Several of the many tributes to the late Susan Sontag contain one of Ms. Sontag’s comments about cultural critic Camille Paglia:

Paglia never forgave Sontag for snubbing her at a party in 1973. By the late 1980s she was declaring that her intellect had eclipsed Sontag’s. “I’ve been chasing that bitch for 25 years,” said Paglia, “and at last I’ve caught her.”

“We used to think Norman Mailer was bad,” said Sontag, “but she makes Norman Mailer look like Jane Austen.”

We think that says it all.

Susanna Clarke’s magnum opus, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, has been compared to Jane Austen (as well as J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling), but in an interview with the Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), Ms. Clarke says that her favorite author is indeed Jane Austen.

However, Clarke is quick to note that her starting point has always been her favorite author, Jane Austen. That’s why “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” takes place in the early 1800s - it’s Austen’s time period - and that’s why the novel often reads more like a comedy of manners than a sweeping epic about the fate of magic in England.

Jane Austen’s writing also helped Clarke understand the social details that govern her characters’ world. She freely admits that even though she was writing about magic, she often borrowed observations, characterizations and precise behaviors from Austen’s writing. In many ways, using Austen as the fixed point in her compass was a good idea, she said. An American journalist once told her that the world of Jane Austen is as foreign as a fantasy novel to modern readers.

To most readers, perhaps, but we dare say not so much to the readers of AustenBlog.

In the interview, Ms. Clarke also says that she found inspiration in the work of Charles Dickens, Patrick O’Brian, and Ursula K. LeGuin (Jane Austen Book Club reference! Ha!)

According to KeiraWeb.com, Lee Hall, one of the screenwriters of the upcoming film adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, said on BBC Radio 4 that the film is “a bit of a teen flick.”

DOROTHY! Our vinaigrette, and a pot of strong tea, DIRECTLY!

We don’t have Real Player at AustenBlog World Headquarters and are too lazy to download it, so we can’t listen to the whole thing. You can listen to the show for up to seven days after it was broadcast, which leaves about four or five more days. Go here to listen to the show. We would love a transcript of the pertinent parts of the broadcast if anyone is up to it–we won’t publish it on the site, just paraphrase for everyone’s information.

We dare say no one would ever describe Elizabeth Bennet that way, but the argument can be made that the title fits Aishwarya Rai. Ash will be the subject of a segment on Sunday’s 60 MINUTES program on CBS in the U.S. (and we believe that parts of Canada get it, as well? Somebody please correct us if we misapprehend).The segment points out that all you fans of Darcy/Lizzy smut (you know who you are!) might be a little disappointed by BRIDE AND PREJUDICE, because Bollywood movies don’t even permit a smooch:

Bollywood movies contain love and passion, but music and song substitute for actual sex of even the most innocent kind. Rai’s first movie kiss, should she do it, will be a minor scandal among her fans, especially in India. “It would definitely be a topic of discussion,” says Rai. “They’re going to enjoy [talking about it].”

We regret to inform our readers that the rumor of a new Northanger Abbey adaptation has proven to be unfounded. Nuria, a poster at The Republic of Pemberely, was just having a bit of fun with fellow Janeites on “Innocents Day”, which is the equivalent of April Fools Day.

Well, not really, but eDiets.com has an article about the health benefits of tea that includes a couple of references to Jane Austen.

There’s something so charming about the concept of afternoon tea. Sitting down at a table, elegantly pouring from a flowered teapot, slowly sipping a steaming cup of tea — it all reminds me of Jane Austen and Miss Manners.

Except that they didn’t really have afternoon tea in Jane Austen’s day. Still, the Editrix always craves pots and pots of tea whilst she watches the latest film adaptation of PERSUASION, because they’re always drinking some!

A link found via The Republic of Pemberley has information on what may be a new adaptation of Northanger Abbey. Although there is little information given, we at AustenBlog feel that this may be a modern adaptation due to the filming locations listed. As always, the AustenBlog staff will keep its readers informed of any new information concerning this project. And we stress that this information has not been verified in any way.

EDIT: Apparently Nuria at The Republic of Pemberley was having a bit of fun on “Innocents Day”, which is the equivalent to April Fools Day. We must say we had our suspicions after reading that Catherine was going to visit the wilds of Vegas! Good one, Nuria, always keeping us on our toes!

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler has made several year-end Top 10 of 2004 book lists: The Kansas City Star said, “This novel stood out because of its winking wit and wisdom about our times.” The Philadelphia Inquirer said, “In the story of a California book club, comic wisdom about the latest form of American community, and the difference between individual and group reading.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, “A thoughtful, entertaining tale…(that) expertly weaves the stories of six members of a California book-discussion group, each of whom has a favorite Austen novel.”)

Walking in Daydreams, a Keira Knightley fan site, has posted two promotional photos of Miss Knightley in costume as Elizabeth Bennet, one with a much dressier look than we’ve seen previously (perhaps for the Netherfield ball?) and one where she’s ready for bed.

You need to register to view the gallery. Use our account: username AustenBlog, password austenblog. In the meantime, we’re combing the web looking for more “official” photos!

Yep, the hype, she is starting. Alert AustenBlog Reader Robyn writes to tell us that a new trailer for BRIDE AND PREJUDICE, related to the upcoming U.S. release in February, is available at Apple’s move trailer site. Robyn writes, “This one is a bit longer than all of the foreign trailers and goes into a bit more detail about the story.” Enjoy!

QuickTime is required to view the trailer, which you can download at the same site. (Editorial Note: QuickTime Rocks.)

Yes, Virginia! If you see it in the Sun(-Times), it must be true!

The last good book you read: I got a kick out of Bill Clinton’s book. It’s like the world’s longest letter to me. “Sure, I was naughty, but really I’m nice. OK, I was naughty again, but come on, look at all the nice things I did.” I started reading it this summer and I really hope to finish it someday. I liked that Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Just gripping stuff and that guy can just flat-out write. But you know, I’m partial to the classics — Dickens, Twain, Jane Austen, Judith Krantz, Dr. Seuss.

Judith Krantz, eh? Well, we guess it can be a long summer at the North Pole–all that daylight, you know–so beach reading is essential.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Festivus, whatever you celebrate–have a great holiday!

The Houston Chronicle reports that Literary Advance of Houston is planning an auction January 27, which will feature the favorite books of 335 public figures, each one signed by that person. Former First Lady, Barbara Bush, chose Pride and Prejudice as her favorite.

Perhaps she identifies with Elizabeth, as both women are said to be mixtures of sweetness and archness.

An article in the New York Sun talks about George Crabbe, whose poetry Jane Austen admired.

His life span, 1754-1832, completely encompassed those of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Burns, and Jane Austen. It missed encompassing the life spans of Coleridge and Scott by only months. Wordsworth outlived Crabbe, of course. (Wordsworth outlived everybody, including, I cannot resist adding, himself.) Some of these were among Crabbe’s admirers. Jane Austen actually borrowed one of his characters for “Mansfield Park.”

Um…Fanny Price? We think…

(You can sign up for a 30-day free account if you’re interested; all the references to Jane are in the paragraph we excerpted.)

Repeating its U.K. success, BRIDE AND PREJUDICE has emerged at the top of the South African box office.

‘Bride and Prejudice’ is pitted against two Hollywood biggies - Denzel Washington’s ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ directed by Brett Ratner and the action adventure ‘After The Sunset’, starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek.

‘Bride and Prejudice’ is currently being screened in countries like the UK, the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Africa and Switzerland. It will open in the United States on February 11, 2005.

Based on Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice,” the film by Gurinder Chadha transports the story on another plane by adding an essentially Indian touch that depicts assumptions, gossip and comedy of errors.

We’re waiting PATIENTLY until February 11…*taps foot*

In the meantime, the Hollywood hype machine grinds into motion on the film’s behalf. Gurinder Chadha is interviewed by Backstage.com:

Chadha’s willingness to toss wildly divergent ethnic traditions into one cultural stew gets put to the biggest test yet in Miramax’s February release “Bride and Prejudice.” Adapting Jane Austen’s tale of uppercrust social mores to the splashy conventions of the Bollywood musical, Chadha wanted to draw the two worlds together in the hope they might be compatible. Although her audacious conceit drew mixed notices when it opened in India and Britain in early October, the film’s cheerful combination of styles and values heralds a global approach to moviemaking.

“There’s often a perspective, from people who are monocultural and monolingual, that somehow if you’re bicultural or bilingual that it’s a problem,” Chadha says. “What I try to show in my films is that you can easily move from country to country, from language to language, from culture to culture because that’s how we live our lives.”

This might be an interesting post-Christmas activity for those of you in southern Oregon:

Sunday, December 26: COMIC PERFORMANCE AND DANCE Catie Faryl will present Jane Austen Powers: A Romantic Wakes Up in a Match.com World, a comic performance, followed by a dance party with DJ Michael Anthony (her son) at 7:30 p.m. at The Mobius, 281 Fourth St., Ashland. Tickets are $5 at the door and at the Mobius box office Call 488-8894. There will be a second performance at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2 but no dancing after.

We confess it is not really clear how much this actually has to do with Jane Austen. Check the Mobius site for more information.

I think we all know the answer to number 3.

(Slow news week. Realllllly slow news week.)

CNN anchor Veronica Pedrosa, recently named Best News Anchor in the 2004 Asian Television Awards in Singapore, is a friend of Jane.

She likes television’s “The West Wing,” the novels of Jane Austen, and has just finished “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” by Mark Haddon.

In what is sure to be seen as a great triumph for women journalists, she was also nominated in an on-line survey one of the 100 sexiest news anchors.

While not an explicit Austen mention, this description of Washington’s character, from the new Washington biography, His Excellency, by Joseph Ellis, seemed quite familiar.

Two of Washington’s abiding characteristics–his aloofness and his capacity for remaining silent–were in all likelihood protective tactics developed to prevent detection of the combustible materials simmering inside.

This passage from Pride and Prejudice is one of many that springs to mind:

What made you so shy of me, when you first called, and afterwards dined here? Why, especially, when you called, did you look as if you did not care about me?”

“Because you were grave and silent, and gave me no encouragement.”

“But I was embarrassed.”

“And so was I.”

“You might have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”

“A man who had felt less, might.”

(more…)

In the Guardian, John Mullan discusses a host of famous literary parties and how they often are more than an innocent evening’s diversion, including a couple of those in Jane Austen’s novels.

The trick of making such love at first sight credible by pretending it is antipathy is, candidly, filched from Jane Austen. She introduces Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy at the notorious Meryton knees-up, where Darcy is so fascinatingly horrid. Love blossoms at parties throughout Austen. Though clever, silly Emma Woodhouse should always have known that Mr Knightley was her man, it takes a party (thrown at the tarted-up local inn) to make her see him with new eyes.

“His tall, firm, upright figure, among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as Emma felt must draw everybody’s eyes.” And when she sees him dance, well!

Una Alconbury’s New Year’s Turkey Curry Buffet is not forgotten, though it is a modern version of Pride and Prejudice’s Meryton assembly.

A surprising number of writers, however, have soulmates encounter each other at parties. Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary provides the locus classicus, the Alconburys’ New Year Turkey Curry Buffet. Remember Mark Darcy turning round, “revealing that what seemed from the back like a harmless navy sweater was actually a V-neck diamond-patterned in shades of yellow and blue”? (And remember how those crude old film-makers turned it into an implausible reindeer sweater, as if we wouldn’t get it otherwise?)

We hear argyle is back “in” again.

The article also discusses Byron’s description of the Duchess of Richmond’s ball in Brussels on the night before the battle of Waterloo, which has nothing to do with Jane, of course, but we find it worthy of note as it is the same time period.

The Tablet (U.K.) reviews the book Who Are We Now? by Nicholas Boyle, a professor at the University of Cambridge, which includes a chapter on Mansfield Park.

In Mansfield Park how the Crawfords behave in church, in contrast with Fanny and Edmund, reveals their lack of “principle”: “the church is principle made visible, principle given a name and a face” – “even the church of Jane Austen’s early nineteenth-century England, a prey to rationalism and neglect”.