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Post by raspberrybullets on Jun 1, 2014 10:04:27 GMT
I just re-read Jane Austen's Persuasion for the first time in a long time. I enjoyed it much more and realised Anne is a far less passive character then I originally thought. I also think I might like Captain Wentworth the best of all the Austen men. He's a decent, feeling bloke who acts out of anger because of the hurt he received from the woman he loved and yet can still treat her with care. And he's got none of the pretension of the other male characters.
The work itself is not as polished as her other books I think, there are definitely some slightly clumsier paragraph; but I think it is a lot better story than I gave it credit for. Anybody else have thoughts on it?
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Post by Moose on Jun 1, 2014 19:04:11 GMT
It's not a favourite of mine ... though I like it better than S and S. It's been a while since I last read it but I do recall finding Anne rather annoying, though I can't off the top of my head remember why. Hmm would you be up for an EF AUsten read?
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Post by juju on Jun 1, 2014 20:20:18 GMT
I love Jane Austen, but the only one I've never read is Persuasion. I must do it now.
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Post by Moose on Jun 1, 2014 20:29:50 GMT
drop everything
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jun 2, 2014 10:58:24 GMT
Yes, start reading!
And last night I saw the most delightful tv mini series ever. It's called "Lost in Austen". You both will love it. It's about a modern London woman who loves P&P and ends up in the world of the Bennets and trying to make the events of P&P happen. It could have been horrible lame but it's delightful and hilarious and things don't go as planned and great twists to the characters and plot of the story while remaining completely Austenesque.
I recently reread most of the Austen books but it's been forever since I read S&S. Not sure I have a copy of that actually.
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Post by Moose on Jun 2, 2014 19:28:28 GMT
They are all available online What should we start with? I read Emma most recently I think. Not read NA in ages.
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Post by juju on Jun 2, 2014 21:05:51 GMT
I had a bit of an Austen binge last summer, and re-read P&P, S&S and Mansfield Park. I was going to start Persuasion then but think I switched to something more modern after that. I haven't read NA for ages, I can barely remember it. I predict another Austen-fest coming up.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jun 3, 2014 10:47:25 GMT
I tend to watch the tv series of them books after reading them too. So I've had a double dose of Emma with both reading and watching. And I read and then watched Persuasion. And now I'm going to see if the other version of Persuasion is available to watch cos I can never seem to get enough. What a pity there aren't a few more books!
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Post by Kye on Jun 3, 2014 11:16:55 GMT
I just finished watching Lost in Austen. It was cute! But I found the main actress a bit annoying for some reason.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jun 3, 2014 11:42:25 GMT
Really? I found her immensely adorable and quite funny.
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Post by Kye on Jun 3, 2014 13:53:47 GMT
Hm! Well, we all have our different tastes.
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Post by Alvamiga on Jun 3, 2014 15:08:49 GMT
I have only seen her (Jemima Rooper, assuming that's who you mean) in a couple of things. They were only bit parts and the most recent was 2006, so I have no impression of her at all!
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jun 6, 2014 10:30:07 GMT
The only thing I wish they had done differently is that she should've ended up with Wickham since he was far more modern and appreciative of her as an equal and turned out to be a nice guy to boot! Although I can imagine the dissatisfaction if she hadn't ended up with Darcy as well. Maybe they should've gone for a threesome for a really modern twist? [END SPOILER ALERT]
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Post by Kye on Jun 6, 2014 11:46:30 GMT
That really would have had Austen spinning in her grave!
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Post by Moose on Jun 13, 2014 19:01:23 GMT
I still haven't started my reread but I shall soon. Think I will start on NA
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Post by spaceflower on Jul 4, 2014 1:04:41 GMT
Oh, I also love Jane Austen!
Though I found the heroine Anne in Persuasion a but wimpy to give in to bad advice. How could she give up the man she loved?! But I guess women were not supposed to be headstrong then but more submissive. It also makes me think of Jane Austen's own love story which did not end happily. There was a film about it, romanticized of course.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Jul 5, 2014 5:59:18 GMT
That was my impression when I read the novel initially. But re-reading it again now I found Anne a lot more sympathetic. She did give in to bad advice, but she was still pretty young and the source was like a mother to her. I've followed my mum's bad advice against my own judgement once and wasn't so happy with the outcome. But generally she's been right about stuff. Anyway, I think you should give it another read and see what you think!
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Post by juju on Sept 3, 2014 17:22:45 GMT
I've just started Persuasion. I was supposed to be reading it on holiday last week but as it's in a compendium along with Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice, I ended up getting distracted and reading P&P yet again. And then having a P&P watching marathon - the 1995 series of course, not the Keira Knightley version, of which we shall not speak.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 4, 2014 11:34:06 GMT
I can't even watch that version. I've tried to give it a go a couple of times but I just can't watch her being Elizabeth Bennett. And it's not like I don't like her. I like her in everything else but she's so skinny and sickly looking for Elizabeth Bennett!
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Post by juju on Sept 4, 2014 14:06:29 GMT
I agree. Keira Knightley was just wrong for that role - most of the time she looked either on the verge of tears or pulling a funny sneer. But my main objection was the script - they really messed with the dialogue, totally unnecessarily. And the clothes and hairstyles - Keira Knightley had really scruffy hair and a fringe, which looked wrong for the period. And the Bennets' house was weird, too - the paint was all distressed, more like something out of the poorer parts of Dickens. Matthew McFadyen wasn't too bad, but I'm sorry - Colin Firth IS Mr Darcy, and that's it.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Sept 6, 2014 5:12:34 GMT
Yes, I remember funny hair too. I never got beyond the first few scenes so can't comment much on the script.
I suppose they were trying to go for a modern feel? Modern audience? Sometimes it can be interesting to go for a period drama and not make the period exactly right. I guess it depends on the story you want to tell.
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Post by juju on Sept 6, 2014 12:06:21 GMT
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Post by Moose on Sept 12, 2014 21:10:47 GMT
Not sure I want to know
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Post by juju on Sept 13, 2014 9:22:11 GMT
You don't.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 12, 2014 9:54:11 GMT
The other day I picked up an annotated copy of Persuasion at the second hand bookshop which I've just finished reading. What an amazing thing it is! Wow! I thought I knew the world of Jane Austen relatively well having read lots of notes on the various texts, introductions, essays, and seen a few docos and even read some of her letters - boy was I wrong. This gave me such an amazing insight Things I thought I understood I now understand better or differently; even words which I thought I understood, had different definitions back then which make some of what she writes have a slightly different meaning. I especially enjoyed the explanations of the society and the rules and just exactly what impact actions of the characters meant in that period.
It's really interesting too, to note that even in Jane Austen's own time, there was of course change in fashion, taste, rules and behaviors. So some characters might be acting/dressing/behaving etc in what would have been considreed an old fashioned or modern way for that time, which lends more depth to the characters. For example Lady Russel's home is very modern because she has a door bell. She also doesn't wear make up or not much make up which was also fairly modern.
I would love to read an annotated versino of Emma and Pride and Prejudice.
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Post by juju on Nov 12, 2014 22:29:17 GMT
Sounds interesting! Is it available on Amazon?
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 13, 2014 9:59:52 GMT
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Post by Alvamiga on Nov 13, 2014 18:43:31 GMT
There is a sign just up the road from me, informing anyone who cares that they are "Entering Jane Austen Country"
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Post by juju on Nov 13, 2014 18:57:09 GMT
Thanks!
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 14, 2014 10:35:56 GMT
There is a sign just up the road from me, informing anyone who cares that they are "Entering Jane Austen Country" As in where she lived? I would like to see her place I reckon. Seeing people's houses is somehow so interesting - I loved Rembrandts house in Amsterdam. A lot depends on how they set it up of course.
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