Jane Austen Club

inkspot said:
Austen had a pretty good sense of it, I think -- in Persuasion, too, it's clear the heroine was wrong not to accept her man's proposal before he'd made his fortune, and she regrets it even before she knows that he had made his fortune. And of course there are the youngest Miss Bennets who clearly are silly young things.

You know, that movie about Emma ... but with Reese Witherspoon ... gah, the title escapes me, it's a modern movie but it vaguely follows the plot line of the Emma story -- it was the same, the heroine was loveable and had a good heart, but she messed everything up for everyone. Not all medie types think all women incapable of messing up! :)
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"Clueless" was a modern remake of "Emma," but I don't think Reese Witherspoon was in it, so you might be talking about something else.

I love Emma! All of Austen's heroines have flaws. Emma really does mean well, I think, and even if she does have some pride and other faults, a big part of it was how she grew up. Being the lady of the house and the most important lady in the community (after her sister married) from such a young age. :) She has a good heart.
 
Clueless! Thank you. Wasn't that Reese Witherspoon? Who was that blind girl who had the Emma role in Clueless? I know Emma has a good heart, but she drives me crazy with her meddling! :)
 
Copperfox said:
The star of "Clueless" was Alicia Silverstone. I think it was her first leading role in a film.
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Thank you! I always get those two mixed up. Yes, that's right.
Aslans Messenger said:
I have just finished reading P&P and I absolutely love it!! I also adore the BBC production of it with Colin Ferth and Jennifer Ehle.
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I got the BBC mini-series on DVD for Christmas or my birthday (I forget which they are right together) and just watched it last week. It's a lovely adaptation of the book. Better than the Keira Knightley movie by far. (Although that's a fun movie, too.)

Did anyone read those spoofs, like Pride & Prejudice & Zombies? I read the one, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. It was pretty funny, but again, I thought they tried to add modern sensibilities into it, like making Lady Middleton a fierce Amazon woman whom John Middleton had captured (after slaughtering her village) on his privateering travels -- she was always plotting her escape and finally made it -- so the vapid character of Lady Middleton was completely lost.

Anyway, I thought the book was amusing. No one should read as much into things as I do ...
 
Aslans Messenger said:
I have just finished reading P&P and I absolutely love it!! I also adore the BBC production of it with Colin Ferth and Jennifer Ehle.
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I love "Pride and Prejudice." It's a lovely book. If you haven't already, at least give the 2005 Keira Knightley/Matthew MacFayden movie a try, too. Just in case you didn't notice, it's my favorite movie ever. :p I know most people prefer the BBC version, but I feel like the newer one has something special that the BBC one doesn't. It's much shorter and has to leave out parts of the story, but the casting is great, the scenery is beautiful, and the music is perfect. :) I adore that movie.
 
i am reading persuasion again now so when i get home i can watch the pbs version on tv and know what's going on ... it's a good story. i like anne but i do feel she messed up by rejecting wentworth the first time out.
 
Masterpiece Theater Persuasion

I just saw it and thought the condensation into 90 minutes was generally good but was disappointed that the discussion about who loves the longest got translated out of the letter writing scene at the end. I was sad to see that part left out, especially because Wentworth did not even seem to notice Anne's words in the scene that discussion was moved to in this screen adaptation...
 
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I like "Persuasion." I feel like most people just overlook it completely, over all of Austen's novels. There are the ones that everyone loves (P&P, S&S, Emma), the ones that everyone doesn't especially love (MP, NA). And "Persuasion" just sort of falls in the middle. :p But I really like it, and I was surprised the first time I read it that it isn't more popular.

I watched it on PBS, and I think it's pretty good. That's the only movie version I've seen so far. I just didn't like the many scenes with Anne Elliot staring into the camera...it was a bit awkward. :rolleyes: Captain Wentworth sure was handsome, though. :p But Sir Walter creeps me out big time. It's been a while since I read the book, so I can't remember if he's that weird in the book or not. I really need to read it again.

Did anyone else think that the girl who played Anne's sister Mary bears a great resemblance to the girl who plays in the Twilight movies? I spent half of the movie trying to figure out who she reminded me of, and it just hit me today. :p
 
Oh my gosh, I love Pride and Prejudice, both the old and new movies. I'm not sure which one I like better, they are both so good. :p So romantic...
 
I read Persuasion last, because I had heard that it was written last. Now it has become my second favorite, Sense and Sensibility being number one. Colonel Brandon and Captain Wentworth would get along well.
 
Sir Walter was pretty creepy in the book -- I didn't see the movie yet Persuasion -- but I think it's probably a fair adaptation of that character if he seems creepy.
 
There were two Jane Austen fan forums concentrating on the Colonel Brandon/Marianne Dashwood relationship: one called "Besotted," the other called "Best of Men." I joined both, but both seem to have been abandoned by their own founders. They kind of sit there on the internet, but nothing is happening in them.
 
That's too bad! Maybe Austen fans in general aren't so computer-oriented as we are?

I read another of those books that focus on Pride & Prejudice characters, this one was called Mr. Darcy's Diary, and it told his side of the P&P story. I thought this author was much more faithful to the characters, and I enjoyed this book.

It showed how Darcy was slowly brought to realize that he had been prideful in his views and un-gentlemanly in his proposal to Elizabeth, as she had accused him of being. It contrasted his undying love for her with Caroline's constant slighting of her and her family, and you could see how he was realizing that those had been his own views before he fell in love, and what a change that made in him. I thought it was nicely done.

It also had latitude to explain his dealings with Wickham in London which were interesting.

But on a sad note ... while I was out of town on business last week, my husband erased Persuasion from Tivo!!!! Nooooo! :( He thought it was just a "tivo suggestion" rather than something I had programmed, and since it didn't sound good to him, he erased it. Now I will never get to see it. I am bummed.
 
inkspot said:
But on a sad note ... while I was out of town on business last week, my husband erased Persuasion from Tivo!!!! Nooooo! :( He thought it was just a "tivo suggestion" rather than something I had programmed, and since it didn't sound good to him, he erased it. Now I will never get to see it. I am bummed.
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That stinks. :eek: I'm sure they'll air it again on PBS sometime...but your library might have it available. I don't know if you're interested in buying it or not, but Amazon has the DVD for only $11.99.

(I know, between this board and the classic movie one, I must sound like a salesperson for Amazon! :p I'm really not. I just love that they have good deals on movies that are hard to find.)
 
Hey, if Amazon has it, I bet Netflix does. I didn't think of that. We get two DVD's from Netflix every month; maybe I can get it next month. Thanks!

I used to shop on Amazon a bunch, too. I love getting free shipping and having books come to my mailbox. With the little downturn in my personal economy I haven't bought anything lately, but I agree with you about Amazon.
 
Pride and Prejudice fans?

I was going to read Pride and Prejudice buy Jane Austen. I was wondering any Austinites? Movie or book: which movie? I was just curious.
 
I like Pride and Prejudice a lot! :D The writing style was very hard for me to read at first, but I got used to it over time. I watched the 2005 version of the movie, and liked it a lot, but the book was definitely better.

Aravis Kenobi, a member here, does not like that version at all, and I've gotten other negative feedback from people I know in "real-life". My family and I like it, though.
 
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