November 19, 2020 I'm 25 chapters into "Mansfield Park" now, though I had not intended to read it. I was going to see only the movie from 1999, since I’d seen adaptations of all her other novels and knew nothing about this one. But I liked the story and movie so much that I opened … Continue reading Starting Mansfield Park
November 16, 2020 I’ve just seen the 2007 version of “Northanger Abbey”, and maybe my expectations were too high, but it was disappointing. Everything is too broad and obvious. We know, for example, who are the bad apples because they are clearly, ominously bad as soon as we see them. All mystery, ambiguity, and uncertainty … Continue reading Northanger Abbey movie (2007)
November 9, 2020 The 1971 BBC version of “Persuasion” is not a bad adaptation, even if it feels more like a play than a movie. It’s faithful to the original story and it gets many things right, including Mrs. Smith’s role. But I think Anne in ‘95 was a better characterization. This Anne doesn’t seem … Continue reading BBC Persuasion (1971)
November 2, 2020 I’ve seen again the ‘95 movie and it’s very faithful to the novel. But the last scenes suffer now in comparison to the novel. That tense chapter that unfolded Mrs. Smith’s revelations to Anne, is a mere nothing in the movie; and Mrs. Smith knows much about Mr. Elliot but has never … Continue reading Persuasion movie (1995)
November 1, 2020 I stayed up late last night finishing “Persuasion.” I was unable to put this novel down toward its end, though I had found the first half quite difficult. I was honestly confused trying to keep clear the characters and their family relations; and their houses. I found Austen still to be unhelpful … Continue reading Persuasion
October 28, 2020 Pride and Prejudice has many great chapters, including of course Darcy’s first proposal to Lizzie, but for my money the best chapter is the next one, when Lizzie receives his explanatory letter and her mind is sent into full-on turbulence, as she struggles with new information. How she goes back and forth, … Continue reading Finishing Pride and Prejudice
October 22, 2020 I'm 20 chapters into "Pride and Prejudice." Last spring when we went into quarantine, I ordered a Jane Austen Complete Works, having revisited the 1995 mini-series a few weeks before. I read several chapters, including Lizzie’s three marriage proposal scenes and her final confrontation with Lady de Bourgh. I’m going to read … Continue reading Starting Pride and Prejudice
October 19, 2020 Last night sat down with my wife Dess to watch “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” I have no desire to see any of the straight retellings of the novel, because none of them appear to be very good. This one is not a straight retelling; I think of it actually as … Continue reading The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
October 18, 2020 There’s a 1979 animated version of “Don Quixote,” parts of which I showed the kids yesterday, translating for them as we watched. They actually liked it, despite the pace, which is glacial compared to anything today. But it felt just right, just like the book. And in Spanish, in the clips uploaded … Continue reading El Quijote, animated
August 26, 2020 Nearing the end of a two-week vacation, I’ve managed now to reach the midway point of "War and Peace", having started over from the beginning. I reached the end of the novel but there were many chapters I had skipped, and I'm sweeping through now, from the beginning, to read those. Wonderful … Continue reading Reading left to right
