December 15, 2020 Online there are many lists ranking favorite novels in order. My own ranking is really not well thought-out. Just going by enjoyment, I'll list them by how completely I enjoyed each one, ie, the degree to which I found any part of them to be hard going. 1. Mansfield Park2. Northanger Abbey3. … Continue reading Favorite Austens
December 2, 2020 I’m so close to finishing Jane Austen’s six main novels that I figured, why not finish. So I rewatched Ang Lee’s 1995 movie of “Sense and Sensibility” and started the novel, while watching for the first time the Andrew Davies movie from 2008. Nothing more needs to be said about Lee’s movie; … Continue reading Sense and Sensibility
November 24, 2020 If I searched right, the terms “persuasion” and “persuade”, or variations like “persuadable”, appear – 68 times in “Emma” 46 times in “Mansfield Park” 52 times in “Pride and Prejudice” 42 times in “Sense and Sensibility” 32 times in “Persuasion” 24 times in “Northanger Abbey” The novels are listed from longest to … Continue reading Jane Austen stats
November 24, 2020 Spoilers ahead I was engrossed by “Mansfield Park” from beginning to end. Of the thousand thoughts I’m having, probably questions about Henry Crawford are the most difficult to answer. That may be no surprise to those who have read the novel. Henry flirts with two sisters, just like Frederick Wentworth had. And … Continue reading Finishing Mansfield Park
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 17, 2020 It’s often said that “Northanger Abbey” is similar to “Don Quixote.” I would think that Austen read Cervantes, but I’m just finding out about a 1752 novel called “The Female Quixote; or, the Adventures of Arabella,” by Charlotte Lennox, that Austen read and even praised in an 1807 letter. https://wormhole.carnelianvalley.com/the-influence-of-the-female-quixote-on-northanger-abbey/ This is … Continue reading Arabella
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 13, 2020 Spoilers ahead Finished “Northanger Abbey.” Ok, I’m going to be grossly unfair to Austen here, but I’ve got to call this one “The One With the Brothers and Sisters”: the Morlands (Catherine/James), the Thorpes (Isabella/John), and the Tilneys (Eleanor/Henry/Frederick). “Persuasion” can be “The One With the Widow(er)s.” I guess “Emma” would have … Continue reading Northanger Abbey
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)
