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

Anne of Green Gables Week Tag

Evie at Over the Hills is currently hosting an Anne of Green Gables week, so I thought I'd join in by filling in the tag.

1. How did you get introduced to Anne of Green Gables?

I don't actually remember, but I know I read it for the first time when I was about ten. Probably my mum recommended it to me.

 2. Are you more like Anne or Diana? Why?

I don't think I'm very much like Anne - my imagination certainly can't compete with hers and I'm generally quite a quiet person (as opposed to Anne who talks nearly all the time in the first book). So I'm probably more like Diana.

 3. If Rachel Lynde called your hair as red as carrots how would you react?

I would be quite surprised, since it definitely isn't. Although ironically I wanted to have red hair like Anne's when I was younger.

 4. Gilbert or Morgan Harris?

So I had to look up who Morgan Harris was ... it's been a long time since I've watched any of the films. I think I vaguely remember him actually, but at any rate I can't imagine I'd choose him over Gilbert :)

5. Honest opinion on the third Anne film.

I only watched a bit of it, and that was long before I'd read any of the books after the first. I'll probably watch it sometime, but I'm not anxious to.

 6. Have you seen the New Anne film?

No; I wasn't aware there was one. I'll have to check it out :)

7. What in your own words is a Kindred Spirit?

Someone who "gets" you, who understands your viewpoint and has a similar view of the world. It helps if you have lots of interests in common, too.

8.  Movie Gilbert or Green Gables Fables Gilbert?

Movie Gilbert, although I liked them both.

 

9.  Does anyone know where we can watch Road to Avonlea online?

Nope, sorry.

10. Favourite book cover?
 

There are lots of editions with pretty covers, so it's difficult to choose! The one on the left is probably my favourite, but there are quite a few I really like.

11. The Films or the Books?

Definitely the books! Anne of Green Gables is probably my all-time favourite book. Although it has been a long time since I watched any of the films (like, about 11 years), so I definitely need to watch them again :)