Finally, FINALLY I had the chance to watch the 2008 BBC Production of Sense and Sensibility! Recently, we have been blessed with access to a PBS channel and I happened across the first of the two episodes last Sunday night. I was thrilled - and the rest of my family were not - LOL! They groan when I want to watch something like this, but in the spirit of true family unity, my husband kept the kids busy playing games while I watched.

Can I just how how wonderful it was? Sense and Sensibility has always been my favorite of the Jane Austen books and this rendering was the very best onscreen telling of it I think. It is impossible not to compare it to the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version and though I still love that version, this one was superior in getting the story across to the audience.

The very strongest part of this movie was that the producers and writers took the time to tell the audience *why* Marianne falls in love with Colonel Brandon. That was a serious miss in the feature film version.

As much as I still love the feature length movie version, this one has eclipsed it. The casting was better for almost all of the roles - most notably, the character of Edward. Now, I like Hugh Grant, but the man oozes bad boy from every pore. He can't help it. The actor portraying Edward in this version, Dan Stevens, was much more suited to the role in my opinion.

So, needless to say, I highly recommend this version of Sense and Sensibility if you are an Austen fan or a period drama fan. It is well worth the almost four hours of your time!

*All image icons courtesty of crazed_dreamer

When I first saw this book on Amazon, my first thought was - Oh! That looks like a lot of fun. The possibilities are endless....

Little did I know that I truly would have been better off if I had lit my $14.00 on fire and saved myself the time I spent reading this book. Actually, I did not read *all* of it - I just could not take anymore.

The following is from the back cover:

Your name: Elizabeth Bennet. Your mission: to marry both prudently and for love, avoiding family scandal. Equipped with only your sharp wit, natural good sense, and tolerable beauty, you must navigate you way through a variety of decisions that will determine your own romantic (and finanacial) fate. Ever wonder what would happen if Elizabeth accepted Mr. Darcy's proposal the first time around? Or ran from his arms into those of Persuasion's Captain Wentworth? Now is your chance to find out."

In hindsight, what was I thinking?

Basically, as you 'travel' through this book, you are supposed to pick up 'points' that will show how successful you are at accomplishing the above 'mission'. Alright - but that seems a bit ludicrious to me so I chose not to keep score - I just picked which action I would do next as I went along. I got bored with this little game very quickly because, basically, if you do not follow just what Elizabeth Bennet chooses to do in the original novel, you fail. I was expecting some funny or clever reworkings of the original story, but alas....I was sorely disappointed.

My final word - don't even bother. If you must bother, send me a message and I will send my copy to you. I would be glad to be rid of it.

Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field

This was a super fast reading book. The reason? It was nauseatingly predictable. Perhaps it is because I have overloaded myself with the essence of this story or perhaps because the author of this book just basically followed the storyline of Jane Austen's original work - and did not really deviate from it at all.

The one thing that always bothers me is that in just about every single Pride and Prejudice rewrite, variation or continuation, the 'Lizzy' character is always made out to be something that she is not. For example, the 'Lizzy' in this rendering is called Jasmin - or Jazz for short. She is a journalist who goes to audition for a play - and we can all guess who the producer of the play is going to be - and, predictably, she gives an auditorium shattering performance. I understand that somehow she has to find her way into proximity with the 'Darcy' character, but please. A bit more imagination!

All in all, it gets a 'Meh' from me. It was not terrible, but it was not *very good* either. A definite 'check out at the Library' book.

I personally do not visit the Austenfans site, but I promised to pass this along for all the Jane fans out there. I actually read this book and thought it was okay. You can find my review in the archives. Have a great day!

Attention Austenfans:

Have you visited www.austenfans.com yet? If not, make sure that you check it out today! Austenfans is a website dedicated to conversation and community comprised of all things Jane Austen.Right now, registered members at Austenfans.com have exclusive access to content and video clips from the filming of the Jane Austen Book Club (2007). The movie is being released tomorrow (9/21) in select U.S. cities and nationwide on October 5th.Registration is free and it gives you the chance to be one of the first to see clips from the movie before it comes out!If you need some extra Jane in your life, make sure to also take a look at the many continuations housed in the Jane Austen Sequels section of Austenfans.com. Also, please feel free to pass this message along to anyone you know who is a Jane Austen fanatic!

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Me and Mr. Darcy

I just finished reading this book last night. It was one of those books that you pick up and then cannot put down again. The reason? It was funny! Yeah, so the Darcy character is a little off and the storyline is a bit predictable, but it was so funny that I could not stop reading. Did not want to stop reading it actually. Who can resist a heroine of a book who goes to a ball and ends up getting stoned and then meets up with Mr. Darcy - who is totally floored by the fact that she says the word sh*t in front of him. Yes, this book is that unorthodox - and funny!

The basic premise of the book is that Emily, our main character, in order to avoid going on a trip to Mexico with her party happy best friend, decides to go to the UK on a Jane Austen country book tour. Upon arrival, she discovers that it is her, a woman in her late twenties, one sloppy Brisith journalist and a bunch of old ladies. The book is written in the first person and that is what makes it so darn funny.

Here is a small excerpt:

Quote taken from Me & Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter C. 2007 Ch. 16 p. 163

Looking down at me, his brooding eyes meet mine. "Perhaps you would care to join me?"
Gosh, could he get more adorable? "That sounds great." I smile.
As I slip my arm through his I feel a delicious tingle all the way to my
groin. I don't know if it's pheromones or good old-fashioned lust, but,
God, he is hot.

In the end, there is something slightly amiss with this book. I believe it has to do with the Darcy character. He is a bit flat and sort of blah. You will have to read it to see just what I mean. Perhaps this way of characterizing Darcy is on purpose. Not sure. This book is such a departure from the other Darcy driven books I have read that I am not totally sure to be quite honest. A good light read none the less.

Becoming Jane

After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth because I thought I was not going to be able to see this movie on the big screen, I got a lucky break.

Becoming Jane never came to my local theater. I have checked every Friday since the film opened. Just on a whim, I checked to see if it might be playing in Bozeman this weekend and to my shock - it was! Since Saturday was my niece's birthday party, I packed up the car and my own kids and went to my Mom's a day early and spent the night at her house, just so I could see this movie.

I have to say, it was not at all what I was expecting. The Janites have been chattering about this movie for some time now. Some of the commentary has been good - some not so good. That is to be expected from that group.

Having seen this movie I was relieved. The writers and producers of this movie painted Jane Austen as a real woman with real passions and desires. She was not an over analysed, cardboard representation of herself and I cannot say how much I appreciated that. In this movie, Jane Austen sees a naked bum, reads Tom Jones, talks about sex, kisses a man and then actually runs away to Scotland with him. Sadly, she and the man she is in love with never make it to Scotland and they never marry. I do not know how much of this movie is actually factual and to be blunt, I really don't care. Over analyzing things ruins them in my opinion. This is a movie - not a documentary - and so it can be assumed that this is a loose interpretation of what happened during Jane's acquaintance with Tom LeFroy. The only two who *really* know what happened are the two of them and I for one would like to leave it that way.

In short, I loved this movie - despite my Mom complaining that I did not put enough salt and butter on the popcorn - and wanted to turn right around and see it again. Alas.....that did not happen and so I will have to wait until it comes out on DVD to see it again. Can't wait!!

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I have actually managed to read these two books in the past six weeks. I am so impressed with myself! To top it off, I totally swiped this Frazy gizmo from my buddy Meg. Thanks Meg!!

I love Pride and Prejudice and really enjoy reading sequels and rewrites. As some of you know, my friend Sharon Lathan has recently published a Pride and Prejudice sequel. She and I are both fans of the above authors and I highly recommend both books.

Pemberley By The Sea is a modern retelling of the Pride and Prejudice tale written by Abigail Reynolds. Ms. Reynolds is a master of Pride and Prejudice rewrites and this one is no different. The only hiccup for me was the gang connections one of the main characters has. I did not totally buy that bit of storyline. Aside from that - this book is perfect!

Pemberley's Promise is a Regency era retelling of the Pride and Prejudice tale. In this story, author Kara Louise tells us how Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet meet enroute to America on a ship. Mr. Darcy is dashing as ever and the character of Elizabeth is right on in this book. A wonderful read!