Alert Janeite Kathleen scanned everything even remotely Jane Austen-related in the latest issue of Radio Times and sent them to AustenBlog.
Don’t forget to download the podcast audiobooks from Classic FM. Right now you can get all three parts of MP. We dare say they’ll have a different book each week. Enrico awaits his new treat.
The Cluebat of Janeite Righteousness is gathering dust. Everybody else is standing up for Jane, and we have nothing to do.
Alert Janeite Kathleen scanned an article about Becoming Jane from Radio Times in which the author got in a bit of a tiff with the lead actress.
Hathaway’s Jane–a spirited character who feeds the family pigs, plays cricket with the boys and hangs about bare-knuckle fist fights in the company of prostitutes–is perhaps a less credible fictional construct (than) Austen’s own heroines.
“Why do you say she’s a fictional construct?” flares Hathaway. “The character is based on descriptions of Austen in any number of biographies.”
And biographies, of course, are ALWAYS right.
So if we don’t know for sure Austen wasn’t pretty and that she never hung out with prostitutes, all bets are off? It’s an odd kind of Hollywood logic.
As little Justin would say on Ugly Betty, “OH SUH-NAP!” “EJD,” whomsoever you might be, AustenBlog salutes you.
Libby Purves takes Celia Brayfield to task in her own Times blog, ably defending Jane Austen’s work against Miss Chip on Her Shoulder.
There are some fine films, and some atrocious ones. The new Becoming Jane is a jeu d’esprit in which the young authoress lives most of her own novels in months, with James McAvoy morphing from Mr Darcy to Mr Wickham before becoming in turn Willoughby (when he runs off with a richer girl), Edward Ferrars (when he can’t defy his rich relative) and finally Captain Wentworth (when she turns him down). To appreciate Austen you do not need to like the films. But you do need to read the books fairly.
Yes! Testify!
Daily life was arduous — all that sewing was not a hobby but household maintenance and the construction of clothes. In the country, livestock must be tended and a woman’s retreat to the drawing-room in a clean dress was often well earned.
Well…we don’t think Jane Austen was mucking out the stables or anything. Besides, why do the books have to be defended against the Way Too Serious Brigade by saying, “they ARE TOO serious” rather than “lighten up, Francis?” The books, after all, are very funny, and there’s not a darned thing wrong with that. That being said, let’s watch as Ms. Purves lines up the coup de grâce:
Thus affluent chaps from Primrose Hill sit smugly writing up the cracked concrete and crack cocaine of the inner city, a knowledge of Scottish syringe argot is a sine qua non on the festival circuit, and many a gritty novel has been inspired, not by a feeling heart and personal vision, but by a calculated scan of the home and foreign news pages in search of a “high concept” to excite the Sunday critics.
Jane Austen would see right through that. And laugh.
AAAAAAA-MEN!
Thanks to Alert Janeites Kathleen and Lisa for the link.
Alert Janeite Laura requests assistance:
My DH was watching 24 last night and said “Can you show me the cover (dustjacket) of that Austen book you are reading? I think the president’s wife is reading that book.” (Sanditon and other stories, 1996 Knopf Everyman’s Library) I did not get to see the scene of the show but my husband is fairly sure it is the same book.
Did any other alert Janeite happen to catch this or do you have any way to verify it?
Anybody? Bueller? Bauer? 
Lin wrote to tell us that she has created a line of handmade earrings inspired by scenes and characters in Northanger Abbey. If you would like to purchase a pair of the earrings, comment on the Livejournal entry and she will contact you directly.
To celebrate the new Jane Austen films, The Times Online is giving away five Jane Austen boxed DVD sets (worth £39.99 each). This set includes the new Mansfield Park, the new Northanger Abbey, and the 1997 Emma — but not the new Persuasion. TimesOnline has also joined forces with Quality Diamonds to offer a diamond pendant (worth £1,000) to the first prize winner.
To participate in the contest, answer the following question:
What is the name of the heroine in Mansfield Park? (No snarking, now.)
Send the answer, your name, address, e-mail address and daytime telephone number to: women (at) timesonline.co.uk . (replace “at” to create valid email address). Please include the words Jane Austen competition in the e-mail subject line.
Note: Send your answer to the TimesOnline, not AustenBlog.
Other terms and conditions:
Competition closes at midday UK time on Friday, March 30, 2007.
Competition open to those aged 18 and over and resident in the UK.
One winner and three runners-up will be drawn at random from all correct entries received before the closing date.
The prize is as specified.
Only one entry per person.
Good luck!
An Alert Janeite was kind enough to let us know that the ITV Jane Austen season is the cover story for this week’s Radio Times. Interviews with Billie Piper, Sally Hawkins, and Felicity Jones are available online.
ETA: Alert Janeite Amo posted in the comments that Radio Times scans are available on Felicity Jones: The Placeholder Page. Thanks, Amo!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License
