tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post4807865606072669060..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: Pride and Prejudice, at 200 and at 17Darwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-86588299962975596922013-01-29T19:53:21.383-05:002013-01-29T19:53:21.383-05:00Whoops. All six, I mean. That's what I get for...Whoops. All six, I mean. That's what I get for midnight commenting.Charming Disarrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481799867576915560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-57597722852094232312013-01-29T08:16:25.473-05:002013-01-29T08:16:25.473-05:00Oh, I remember Riverfront! I keep forgetting that...Oh, I remember Riverfront! I keep forgetting that it's ever been renamed.<br /><br />I think I read Pride & Prejudice when I was about the same age. I had tried to read it when I was maybe 12 or 13, and I just couldn't get started. Then we watched the Laurence Olivier & Greer Garson movie version, which inspired me to try again. This time, when I opened up the book it came alive, and I barrelled through to the end. The Lady Catherine Deburgh from that movie incarnation will always be the Real Lady Catherine to me, even if her character in the movie deviates sadly from the book.Bernadettehttp://thatsadancerslegmargaret.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-34030288040224698012013-01-29T08:09:15.813-05:002013-01-29T08:09:15.813-05:00Bob,
We own the BBC miniseries and enjoy it a gre...Bob,<br /><br />We own the BBC miniseries and enjoy it a great deal. It's the only one that gets Mrs. Bennett right, in my opinion -- it preserves the humor, while remembering that she is a ridiculous figure. I can't bear her in the A&E version. Her one-note shrillness is the very antithesis of an Austen character.<br /><br />On the other hand, David Rintoul is so emotionally reserved as Darcy that his performance almost never varies, and that's a major problem for a major character. Elizabeth Garvie's acting is wholly admirable, though, and she's a lovely singer to boot.<br /><br />We hope our Christmas present is some small return for our Christmas gratitude. :) mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-37134554313514400082013-01-29T08:02:26.490-05:002013-01-29T08:02:26.490-05:00Enbrethiliel,
Austen wrote P&P and Northanger...Enbrethiliel,<br /><br />Austen wrote P&P and Northanger Abbey within a short span, and both when she was quite young, but P&P is very anticipatory whereas Northanger Abbey has a strongly nostalgic tone. I don't think that I would have found half the humor or subtext in Northanger when I was younger, but then, I came of reading age before the great Gothic Revival -- thank God! Not that I think I would have read Twilight even then, but I might have felt that I was missing something by not doing so.<br /><br />If you are looking to make your Lent more penitential, writing is certainly the way to go. :)<br /><br />And I am glad I read P&P outside of the clique of Austen. You're right that it's attractive to be cynical and mock people for their excesses. but I think it's a cheap temptation to fall too far into the hip detachment category and lose sight of what is truly admirable about the books.mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-30903637827876051322013-01-29T07:41:55.225-05:002013-01-29T07:41:55.225-05:00Charming,
Which book was not in the anthology?Charming, <br /><br />Which book was not in the anthology?mrsdarwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03446744635277205867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-47915173235165894632013-01-29T06:50:56.506-05:002013-01-29T06:50:56.506-05:00The same as everyone else here, I encountered Jane...The same as everyone else here, I encountered Jane Austen fairly early in life, at 19 or thereabouts; this was in the mid-Seventies, well before the Austen industry had started. I picked up a copy of Pride and Prejudice at a used bookstore and was immediately hooked. P&P is still my favorite, with Persuasion and Mansfield Park close behind. The lady tells a good story and tells it well, and deserves a place among the top-tier English-language novelists.<br /><br />I would like to put in a plug for the BBC adaptation of P&P that was done in the early Eighties with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul as equaling or surpassing the A&E production in almost every respect.<br /><br />(BTW, Mrs. Darwin - thanks again for the Christmas gift. I've used my half to get <i>Visual Studio for Dummies</i> and <i>Visual Basic for Dummies;</i> the Bride is still deciding what to get with hers.)Bob the Apehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303535277957530100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-51572949592377043422013-01-29T04:29:22.062-05:002013-01-29T04:29:22.062-05:00+JMJ+
Given how many YA Paranormal Romance heroi...+JMJ+ <br /><br />Given how many YA Paranormal Romance heroines would do good to wake up from their fantasies and realise they've just been dreaming those hotties were vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, or other postmodern Gothic tropes, I tend to think that Catherine Morland is for readers as close to her own age as possible. (Perhaps I'll take a leaf out of your book, Mrs. Darwin, and write a <i>Northanger Abbey</i>/<i>Twilight</i> crossover with precisely that twist! I mean, I <i>have</i> been looking for something to make Lent more penitential . . . =P) <br /><br />It's Anne Eliot who I think is for older women looking back. <br /><br />As you know, Mrs. Darwin, the hate part of my love-hate relationship with book blogging has flared up. I miss, even <i>mourn</i>, the purity of reading before I knew what a blog was. These days, books have huge digital footprints before they are even published, and it's all about the marketing. When it comes to classics, sometimes it's about the clique. Hasn't anyone else found that it's more fun to troll online Austenites than to appreciate Austen? Enbrethilielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03414765854670926854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-24167023039205032892013-01-29T02:02:14.983-05:002013-01-29T02:02:14.983-05:00"Catherine is a heroine for an older woman lo..."Catherine is a heroine for an older woman looking back; Elizabeth Bennett is a heroine for a young woman looking forward."<br /><br />I love that.<br /><br />My introduction to P&P was a lot like yours. My dad handed me a huge, chunky book with all five novels in it, and I worked my way through them gradually. No one I knew had read them and no one talked about Mr. Darcy or the miniseries. Charming Disarrayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15481799867576915560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-280057205903548272013-01-28T22:38:24.012-05:002013-01-28T22:38:24.012-05:00This book leaves a dull aching in my heart for a m...This book leaves a dull aching in my heart for a more refined society. The joys of the english language, country dances and honour. I've watched the A&E miniseries so many times I've nearly worn out my discs if that is possible. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-15121698876656900782013-01-28T17:59:18.694-05:002013-01-28T17:59:18.694-05:00Do I get to be the first to say Happy Anniversary?...Do I get to be the first to say Happy Anniversary?Bob the Apehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08303535277957530100noreply@blogger.com