list of the Jane-Austen-related books that I've read - the good and the not-so-good.

 

Sequels

  

Lady Catherine's Necklace by Joan Aiken

This was OK. It wasn't quite believable as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, but if you ignore that it is a sequel it isn't a bad story in its own right.

Georgiana Darcy's Diary by Anne Elliott

This was a fairly enjoyable sequel to Pride and Prejudice, focusing on Georgiana (obviously) and her search for romance. It wasn't anything special but I did enjoy it. (I got it as a free Kindle download; you can still get it for free now at Amazon (UK or US).

 

The Matters at Mansfield, or, The Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris

I actually did really enjoy this book. It's part of a series which involves Elizabeth and Darcy solving mysteries, which involves them meeting characters from each of Jane Austen's novels (in this case, the characters of Mansfield Park, although most of these characters play a fairly minor part in the novel). The mystery was intriguing, the dialogue felt fairly authentically Regency and the characters were pretty close to their original representations, so overall, this was a very enjoyable read. (There is a slightly gruesome description of a murder, but it's not that bad.) I intend to read the rest of the series, sometime.

 

Retellings

 

Mr. Darcy's Diary and Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange

Both of these books were quite good, an entertaining look at Pride and Prejudice and Emma, respectively, from the hero's perspective. I have to admit that I don't remember that much about either of them, so they didn't leave a very lasting impression, but I did enjoy them, although I preferred the former.

 

Longbourn by Jo Baker

This was one that I didn't enjoy. I liked the concept of it and it started out fairly well, but then it kind of went downhill and the middle section was just ... not good. I kept reading in the hope that it would get better, which it did, a bit, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Jane Austen: Her Complete Novels in One Sitting by Jennifer Kasius

This book provides a brief summary of the characters and plot of each of Jane Austen's novels. It's a useful reminder if you can't exactly remember the plot of each novel or have trouble keeping track of the characters (I know I used to).

 

Modern-Day

 

Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard: A Tale of Tide and Prejudice by Belinda Roberts

This was another book that started off fairly well but I got bored of it towards the end. It is quite funny, but I think the jokes get tiresome after a bit and it gets a bit ridiculous towards the end. So overall it wasn't that great.

Other

 

Dear Mr. Knightley and Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay

These books are not so much spin-offs from Jane Austen's works as just books that are inspired by them. In both cases the main characters have a strong interest in classic literature, especially Jane Austen, and this influences their perceptions and how they think about things, and there are a lot of references to Jane Austen and other classic authors in them. I enjoyed them both, perhaps not quite as much as I'd hoped to, but they are both good stories in their own right, and definitely worth reading if you like classic books or a good story. (You can read my review of Dear Mr. Knightley here.)

Quote of the Week

"But for my own part, if a book is well written, I always find it too short." - Jane Austen, in her unfinished story Catharine, or The Bower.