Jane Austen

[child_of_God85]

Absolutely LOVE Jane Austen.:extrahappy: She is my favourite author ever. So romantic. I totally agree with you that the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice is the best adaptation. The BBC always do period dramas the best! I could watch it over and over again. Having said that though, with regards to the books themselves I love Persuasion as much as I love Pride and Prejudice. The whole notion of finding again a lost love - one you thought was gone forever. It’s just the ultimate in romance - even if a little unrealistic! But isn’t that what novels are all about - escaping from the real world.

I don’t really consider myself a romantic, but I just about melted when reading the end of Persausion, when Anne reads Cpt. Wentworth’s letter.
Has anyone seen the preview to ‘Becoming Jane’? It’s about Jane Austen. It looks pretty good, though I’m not sure how factual it is.
I’ve never seen Bride and Prejudice, but I did watch the modern day version of Pride and Prejudice the other day. I turned it on expecting to completely hate it, but I actually liked it. It was cute. Though I’m sure Jane Austen is spinning in her grave.

 

[child_of_God85]

No, Dave. You are not. Austen is my favorite author. I love the books and love to watch the film adaptations of them.
I can’t decide who I have a bigger crush on - Jane Austen or Emily Dickinson.

My ear doctor (who is a man) told me that his favorite author is Jane Austen. He noticed that I have the same name as Jane Austen’s mother and sister (Cassandra), and told me that he’s probably the only straight man to admit to loving Jane Austen.

 

[pmoo]

Jane Austen is my favorite author, so I’m wandering if there are any other Jane Austen fans on this site?
Share you’re thoughts on her books, on movie adaptations.
My favorite Jane Austen book is Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book period). The 1995 mini series in my favorite movie as well. Though I do prefer Keira Knightly’s portrayal of Elizabeth to Jennifer Ehl’s. But really, no one can even come close to Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy.
Another of my favorite JA books is Persausion. It’s just a beautiful story.

I also love Jane Austin. I’m not sure if I prefer Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice. I absolutely loved the movie with Keira Knightley and have watched it several times. Mr. Darcy played his role perfectly.

 

[Jersey_Jeepster]

How strange. I just happened upon this thread this morning (Sunday morning) and I responded with my love for Austen’s work.

Then, tonight, for the first time in months, I watched an episode of “Life is Worth Living” on EWTN. Bishop Sheen was doing a show about marriage proposals. I couldn’t believe the coincidence when I saw him pick up a copy of Pride and Prejudice and read the excerpt describing Mr. Collins’ proposal to Lizzy.

How weird is that? I just happen upon this thread and then I watch a show I haven’t seen in months and Jane Austen is being quoted by Bishop Sheen. I love when stuff like that happens. It keeps me wondering

 

[anniemart]

I also love Jane Austin. I’m not sure if I prefer Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice. I absolutely loved the movie with Keira Knightley and have watched it several times. Mr. Darcy played his role perfectly.

How many of you know that Jane Austen died a single woman and somewhat unrequited in her personal love life? If I’m not mistaken, the upcoming movie about her focuses on a love relationship she had…do you plan to see it? By the way, her last book was left unfinished when she died. However, an anonymous author did finish it and I could tell there was a difference in the writing style but it didn’t detract too much from the story. It is called Sandleton…correct me if I’m wrong please. I read it several years ago when I first fell in love with her novels. What a gift we were given in Jane Austen!

 

[Biblioassistant]

I love Jane Austen and wish that someone would make a decent movie of her novel Northanger Abbey. The miniseries made from it is dreadful!

One adaptation of her novel that no one has mentioned so far is the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice starring Elizabeth Garvey and David Rintoul. It was written by Faye Weldon and is very good - it follows the novel almost perfectly and I highly recommend it.

My own favorite of Austen’s works are Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion although I love all of them, except for Mansfield Park.
She could capture a character so well, and with such sly humor.

I know that Austen was considered a pretty woman and she did become engaged to Harris Bigg-Wither but broke it since she didn’t love the man. Her brothers were interesting characters as well - one of them, Francis, eventually became Admiral of the Fleet.

 

[pmoo]

How many of you know that Jane Austen died a single woman and somewhat unrequited in her personal love life? If I’m not mistaken, the upcoming movie about her focuses on a love relationship she had…do you plan to see it? By the way, her last book was left unfinished when she died. However, an anonymous author did finish it and I could tell there was a difference in the writing style but it didn’t detract too much from the story. It is called Sandleton…correct me if I’m wrong please. I read it several years ago when I first fell in love with her novels. What a gift we were given in Jane Austen!

Oh, my gosh. I didn’t know that. Perhaps she found requited love in her writings then? I saw a trailer for a movie about a Jane Austin books club. Is that the movie you are referring to? I can’t wait to see it.

 

[rayne100]

My two favorites are P&P and* Mansfield Park*. No one ever mentions it but it is very good too and I wish there was a good movie of it. I found S & S a bit slow both the movie and the book. I don’t remember Persuasion, so I guess I’ll have to read it again .

I love reading Jane Austen in the summertime! I don’t know why. It wierd how one can associate certain authors with different times of the year (probably because that’s when I first read them and continue to do so).

I love Mansfield Park! I am so surprised to hear you say that… like you said, no one lever mentions it.

 

[child_of_God85]

Oh, my gosh. I didn’t know that. Perhaps she found requited love in her writings then? I saw a trailer for a movie about a Jane Austin books club. Is that the movie you are referring to? I can’t wait to see it.

I think the one their refering to is Becoming Jane. It’s literaly about Jane austen. Anne Hatheway plays Jane Austen.
I saw the trailer for The Jane Austen Book Club last night and it looks cute.

 

[SeekerJen]

One adaptation of her novel that no one has mentioned so far is the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice starring Elizabeth Garvey and David Rintoul. It was written by Faye Weldon and is very good - it follows the novel almost perfectly and I highly recommend it.

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that one. The “other” BBC P&P miniseries overshadows it. I’ll check and see if Netflix has the one you’ve mentioned.

 

[Morning_Glory]

Oh, my gosh. I didn’t know that. Perhaps she found requited love in her writings then? I saw a trailer for a movie about a Jane Austin books club. Is that the movie you are referring to? I can’t wait to see it.

**
Did you read the book? The Jane Austen Book Club? I did not like it one bit.**

 

[pmoo]

**
Did you read the book? The Jane Austen Book Club? I did not like it one bit.**

Don’t laugh but I am an English teacher, so I rarely have time to read anything that my students aren’t reading. Sad, isn’t it? Anyway, no, I haven’t read the book, but I’ll check out the movie when it comes. Maybe the movie can rectify the book? Who wrote the Jane Austen Book Club?

 

[57classic]

I find it easier to listen to the audio tapes especially those read by Barbara Rothchild, than to read the books. Some books are just that way for me, another one is The Thirteenth Warrior. Couldn’t read it to save my life but really enjoyed listening to it with all the correct accents.

I have read The Jane Austen Book Club and I didn’t like it either. It’s been a long time since I read it but it seems to me it was just a romance novel with an older woman, younger man and some gay issues thrown in amongst the club members. Not worth reading. I think Jane Austen in the title was just a hook.

I do enjoy the Jane Austen Mystery series (of course not written by Mistress Austen) by Stephanie Barron. They combine my favorite genres and are complete with PROPER GAMMAR and MANNERS!

 

[Jacinta]

I also am a fan of Jane Austen. Read her in high school for the first time and devoured all her books. Pride and Predjudice is my favorite. I am amazed at the civilized manner and high standards of consideration the characters treat each other with. With no TV or internet conversation with relatives and neighbors was a popular pastime thus elevating conversation to the level of an art. Their vocabularies are extensive because as an art, their ability to express themselves as precisely as possible, using the most precise word, expanded their vocabularies considerably. I love their subtle put downs of some of the more obnoxious characters. Instead of punching someone out they use their extensive vocabularies to administer a put down to someone who has crossed the lines of decorum in their treatment of others. Can you imagine any man today suffering as Mr. Darcy did when Elizabeth informed him that he had not behaved as a “gentleman”? I love how refined their characters were so as to suffer from such a rebuke. And excuse me, as much as I love Darcy as a very romantic character, no one can compare in my estimation to the sterling qualities that are possessed by Mr. Knightley, who is, next to Jesus and St. Joseph, my idea of the perfect man and the man most likely to make any woman happy by his extreme ;thoughfulness of the feelings of everyone around him and agree with Emma that she had associated herself with a character superior to her own ;and was probably the most respectable and calmly happy of all the characters. Elizabeth must remain the happiest with her great sense of humor!!!;

 

[tmrbwilson1998]

I’m coming in a bit late, but wanted to add to the accolades for Jane Austen - just lover her! There is a super place to chat about her, her life, and her writings, called The Republic of Pemberly. Super for book studies!

Since being exposed to P&P in high school, I have loved everything about it…and find it difficult to find any other author able to express herself with such wit, charm, and insightful intelligence. I have recently re-read P&P and keep in on hand to re-read over and over, and have begun Emma, if I could ever just steal some time away from 2 babes at home to read some!

I tried getting through Northanger Abby…anyone read it all the way through? I just got so caught up in the mistreatment in the book I was not enjoying it, so switched to Emma. I believe NA was Austen’s first work, so maybe it explains the difference in writing I perceived; not as polished and charming as P&P and Emma.

I love Keira’s P&P, my first film adaptation to see of the book, so perhaps it will always be #1 to me. I tried the acclaimed A&E version from the 1990s, but for some reason, did not enjoy it so well. Being a very romantic person at heart, I think the short and sweet newest version of P&P with Keira caters to my desire for grand music, beautiful picturesque scenes, and at times the Hollywood drama, lol!


Tina

 

[Jacinta]

I just wanted to add that someone felt the novels too concerned with money and rank. money and rank were sometimes equal. During these times there was no such thing as welfare or social security , If you did not marry, you became a burden to a brother, probably, who most likely married and had a family of his own to support. If you did not marry well you may wind up in a poor house which was where people starved almost. That is why when a man or woman is introduced in these books, how much money they were worth is always mentioned. To marry well, and women had no other option for the most part at that time, was to stay alive and out of a poor house, where death came early to many. It was a serious concern at that time so many women and some men married for money as their very existence depended on it in some cases.

 

[wisdom_3_5]

With no TV or internet conversation with relatives and neighbors was a popular pastime thus elevating conversation to the level of an art. Their vocabularies are extensive because as an art, their ability to express themselves as precisely as possible, using the most precise word, expanded their vocabularies considerably.

Have you ever read Ella-Minnow-Pea- by Mark Dunn? Here’s part of the synopsis:

The story takes place in the present day on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina, where over a century earlier, the great Nevin Nollop invented a 35-letter panagram (a phrase, sentence or verse containing every letter in the alphabet). As the creator of “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” Nollop was deified for his achievement. The island’s inhabitants live an anachronistic existence, with letter-writing remaining the principal form of communication. Life seems almost utopian in its simplicity until letters of the alphabet start falling from the inscription on the statue erected in Nollop’s honor, and the island’s governing council decrees that as each letter falls, it must be extirpated from both spoken and written language. Forced to choose from a gradually shrinking pool of words, the novel’s protagonists a family of islanders seek ways to communicate without employing the forbidden letters. A band of intrepid islanders forms an underground resistance movement; their goal is to create a shorter panagram than Nollop’s original, thereby rescinding the council’s draconian diktat. The entire novel consists of their letters to each other, and the messages grow progressively quirkier and more inventive as alternative spellings (“yesters” for “yesterday”) and word clusters (“yellow sphere” for “sun”) come to dominate the language.

It was a very fun (& quick) read. It reminded me of Jane Austen, well, at least the first part when they had all the letters.

I couldn’t stand the Jane Austen Book Club. As 57classic said, I think the name was just a hook.

 

[child_of_God85]

Have you ever read Ella-Minnow-Pea- by Mark Dunn? Here’s part of the synopsis:

The story takes place in the present day on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina, where over a century earlier, the great Nevin Nollop invented a 35-letter panagram (a phrase, sentence or verse containing every letter in the alphabet). As the creator of “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” Nollop was deified for his achievement. The island’s inhabitants live an anachronistic existence, with letter-writing remaining the principal form of communication. Life seems almost utopian in its simplicity until letters of the alphabet start falling from the inscription on the statue erected in Nollop’s honor, and the island’s governing council decrees that as each letter falls, it must be extirpated from both spoken and written language. Forced to choose from a gradually shrinking pool of words, the novel’s protagonists a family of islanders seek ways to communicate without employing the forbidden letters. A band of intrepid islanders forms an underground resistance movement; their goal is to create a shorter panagram than Nollop’s original, thereby rescinding the council’s draconian diktat. The entire novel consists of their letters to each other, and the messages grow progressively quirkier and more inventive as alternative spellings (“yesters” for “yesterday”) and word clusters (“yellow sphere” for “sun”) come to dominate the language.

It was a very fun (& quick) read. It reminded me of Jane Austen, well, at least the first part when they had all the letters.

I couldn’t stand the Jane Austen Book Club. As 57classic said, I think the name was just a hook.

Yeah, like the people that write ‘sequels’ to Jane Austen’s books. I’ve read the reviews on some of them, and these authors seem to add a lot of sex and vulgarity to it. I think their just trying to make a buck of Jane Austen’s name.
I’ll have to look into the book you suggested. I enjoy books that are written in the style of JA. I read a good one a fe months back. The style of writing reminded me of a cross between Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. It’s call ‘Jonathan Strange &Mr Norrell’ by Susanna Clarke. It’s about two magicians. It was very good.

 

[anniemart]

Yeah, like the people that write ‘sequels’ to Jane Austen’s books. I’ve read the reviews on some of them, and these authors seem to add a lot of sex and vulgarity to it. I think their just trying to make a buck of Jane Austen’s name.
I’ll have to look into the book you suggested. I enjoy books that are written in the style of JA. I read a good one a fe months back. The style of writing reminded me of a cross between Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. It’s call ‘Jonathan Strange &Mr Norrell’ by Susanna Clarke. It’s about two magicians. It was very good.

Yeah, like the people that write ‘sequels’ to Jane Austen’s books. I’ve read the reviews on some of them, and these authors seem to add a lot of sex and vulgarity to it. I think their just trying to make a buck of Jane Austen’s name.

You aren’t wrong here…last summer I picked up the “sequel” to Pride and Prejudice…with a title of “Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife” or something similar…the first page had sexual innuendos on it that were so unlike Jane Austen’s writings that I put itdown and returned it the following day. What a disappointment…

 

[pmoo]

I actually just read S&S for the first time about a month ago. It almost shoved Persausion out of the second place on my favorites list.
The movie adaptaion was really wonderful.
I liked the adaptation of Persausion as well, but while the two main actors were very good, I did feel they were miscast. I felt they were too old for the roles.

I just watched the movie version of Persuasion and am going nuts trying to remember where I’ve seen the actor who played Captain Wentworth. At first I thought he was in Sense and Sensibility, but now I don’t think so. What other movies has he been in?