Jane Austen fans?

I've read all her books, although I think it took me three years to actually finish Northanger Abbey. I think her best is P & P and the A&E version with Colin Firth the best of the film versions.

I love Austen...particularly Emma and Pride and Prejudice.

I especially love the precision of her English, her delicious irony and her understanding that living and writing about life on a small scale does not mean that one's existence, development and moral decisions are any less fascinating and important than those performed on a grander stage.

Hi Green Witch,
I've read all her books as well. I just bought P&P co-produced by A&E and BBC with Colin - who made a perfect Darcy. I got tired of trying to rent it from the local library because it was always checked out.
Did you not like Northanger Abbey?
Bathsheba

shhhh....i'm an avid fan...but don't tell anyone, it's frowned upon by literature snobs.

C-c-colin Firth! <swoon>

I think her way of pointing out the problems in the early 19th century for women was brilliant. She didn't want her characters to marry for money, but also acknowledged that there wasn't much else a woman could do to support herself in those days except marry well. Her wit and insight into human nature was great, which is what makes her novels popular 200 years later.

And wasn't Colin Firth just the greatest actor to play Darcy?

Bathsheba

dagmaraka,

Your secret is safe with me...............but really, I think Austen is actually not frowned upon at all. I was just watching the extra CD that came with Pride & Prejudice. There are a lot of Princeton profs who absolutely love her, not to mention profs in many other colleges around the world. P&P has been translated into just about every language and was on my reading list at Univ. of London.

Those lit snobs don't know what they're missing

I know....isn't he every woman's dream? <heart racing>

<giggle>

But, to reply to the literary..... I got my undergrad degree as an anthropologist. Watching the movies (I haven't read the books) was enlightening. She really captured the life, both good and bad, of that era.

She just wrote about the period of time she was familiar with - early 19th c. She was observant of human interaction, had her heart broken, so she wrote about what her ideal of the perfect man would be: Darcy.

Wow, you've got a degree as an anthropologist? Is your interest cultural or physical, i.e., studying civilizations or bones?

Bathshe

But, she did it with an unusual, unique perception, I'd say.

I am a cultural anthropologist. I love seeing how cultures develop, interact and grow. However, I also love geography and how people develop culture given their environment. So.... I guess not the paleontology side so much.

She certainly did. She had a sharp wit and was wickedly funny. Wish I could write like that.

(I liked the cultural aspect of anthro as well. If you haven't read "The Forest People" by Colin Turnbull I'd suggest it - it's a fairly quick read about the Pygmies of the Congo. It's an old book and the culture has no doubt been mangled by the 21st century. Still, it's a fascinating look into their world at that time)

I can't see your other posts....did you say you'd seen other Jane Austen movies besides P&P?

Bathsheba

I don't know if I've seen others - Dagmaraka would know (she shows me these movies).

I just could not get caught up in Northanger Abbey, all that detail about Bath and the plot moved at the pace of a crippled snail.

I also loved the Colin Firth version of P&P, and I think I've seen all the Hollywood and BBC versions of the book. The A&E production really gets the sexual tension right between the Elizabeth and Darcy. Firth also carries off the perfect blend of arrogance, vulnerability, and testosterone. He also looks good in a white puffy shirt.

Have you read any biographies of JA? She had an interesting but sad life. There's a book called "The World of Jane Austen" that is full of photographs of where she lived and the countryside she wrote about. I also recommend the movie "Becoming Jane", not very factual, but a lovely portrait of the artist as a young woman.

Northanger Abby is my least favorite. I have tried several times and it is difficult at best - I am in the process of trying again now. But - I have read everything else and love them all. I like the movies as well...certainly my favorite is Pride and Prejudice and the production with Collin Firth is the best in my opinion.

She is one of my favorite authors...Easy read and very enjoyable. I care not what the literary snobs think!

Must say I didn't care for Northanger much either. I saw Persuasion on TV but didn't care for the actors much, no charisma. In my humble opinion.

Colin would look good in anything. I didn't know until I read "The Making of P&P" that Colin had to be talked into being Darcy. He initially turned the part down and had never read the book - thought it was girls stuff. He says once he read the whole script he was hooked.

I haven't read any biographies on Jane, but the extra CD that came with P&P (10th anniversary version) has a biography about her. I think her life sounded happy until the Irish guy, Tom LeFoy? whom she was in love with - and he apparently with her - dumped her for a woman with money. Thus her themes of the importance of money in her society. Maybe she saw herself as Marianne in Sense & Sensib. novel? Also haven't seen Becoming Jane. I figured Hollywood would mess that up.

Question for anyone - when do you think Elizabeth fell in love with Colin?

Just read Emma. I loved P&P. In both of these cases I read the books after watching the A&E or PBS films. I plan to read more. It's my guilty pleasure.

Literary snobs be damned! They don't know what they're missing.

Still, Jane Austen was on the reading list at university in England so perhaps literature is looked at differently outside of the US.

Glad you like Austen, Mismi. And you get time to read even with kids.

Absolutely. I can't imagine anyone but him in that character. He's ruined it for everyone.