[Everything Austen II] Persuasion (DVD)

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2: Emma (Jane Austen)
3: Mr. Knightley's Diary (Amanda Grange)
4: The Darcys Give a Ball (Elizabeth Newark)
5: I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend (Cora Harrison)
6: Persuasion (DVD)

This post will conclude the Everything Austen II challenge! Huzzah! I have thoroughly enjoyed this first-ever-challenge experience, and will continue to read my beloved Austen and the whole world of Austen-related books, even though the challenge has been completed. There is something about Austen that transcends time and experience, making her writing live ...

And so, the final review ...

Persuasion
BBC, 1995
Starring: Amanda Root & Cieran Hinds

I've been watching Jane Austen DVDs throughout this challenge, but did not want to include them as reviewed components, because I've seen them all several times. Persuasion, however is new to me - I read it for the first time over the summer, and I've just not watched a movie version. I must admit, I liked the movie better than the novel, but I still found myself incredibly annoyed. I think, for whatever reason, Anne Elliot and I do simply do not 'geehaw'. (And yet, I liked the contemporary retellings of Persuasion I have read. Strange...)

So far as the movie goes - it's a beautiful BBC production, and I felt it to be a good cinematic adaptation. I confess to finding it amusing that Mary Elliot (er, Musgrove) was played by the same actress who brought Miss Bates to life in Emma the next year. Seeing the characters interact was nicer for me than reading about them, and I did warm a bit to Anne herself as she began to 'evolve' and come in to her own. The subtle changes to her costume was a very nice touch to demonstrate this process. I *loved* Captain Wentworth as portrayed by Cieran Hinds. Loved him. He was just as he ought to have been - a bit gruff, but also sensitive; a weatherworn sailor, but also strikingly handsome. Yes, Capt. Wentworth is definitely a worth Austen hero.

DVD provided by my local library.

[Everything Austen II] I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2: Emma (Jane Austen)
3: Mr. Knightley's Diary (Amanda Grange)
4: The Darcys Give a Ball (Elizabeth Newark)
5: I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend (Cora Harrison)
6:

United States cover

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend
Cora Harrison
Delacorte Books, 2010

I first learned about this back in the spring, when it was still months and months from releasing in the US. I was so excited about it though, I made plans to buy the UK edition since it was already out (plus, that cover is so incredibly cute! LOVE it!). Those plans never materialized, but my library bought a copy and I managed to snag it first. (Love-love-love when that happens).



UK cover



Going into the reading, I really wasn't sure what I'd get - the basic premise is that this is the diary of Jane Austen's cousin/best friend Jenny Cooper, and tells the story of how Jane helped Jenny with matters of the heart. I was expecting a light, fun read - and got that, but also got more. Harrison crafted a lovely story that offered a glimpse at what it must have been like to grow up with Jane Austen. In the adventures (and misadventures) Jenny and Jane share, you can see the beginnings of the stories and characters that would go on to become Jane's contribution to the literary world. Jenny's take on the Austen family is enough of an 'outsider' to be able to see things Jane cannot, but she's still very much a part of that close circle. It is in this circle that she becomes better acquainted with herself, and discovers what it means to fall in love.

I enjoyed the book, it was cute and fun, but also had a lot of interesting little details. Harrison, in her author's note, states that she drew heavily from surviving letters of Mrs. Austen and Jenny Cooper (who was actually also called "Jane"). I was amused by comparing what was going on in the book, and the characters, with what occured in Becoming Jane -- some interesting overlap.

Book provided by my local library.

[Everything Austen II] The Darcys Give a Ball

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2: Emma (Jane Austen)
3: Mr. Knightley's Diary (Amanda Grange)
4: The Darcys Give a Ball (Elizabeth Newark)
5:
6:

The Darcys Give a Ball
Elizabeth Newark
Sourcebooks, 2008

I saw this on the shelf when I was wandering the stacks one day, and knew I *had* to read it. So very glad I did! I loved it. Seriously loved it. A quick, easy read, I was hooked from the beginning. (Truthfully, hooked by the title). Imagine a world, 20ish years after Pride & Prejudice ends, where Lizzie and Darcy and Jane and Bingley have children. Oh, and don't forget Charlotte and Mr Collins and their children. Now, take a deep breath and imagine the children of all the other Austen couplings ... Yes, all of them. Emma and Knightley; Elinor and Edward; Marianne and Col. Brandon; Anne and Capt. Wentworth ... and, of course, the rest of 'em too. They all have children. And all the parents and children know each other. And they all come together at one ball - held at Pemberley and hosted by the Darcys. What happens is sheer delight. I absolutely loved seeing all the characters come together and coexist and interact across the novel borders. I loved getting a peek at what Lizzie and Jane felt and thought about the other great Austen figures. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the children of the matches - there is much to be said for having good parents, let me tell you. And the ending? Lovely. As lovely as a dance on a moonlit night. Now ... I just need to get my hands on Newark's mouse-version of Pride & Prejudice -- 'twas mentioned in the 'About the Author', and I have begun a quest to find it!

Book provided by my local library.

[Everything Austen II] Mr. Knightley's Diary

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2: Emma (Jane Austen)
3: Mr. Knightley's Diary (Amanda Grange)
4:
5:
6:

Mr. Knightley's Diary
Amanda Grange
Berkley Trade, 2006

I happily timed the reading of this to coincide with the finishing of Emma. I liked the juxtaposition of having just finished reading the 'full-fledged' version with seeing everything unfold from Mr. Knightley's point of view. Having read Grange's Mr. Darcy's Diary when it first came out, I knew to expect good things of Knightley - and was not disappointed! Everything that I loved about Mr. Knightley in Austen's original comes through - and is gracefully and carefully fleshed out - in Grange's. Here is a Mr. Knightley who feels, and who battles with his own understanding. Watching his words reflect his so-very-obvious preference for Miss Emma Woodhouse above all others, before he realized he was in actually rather in love with said young lady, was delightfully amusing. I smiled often, chuckled a little, and fell even more in love with the gentle Mr. Knightley. Grange is very careful in her writing to stay true to Austen's original characters, even while giving them more 'body' and story. There are faithful accounts of the actions that take place in Emma recorded in Knightley's diary - whole conversations have even been recorded for posterity! A lovely read, and most definitely a wonderful accompaniment for Emma.

Book provided by my local library.

[Everything Austen II] Emma

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2: Emma (Jane Austen)
3:
4:
5:
6:

Emma
Jane Austen
Bantam Classics, 1984 (original publication 1815)

I read Emma ages ago, back in early high school. Probably sophomore year? I remember liking the story at the time, but at 15 there was no way I could possibly appreciate it the way I did now, rereading at the ripe old age of 25. This go-round, I was able to not only delight in the writing itself -- this may be the best written of Austen's novels, in my opinion -- but to lose my heart to the story, the characters, the whole shebang.

Perhaps one of the reasons I got so much more out of the novel this time was because for the first time in my life, I can actually relate to Emma Woodhouse. (I've watched the movies a dozen times, so I'm intimately acquainted with the story itself, if not as familiar with reading the words). I keep hearing that people do not like Emma as a character, and I'm not sure why. She's no Lizzie Bennett, but I find Emma refreshingly human. So she's spoiled and vain - she has every reason to be, and there is a good heart underneath the silliness. I found her a bit flippant at times, but attributed it to her youth and comparative isolation from society. What I did get a wee bit frustrated with was her inability to see Mr. Knightley. I fell in love with Mr. Knightley, really and truly, and found him to be a rival of Mr. Darcy for the title of "Perfect Romantic Hero".

Emma has much to offer the ready reader: a love story of aching sweetness and possibility; a host of characters that reflect all the best and worst of humanity; moments of dialogue that could be overheard in any college hall or coffee shop; and that special flavor that Jane gives to her best work. A delightful experience, and I shall revisit Emma again before another 10 years passes.

Book provided by my personal library.

[Everything Austen II] Persuasion

Everything Austen II is a challenge hosted by Stephanie over at Stephanie's Written Word.
The goal: To read 6 Austen-themed works between July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011.
The progress so far:
1: Persuasion (Jane Austen)
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:

Persuasion
Jane Austen
Signet Classics, 1996 (original publication 1817)

I have read at least 3, if not 4, contemporary retellings of Austen's Persuasion - so I was very familiar with the story. Several of my close friends love it, calling it their favorite Austen of all. So I went into this with high hopes and a happy sense of anticipation. And then I struggled my way through it ... I love Jane, but I definitely do not love Persuasion. At all. You can tell that this novel was written as she was "running out of time" sotospeak, and was not able to go back and rework everything -- it's almost like a second, maybe third draft, and one more good revision would have done the trick. The story's there, the characters have some promise, but it's just not quite clicking. The best of the whole book are Chapters 10 and 11 of Volume 2 -- coincidentally, the only two chapters Jane went back and did serious reworking of (or so says the introduction in my volume). You can tell. There's a difference to the story in those two chapters.

Anne Elliot annoyed me. I wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled in her head and she woke up. They say she shows amazing patience -- to me, she showed immense passivity. Did she feel things? Yeah, to varying degrees. But she was just so ... complacent and accepting of everything. I got increasingly frustrated with her as the course of the novel continued. Captain Wentworth was not a bad hero - but I'd like to get to know him better. He had a humanity to him, a normal, familiar pride about him, that reminded me of Darcy. Perhaps if the Captain were written more, Anne would be more appealing and the story revived greatly.

Unfortunately, strangely, the original Austen is lacking in story and likeability to the contemporary retellings.

Book provided by my personal library.

Everything Austen II

Okay, I'm going to officially join a challenge! Woot!

The Everything Austen II challenge hosted by Stephanie's Written Word (as found by Becky's Book Reviews) ... It's right up my alley, dontcha think: 6 Austen, or Austen-themed, books - or movies - in the last six months of 2010. I can do this. Definitely.

So what 6 Austen-esque pieces will I use ... Hmm ... Good question. I've got a rather lengthy list of Austenia that I want to read, more than enough to choose from, so let me list those and I will fill in the blanks as I read/watch them, and we'll see what happens.

The Official Six:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

The List of Austenia:
Books:
Persuasion (Austen)
Emma (Austen)
Mansfield Park (Austen)
 I was Jane Austen's Best Friend (Harrison)
According to Jane (Brant)
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict (Rigler)
Dearest Cousin Jane (Pitkeathley)
The Other Mr. Darcy (Fairview)
Emma & Knightley: Perfect Happiness in Highbury (Billington)
Writing Jane Austen (Aston)

Movies:
Persuasion
Bridget Jones's Diary