The title of Tea With Jane Austen conjures up the most delightful fantasy: sitting comfortably by the fire in the breakfast parlor at Chawton Cottage as Jane Austen pours one a cup of steaming, fragrant tea and passes a plate of muffins and jam, then settles in for a cozy chat about Madame d’Arblay’s or Mr. Scott’s latest production. A lovely idea, indeed, but reason declares it impossible to fulfill — or is it? (more…)

We received this e-mail from Chris Cox of the Mobile Public Library:

The Mobile, Alabama Classics Book Group will be discussing “Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen on Monday, April 18th at 6:30 P. M. Anyone who wants to attend is invited. The address in Mobile Civic Center Expo Hall, 401 Civic Center Dr. in Mobile Alabama.

We belong to a Jane Austen book discussion group and can attest that it is a delightful experience to discuss Jane Austen with other readers. If you’re in the area, check it out!

The stage production of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE that has been touring the U.K. for several months now has arrived at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. The Manchester Evening News has a pretty positive review, though they seem equally as bemused as the Editrix that the same individual portrays both Mr. Bingley and Mr. Collins. There are only three engagements, on 1 and 2 April, so if you’re in the area and wish to see it…

wait for it…

MAKE HASTE!

We confess we are easily entertained by our own wit.

Oxford professor John Bayley, perhaps best known as the author of Elegy for Iris, has published a new collection of essays, including one on Jane Austen. The collection is called The Power of Delight: A Lifetime of Literature.

The professionalization of academic life has meant that professors tend more and more to write for each other, not for us. John Bayley is one of a dwindling band of holdouts: a man whose passion for literature is matched by the gracefulness of his style.

Bayley has a few sharp words for the new barbarisms that congregate under rubrics like structuralism, deconstruction, and post-colonialism. But mostly what he offers are commendations and connections: how George Eliot illuminates Henry James who illuminates Proust who has something to say about Pushkin.

Radio Times readers have voted Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy’s wedding No. 3 on their list of all-time favorite television weddings, behind Charlene and Scott of NEIGHBOURS and Ross and Rachel of FRIENDS.

An essay in today’s Los Angeles Times on busy boomers finding time to read (or listen to) books, including those written by Jane Austen.

Covetous of everyone else’s book clubs, Howard, my neighbor at work, suggests we start one of our own. Like me, Howard is an English major gone awry; 35 years out of college, we miss our books. “What’s the most important book you’ve never read?” Howard asks one day, leaning in the door of my office. I pause a moment, wondering if I should tell the truth, then blurt out “Pride and Prejudice.” He shakes his head. “That needs to be rectified right away.” A week later, we stand around the water cooler, assessing whether we had known all along that Elizabeth Bennet would marry Mr. Darcy. I admit I wasn’t sure; Howard admits to having seen the “Masterpiece Theatre” version on TV, so the plot was fresh in his mind.

We linger a while, reluctant to go back to work. Then Howard says shyly, “Let’s do ‘Northanger Abbey’ next.” How to account for this midlife reading fever? My theory is that, like so many other crises that beset us as we approach the threshold of old age, it’s a struggle to cram as much experience as possible into the time that’s left. The expectation is that people shut down as they get older — they grow crotchety, conservative, intolerant. But just as often they open up, becoming more curious, more observant, more eager to learn. By the time we reach late middle age, we no longer have anything to prove. We’re free.

The Editrix has decided upon a summer reading program of Books Jane Austen Would Have Read (inspired by a cyber-acquaintance’s *waves to Robin* suggestion that she read Pamela) that will include works by Mr. Richardson, Mme. d’Arblay and Mrs. Radcliffe and possibly Mr. Scott–sorry, Sir Walter–and Miss Edgeworth, if we can squeeze them in.

In related book club news, the Reader’s Circle of the thestate.com will be concentrating on books inspired by Jane Austen’s work. April’s selection is The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler and May’s will be Such A Girl by Karen Siplin.

A stage production of NORTHANGER ABBEY will be presented at the College of William and Mary on April 8, 9 and 10, 2005. The show will be staged at the Little Theatre, located in the basement of the Campus Center building at the corner of Jamestown Road and South Boundary Street in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The performances will be on Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 at 1:30 p.m. There is no charge for the show, but donations are accepted to pay for costumes and advertising.

We’ve been receiving reports of the production as it has progressed and it sounds like a most charming and memorable show. The director/adapter/star is most enthusiastic about the project and the subject matter.

For more information, call Amy at (757) 221-4322.

EDITED TO ADD: The venue location for the Saturday performance has changed. The performance will take place in Andrews 101, which is attached to Phi Beta Kappa Hall (online map). The performance will still take place at 7:30, and the details of the other two performances remain unchanged.

In today’s episode of “What The Heck Are They Talking About?” we have an article from the Detroit Free Press about a book called Area Woman Blows Gasket and Other Tales from the Domestic Frontier.

In “Area Woman Blows Gasket and Other Tales from the Domestic Frontier”, Patricia Pearson doesn’t try to hide the fact that she’s not perfect. In fact, she presents ample evidence that less-than-perfect parents have produced plenty of gifted children who went on to become productive adults. Jane Austen’s parents, Pearson notes, sent the future author of “Pride and Prejudice” to live in a hut with peasants until the Rev. and Mrs. Austen deemed her “more interesting.” Hmmm. Guess that worked.

It’s unclear if we must condemn the author of the book in question or of the article for misreading the book. But condemn we must. *shakes finger in schoolmarmish manner*

Jane Austen did pretty well in the Sunday Star-Times survey of favorite books, though not without some hilarity:

Another transformed Jane Austen into a science fiction writer by voting for Sensor Sensibility.

Love it!

The Lord of the Rings was first on the list–not surprising in the country where the popular film adaptations were made–but guess who came in second?

Pride and Prejudice, which takes second place on our Top 50 list (as it did in the BBC poll), might be described as a tale of grit overcoming adversity too. Not only does the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, get her difficult cuss of a man; she does so on her terms. Working down the list, the Harry Potter books, The Da Vinci Code, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Power of One and, of course, The Bible are also tales of courage and determination.

Though I expected Jane Austen to do well in our survey, I didn’t think she would beat J K Rowling and Dan Brown. I’m delighted to have been proven wrong.

When Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, Napoleon still dominated world politics. There are nine other 19th-century classics in our Top 50. Dickens appears three times. Sure, Kiwi readers have embraced recent bestsellers as The Da Vinci Code, The Bronze Horseman, The Lovely Bones and The Other Boleyn Girl, but they have not turned their backs on great works from the past.

Not bad considering that they decided to take the Harry Potter series as a whole–with merit, we think.

If you heard about or saw the modern-set PRIDE AND PREJUDICE adaptation that came out a couple of years ago (which has become known colloquially as P&P Utah), the Columbia Basin Herald has an article about the LDS filmmaking community, called “Mollywood.”

LDS films are also occasionally referred to as “Mollywood,” Sego said, explaining that it is a take-off of a funny name used for more straight-laced Mormon members, a Molly Mormon. That’s because some of the films have poked fun at universal Mormon beliefs and traditions.

Sego explained that an adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” was set at Brigham Young University. Jokes can include things about the way Mormons date, or Jell-O being the state food.

“It’s kind of a joke that any time (we have a) dinner, someone will bring a salad made of green Jell-O, carrots and stuff,” she said.

A very slight Austen notice, but an interesting article for those wondering about how that film came to be made.

Alert AustenBlog Reader Elizabeth writes to tell us that romance author Leslie Carroll has a book coming out next year titled Sense and Sensuality, which will be published under her pen name, Amanda Elyot.

The premise of Sense and Sensuality is based on an experience I had performing the role of Jane Austen in a two-character romantic drama by the great, exceptionally prolific American novelist Howard Fast. Long after the final curtain came down, I wondered what would have happened if the contemporary actress playing Jane went through the door on the set and ended up not backstage in the New York theatre, but in England — specifically in Bath in 1801 — the year the Austens moved there. In theatre, this is called “the magic if.” Jane Austen herself plays a large supporting role in my novel. I had a fantastic time doing the historical research. Being an actress, of course I always envision the movie version. Sense and Sensuality has a plum role for Colin Firth. Unless Jason Isaacs or Hugh Jackman have better agents. Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet can duke it out to see who gets to play the novel’s heroine C.J. Welles and who will play Jane Austen.

Colin, Jason or Hugh…what a choice! *swoon*

We remember reading something about this a while back; an introductory chapter, we believe. No link yet at Amazon, but we shall keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the heads-up, Elizabeth!

Barnes & Noble University will hold a free, moderator-led online discussion course on Persuasion. The course begins April 4, 2005 and lasts four weeks.

The editors of a literary collection have stirred up a controversy by complaining that the women contributors’ work was “disappointingly domestic.”

In the introduction to the collection the authors write: “On the whole the submissions from women were disappointingly domestic, the opposite of risk-taking - as if too many women writers have been injected with a special drug that keeps them dulled, good, saying the right thing, aping the right shape, and melancholy at doing it, depressed as hell.”

This is perhaps not especially surprising from someone who wrote books called Corpsing and deadkingsongs.

And what does this have to do with Jane Austen, you may well be asking? Only that her name is always evoked as a female member of the literary canon. That in itself does not even really merit inclusion in this weblog; we really don’t link every single mention of Jane in the media that we find, believe us; there has to be something in a story of interest to other Austen fans, or something we can snark. However, a second article in the Guardian brought the kerfuffle into the realm of AustenBlog.

“Jane Austen said she wrote on ‘two inches of ivory’ - ie a small, detailed and largely domestic canvas. As I’m sure Ali Smith and Toby Litt themselves would say, there’s nothing wrong with ‘two inches of ivory’ as long as it’s ivory, not common-or-garden bone.”
Claire Armitstead, literary editor, the Guardian

We couldn’t have said it better.

Manchester Online’s Diane Bourne welcomes the touring production of “Pride and Prejudice” with a new twist - a focus on Chloe Newsome, former soap opera star and current Elizabeth Bennet:

IT’S hard to believe, but it’s almost 10 years since former Coronation Street star Chloe Newsome last graced our screens on the soap as feisty Vicky McDonald.

So it will be nice to finally see the actress return to Manchester next week when she performs in the city for the first time since her Corrie heyday, as Elizabeth Bennett in the Palace Theatre production of Pride And Prejudice.

Bourne’s article is a welcome relief after the plethora of articles on the production’s Wickham, who is allegedly just as infamous as the character he portrays. John Leslie, however, is not entirely ignored - he is featured in an accompanying image alongside Newsome. Perhaps the editor forgot that however famous Leslie is, Lizzy does not pair off with his alter ego? Maybe we can send our lovely Editrix over to Manchester to straighten them out!

The indystar.com webstite has announced a production of “Pride and Prejudice” at North Central High School in Hamilton County, Washington township:

The show will be at 7 p.m. April 14-16 in the auditorium.
Tickets are $5 for adults and students, $3 for children under 12 and $3 pre-purchased for groups of 10 or more paying with one check and sitting together.

Our adept AB reporters have worked diligently to find out more information about this production, but sadly to no avail. This particular reporter has fond memories of high school theatre and encourages everyone who can to see the production!

The Winnipeg Sun reports that filmmaker Danny Boyle, who directed Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Millions, received early inspiration from excellent teaching of Jane Austen.

Boyle mentions one particular teacher who put him on the road to storytelling. “This man made us all devotees of Mansfield Park. It was at a boys’ school. How you get 16-year-old boys to love Jane Austen I do not know! He’d put on plays, and I’d act in some of them and I took his advice and did drama and English at university. Years later, I directed a play at the Royal Shakespeare and I wrote to him and asked him if he wanted to come. He did. And the play was successful, thank God.”

Considering my boys run screaming from the room at the mere mention of Miss Austen, that is an accomplishment indeed.

Writing for the Virginian-Pilot, Jacey Eckhart describes her daughter’s reading, watching and listening assignments when studying Pride and Prejudice in her high school English class.

THINK all this “media generation” stuff is making my daughter’s English teacher work much too hard. The woman assigned the class to read Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and watch the miniseries on DVD. Fine. But the teacher is also reading the book aloud. With voices.

What next? Is she going to send text messages about how a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife? Is she going to e-mail everyone about how Elizabeth Bennet’s mother is appearing this week on “Nip/Tuck”?

So, one assumes this teacher either assumes that her class will a) ditch the reading assignment and b) watch only the first fifteen minutes of the miniseries, or this teacher believes you can never get too much of a good thing. Or both.

(more…)

Will the nightmare never end?

Not when the class is film and the homework is making a feature-length movie that will hit the big screen this spring and later be submitted to the film festival circuit.

“Movies are, like, my whole life,” Letkemann said during a break from a recent Sunday of rehearsals and shooting for How to Be Hated, based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. “I love acting, it’s like a big passion for me. It’s not like it’s work, it’s homework or I have to be here. I want to be here.”

[. . .]

Students spent the fall semester writing the script for the romantic comedy, which takes Austen’s tale of three sisters being courted by various men and focuses on the middle child, Liz, who is the new girl at her high school, struggling to fit in.

We kid, of course. Never enough Jane, right? And it’s not like it’s the first time somebody’s filmed fanfic.

(But…middle child? Middle child?!?)

Slashdot has an article stating that several titles are available in Google Print, the print digitalization project, and notes that Pride and Prejudice was included among the first group. They used the Dover Thrift Edition’s text and include the foreward. Curiously, pages 1-6 of the novel appear to be missing.

A dentist in Minnesota uses video goggles playing Jane Austen adaptations to distract herself while getting her own teeth worked on.

We understand that a certain Wet Shirt is well-known to induce a euphoric state, similar to strong narcotics, in some patients.