We don’t always manage to fit local events of interest to Janeites on AustenBlog. Since the blog launched in 2004, our audience has grown and become international; as a result, sometimes these events can seem a little too local, and sometimes we don’t hear of them until a day or two before they happen, and we don’t always post them in time. However, that was part of the blog’s original purpose, and we would like to get back to it as much as we can. Therefore, we’re announcing a new weekly feature: Getting Local With Jane. Look for it every Wednesday that we actually have something to put in it. And that means SEND US YOUR LOCAL JANE AUSTEN-RELATED EVENTS! Preferably well in advance! (And not just in the U.S., either!)

Also please see our sidebar, under “Upcoming Austen Events,” which will feature larger events such as conferences and evening balls. There also is a permanent link to JASNA’s Regional Special Events page, which will highlight all the really great upcoming events for various JASNA regions. If you’re in the U.S. or Canada, check it out–some of these events are open to non-members; but if you haven’t joined JASNA, why in the world not?

The Editrix herself will venture out of the fabulous high-tech AustenBlog World Headquarters (now with non-leaking ceiling) to meet her public twice next week. On Tuesday, February 5, she will be at the Barnes & Noble store in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. as part of a JASNA Eastern Pennsylvania Region event sponsored by WHYY-TV and B&N to celebrate The Complete Jane Austen. The Editrix will sign copies of her book, The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World and also will perhaps be persuaded to speak a few words, being the shy and retiring type. *cough* Diane Wilkes also will be signing her book and tarot deck, The Tarot of Jane Austen, and speaking about the cards (which are fabulous, by the bye) and perhaps giving a reading or two! The event is a fundraiser for JASNA’s Eastern Pennsylvania region, and B&N will have a selection of Jane Austen-related books, CDs, and DVDs to purchase, with a portion of the purchase price going to support the region.

On Saturday, February 9, the Editrix will be speaking at the Jane Austen Tea at the Ardmore (PA) Free Library. We will talk about marriage customs and laws in Jane Austen’s time as well as several other interesting things that Jane Austen heroines would need to know about.

Alert Baja Janeite wrote to tell us that Whittier (California) Library will have several Jane Austen-related events in March 2008. On March 5, the library will host Laurie Viera Rigler, author of The Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict; on March 12, Mary Burkin will appear in character as Jane Austen; and on March 19, the library will have a tea with Jane Austen scholar Anne Kiley, Ph.D.

We just heard that the JASNA’s Syracuse and Rochester Regions will combine to hold a very special event in May 2008. More details to follow!

And a reminder that this Monday, February 4, at 3:30 p.m., JASNA Greater New York will host a screening of the 1995 film adaptation of Persuasion at Brooklyn College. Following the screening, Ciarán Hinds, who played Captain Wentworth, will discuss the film with Foster Hirsch of the Brooklyn College Film Department, Rachel Brownstein of the Brooklyn College English Department, and possibly Corin Redgrave, Sir Walter himself, if he is in New York. This event is free and open to the public–and yes, we would love a report if you get to go!

We received two reports from Gentle Readers who attended the Jane Austen Evening on January 18, 2008, held by the Society for Manners and Merriment in Pasadena, California.

Alert Janeite Stephanie sent not only a report but a couple of photos as well! (click on the thumbnails to see larger versions)

Walking up the large stone steps of the Pasadena Masonic Lodge, you step into another world: a young lady softly plays piano in a nearby corner, while a gentleman leads his wife past towards the card-room; on the other side of the room, couples gather before a marble fireplace, talking quietly & laughing, as fashionable ladies & gentlemen parade past on their way to the ballroom below; soldiers strut by in full uniform & bravado, while young ladies cluster to the side, giggling behind their fluttering fans: this is the Jane Austen Evening.

This past Saturday, January 19th in Pasadena, CA the Society for Manners & Merriment hosted this annual fun-filled event. A mere $25 will purchase you a full evening of English Country dancing (with live music by the Philadelphia Academy of Music) with a light repast of refreshments, while an additional $17 will buy you a substantial tea spread that afternoon before the dance. The Pasadena Masonic Lodge is the perfect venue for a night of Regency dance & enjoyment: the large ballroom with chandeliers and wooden floors for dancing, the marble fireplace and columns, all lend themselves to a more historical atmosphere.

My sixth time attending this event in the past 6 years, I was thrilled to be able to go again this year: for the past few years the event has sold out within mere weeks of when the tickets go on sale. My younger sister came with me (her second time), and we met up with friends at the ball: what a fantastic time we had! The dances are called (and dance practice available beforehand), making this ball very accessible for beginners & advanced dancers alike: attendees were encouraged to switch partners & ask strangers to dance, so most anyone wishing to dance should have been able find a partner. The majority of attendees are dressed in Regency attire, while a few honored us with their other historical clothing or formal wear: everyone looked so lovely this evening!

I met up with some friends there who live in different areas of CA: we were over-joyed to see each other, and had a great time dancing together! I danced some dances with my sister (as ladies out-number gentleman, ladies do dance together as needed), and danced with my friends and a few ‘strangers’ throughout the evening. My favorite dances this evening were: Mr Beveridge’s Maggot (the one Elizabeth & Darcy danced to at Netherfield), Irish Lamentation, Duke of Kent’s Waltz, Auretti’s Dutch Skipper, Childgroove, Mutual Love, and the finishing dance, Sir Roger de Coverly (ala the Virginia Reel, such fun!). There is nothing quite like a night of dance & enjoyment in Regency dress: what a lovely evening: see you at Jane Austen Evening 2009!

Laurie Viera Rigler also attended the ball and sent us a link to a report on her own blog.

It’s one thing to dance with one of your girlfriends or some random guy you’re not interested in. It’s quite another to stand up with the man you find most agreeable in the whole world, the handsomest man who ever was seen, the man who has a noble estate in Derbyshire, I mean, Pasadena. It was then that I truly got why all that serious courting went on at balls in Jane Austen’s novels, and why women longed for a dance.

Country dancing is sooooo much fun.

We’re listing the scenes missing from the broadcast of MP07 this past Sunday. If you remember another scene that wasn’t posted, let us know in comments. We’ll update this post as scenes are added.

Please note: We don’t yet know if these scenes are missing from the Region 1 DVD. We only know that they were not part of the PBS broadcast.

- Discussion of slavery between Fanny and Sir Thomas
- Mary playing the harp
-Fanny being chided by Aunt Norris before the picnic
-Fanny running down the stairs after Edmund comes home from being ordained.
-Most of William’s dance
-Mary and Henry talking while sitting on the steps in the garden at Mansfield Park (just before or after he reveals his plans with regards to Fanny)
-Talking about the play a couple of Tom’s lines are cut
-In Fanny’s room after refusing Mr. Crawford the first bit of that scene with Sir Thomas is cut
-After Sir Thomas gives the news about Maria and Henry the scene is cut abruptly
-The first bit of Edmund’s talk with Mary about the elopement is cut

So, three down, four to go, counting Miss Austen Regrets. We’re actually rather excited about this one. We just have a gut feeling that it’s not going to completely stink. But then we’re a glass-half-full kind of blog, if you haven’t noticed.

Mopping up the post-mortem for MP08, Alert Janeites Christiane and Lisa sent us this review from the Boston Globe.

Tomorrow night, Piper takes on Fanny Price, the shy, morally sound heroine of Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park.” And Piper wins, big-time, as she pulls poor, pious Fanny over onto the Billie Piper side of life. In this third adaptation in PBS’s Austen “Masterpiece” season, our pre-Victorian introvert is a ravishing wild child who recalls Madonna in a Herb Ritts video, or a stoned hippie chick in “Woodstock,” more than a polite teen in a bonnet and frock. In “Mansfield Park,” tomorrow at 9 p.m. on Channel 2, Fanny’s rather rockin’.

Now, there’s an interesting take–Fanny as the rock-n-roll wild child. Not sure about it, but there you go.

Ultimately, this “Mansfield Park” makes Patricia Rozema’s excellent 1999 version (in which Fanny is made into an Austen-like writer) seem stubbornly loyal to the author.

As Christiane said, he had us up to the “excellent 1999 version.” Huh?

AP, via the San Francisco Chronicle, has an article that combines local and international interest, along with some anecdotes from the set of S&S08.

Dominic Cooper recalled the hash he made initially of one of the novel’s most romantic moments — when his character, the “uncommonly handsome” Willoughby, rescues Marianne Dashwood after she slips and twists her ankle running down a hill.

The torrential rain “did make it quite difficult picking her up from a 90-degree angle on a wet, greasy, green hill and turning back to walk up the hill with a very long, wet coat on,” Cooper recalls. “When I kind of squatted down, the jacket got caught. I fell over immediately and put her head in a ditch.”

Ha!

We found a blogsite dedicated to Miss Austen Regrets. It seems a bit sploggy but we think it’s in earnest. (A hint to the proprietors: To make it seem LESS sploggy, try writing some original content.)

The Jane Austen’s House Museum has seen visitors rise from past productions, and is seeing a surge of interest due to That Made Up Film last year and S&S this year. Also, for our UK readers who are feeling a bit left out of the Complete Jane Austen excitement, there will be an exhibition of costumes from S&S08 at the museum starting in March. If you go, send us a report!

We are not quite sure what to make of this.

It is a truth, if not quite universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be at the mercy of a potential wife’s online search.

Had the Internet been around 195 years ago this month, when Jane Austen introduced the world to Elizabeth Bennet, would we even have Pride and Prejudice?

[. . .]

After a few minutes at PheasantsNotPeasants.org, www.brits-blue-blood.net, www.notsogentlemanly.com and a few other sites, Elizabeth would have known everything:

Charles Bingley — amiable, warm-hearted fellow with good fortune; has sisters (one particularly snobbish) and a taciturn close friend.

Fitzwilliam Darcy — exquisite estate at Pemberley; charming younger sibling and imperious aunt; possibly a very warm heart beneath that cool exterior!

George Wickham — member of the local militia; extensive gambling and other debts; talk of attempted elopement with a former benefactor’s young daughter. DON’T LET THIS RIFFRAFF NEAR YOUR SISTER!

Uh…

We’ve posted previously about economic subjects in Jane Austen’s novels, but this is an interesting tie-in, if perhaps a bit of a stretch.

But the relative economic simplicity of marriage in contemporary America contrasts with complexities still faced by many people in other countries. As in Austen’s day, payments tied to marriage play a key role in the income and wealth of both parents and children for many people throughout the world.

Austen was a masterful observer of social life. All of her novels center on the conflicting forces of romantic love and financial expedience in British matrimony 200 years ago.

Her heroines’ paths to marital bliss require hurdling obstacles created by the large payments of money between families common to marriage for upper- and middle-class Britons of her era.

Austen’s heroines needed to find a husband wealthy enough to support them in the style to which they were accustomed

Uh, no. That makes them sound like golddiggers. They just needed enough to live on. Look at Edward Ferrars and Elinor Dashwood–they couldn’t marry on the Delaford living plus Elinor’s small bit, but a nice bit of capital from Mrs. Ferrars puts them over the top. They’re not exactly living at Pemberley.

…and to buttress their own parents’ finances.

Is there any example of this in Jane Austen’s novels? Or perhaps it’s just an awkward way of describing the fact that the Bennets, for example, had not provided for their daughters after Mr. Bennet’s death.

But the higher their social class, the more important it was that their prospective partner come from old wealth.

Marrying a rich businessman would cause a loss of social rank.

Now, hold on; the only ones who care about such things are the likes of Sir Walter and Miss Elliot, snobs extraordinaire, who deplored Mr. Elliot’s marriage to a rich woman whose father had been in trade. Anne also deplored it, but because Mr. Elliot had not loved his wife, married her only for his own gain, and treated her badly. Slight difference.

Impecunious parents of a socially desirable young man similarly might expect that his marriage to the daughter of a wealthy family would bail out their own finances.

A social faux pas or moment of lust by either partner might bring financial doom to someone.

True enough.

BBC History magazine has named 1812 as Britain’s “anni horribile” “annus horribilis:” the worst year ever.

Historian Derek Wilson, who singled out Britain’s “anni horribile” today, said: “So many things went wrong in that year, facets of life that affected all sorts and conditions for people.”

He dispelled the notion of a confident society depicted by Jane Austen and added: “The historian’s job is there to put the record straight.”

According to the study by the BBC History Magazine, 1812 was a bad year for many reasons, not least because Britain had been waging war with France for nearly 20 years.

Combined with a series of disastrous harvests, this meant taxes and prices were at record levels. Luddites added to the chaos as they destroyed new-fangled machines to protect jobs, and more than 20 were hanged.

And 1812 also witnessed the only assassination of a prime minister – Spencer Perceval was shot dead in the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, King George III was mentally unstable and his unpopular son George, who later became George IV, ruled as regent.

Following a dispute over trade with France, America declared war on Britain.

And Jane Austen was preparing Pride and Prejudice for the press.

(We are most amused by the fact that the editor of BBC History magazine is named Dave Musgrove. Bookish and learned enough for Lady Russell, do you think? )

We want to clear up a few rumors and misapprehensions we’ve seen bandied about the Intartubes the past couple of weeks.

1. Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park were two hours long when they were broadcast in the UK and only 90 minutes on the Masterpiece broadcast and Region 1 DVDs!

Those three films were all broadcast at 92-93 minutes (this is according to the Region 2 DVD cases). They were never two hours long. Ever. Even in script version. (We shall comment on that presently.)

1b. They would be so much better if we could see the whole thing!

From someone who has seen the “uncut” versions: Afraid not. Really.

2. Andrew Davies did a hack job on Mansfield Park and Persuasion!

Andrew Davies had nothing to do with writing the scripts for those two films. He also had nothing to do with Miss Austen Regrets, which has yet to be broadcast. The PBS press releases were confusing; we had previously corresponded with one journalist who claimed in an article that he wrote the scripts for “the four new films,” so we made bold to write her a friendly note correcting her error. She wrote back insisting, “That’s what the press release said.” It didn’t, but she thought it did. So there’s a lot of confusion on this point.

Don’t blame Masterpiece for the first three films only being 90-some minutes long. That’s what they bought. Blame ITV. Though why anyone thought 90 minutes was sufficient time for any of these is beyond us, and why limit the running time of a TV movie anyway? Why not make it a two-parter? Two 60-minute episodes? We can speculate, a little bit. We have a copy of the original script of NA, which is 89 pages long. The generally assumption is one page of script equals one minute of running time. The script that we have is nearly the one that was shot; minus one scene in which Catherine walks in on Henry while he is bathing and plus the visit to Woodston, such as it was. The apple-picking scene was not in the script, but there is a similar “montage of General-free fun at NA” sort of thing in there. But generally it is the same.

Cub Reporter Heather L. has a good history of the long journey from page to screen of this particular production in her NA review at Remotely Connected. The script came into our possession while it was owned by Miramax and seemed dead in the water. (Our understanding is that it was being seeded around the Internet to raise interest amongst Janeites. We’ve been complaining about it ever since. ) There were a few false starts, but nothing really positive until after the success of P&P05 and the resulting resurgence in interest, at least among the entertainment Powers That Be, in Jane Austen.

So we’re not sure why the script was written to be 90 minutes. It could be that Andrew Davies felt that the best length for the film. It could be that was the length he was originally given by London Weekend Television. In that case, one could hardly “blame” Mr. Davies for the length of the film. However, if he was unhappy with that length, why wouldn’t he then rewrite it to be, say, two 60-minute episodes? So we presume it’s exactly the length he thought it should be.

Further speculating (we stress that this is SPECULATION, but it makes an awful lot of sense): ITV bought one script at 90 minutes. It therefore would make sense that it would contract for the other two films in its planned series to be approximately the same length.

We also have comments on record from Mr. Davies that the BBC originally wanted his new version of Sense and Sensibility (which is getting good reviews, but many thought was a little too short for a TV series) to be four 60 minute episodes, but he thought three was better. Why? When Pride and Prejudice, a novel of similar length, required 6 50-minute episodes, or five hours? And even his Emma was 107 minutes, which is a little better (but still too short–the theatrical film is 120 minutes).

So, while we can’t place direct blame on Mr. Davies for Persuasion and Mansfield Park, it is clear that there is a pattern with him of contracting Jane Austen’s novels to short films–perhaps shorter than they should be–and we can speculate that the length of his script for NA dictated the length of MP and Persuasion, all of which, it is generally agreed, would be improved with at least an extra half-hour. One of the selling points of the ITV “Jane Austen Season” was that “each generation deserves its own Jane Austen adaptations.” Too bad this generation gets the short-attention-span versions.

• Humphry Repton was unable to root up the avenue at Sotherton because Fanny Price didn’t want it rooted up.
• The old grey pony did not die of old age. It died of shame because it was unworthy to bear Fanny Price.
• Waltzing outdoors is historically correct when Fanny Price does it.
• Fanny Price will not be dictated to.
• If you noticed Fanny Price’s upthrust, exposed bosom, that’s because you have a dirty mind.
• Fanny Price doesn’t have to brush her hair. It’s perfect just the way it is.
• Tom Bertram could not die because Fanny Price bathed him with her tears.
• Even if Pug was male, he could have a litter, because Fanny Price wanted a puppy.
• Fanny Price makes purple the most special color in the world.
• Fanny Price cured the Editrix’s fever. (So far! 4 hours and counting…)

Tell us more facts about Fanny Price!

For the humorless/Internet-meme-illiterate: Inspired by Chuck Norris Facts

So, Gentle Readers: What did you think of the new Mansfield Park film? And do let us know if you’ve read the book. We won’t make fun of you, we just like to compare reactions between those who have read it and those who have not.

Heh. Alert Janeite Diana Birchall sent us a hilarious article by Craig Brown in The Daily Telegraph, having a great time with Janemania: Twelve little-known facts about Jane Austen.

1 It has been estimated that at any one time around the world there are more than 600 Jane Austen adaptations being produced. China has increased its Jane Austen output by 400 per cent over the past five years, and looks set to be the world leader by 2012.

Next month alone sees the premieres of Northanger on Ice, starring Jayne Torvill as Catherine Morland, and BBC TV’s new Mansfield Park, starring Jordan as Jayne Mansfield.

For the record, we would watch both of those.

6 In autumn 2010, the Walt Disney corporation opens The Jane Austen Experience on a 50-acre site on the outskirts of Bath. Visitors are greeted by a 12ft high Jane Austen, dressed in period costume. Jane leads them into The Ballroom, where they can watch Jane dancing to a traditional Regency rhythm with a 15ft high Mr Darcy.

At least he’s tall!

10 Up to 75 columnists a week introduce a note of erudition into their articles by beginning them with the phrase “It is a truth universally acknowledged that…”

Recent examples include, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that the new two-door Ford Capri is an absolute dream to handle” (Jeremy Clarkson, Sunday Times) and, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that my so-called ex is an insufferable prat, whinger and serial shagger” (Liz Jones, Mail on Sunday) and, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that there were times when King Henry VIII could be a right royal bastard” (Dr David Starkey, Monarchy Today).

*falls over laughing* (and it is so true!)

12 A new version of Persuasion, re-named Me, I Don’t Take Much Persuasion and scripted by Andrew Davies, is soon to be filmed, with Pamela Anderson as Anne and Mickey Rourke as Captain Wentworth.

In an arresting new opening, Anne and Captain Wentworth are seen making love in a Regency bed; the middle scenes also see them in bed together, and they are in bed together, too, in the final scene, only this time the bed is of a slightly later design, to emphasise the passage of time.

“It’s what Jane Austen would have wanted,” says Andrew Davies, who is now working on his next adaptation, this time of EM Forster’s Howard’s Bottom.

See? It’s not just us.

Laurie Viera Rigler continues her series on Jane Austen’s novels at the About.com Classic Lit blog, this week writing about Mansfield Park.

If you’ve ever had an opinion that your friends considered uncool, and you stuck to it despite ridicule and pressure, you’ll find a kindred spirit in Fanny Price, and you’ll want her reward to be the man she loves. However, if you’re still doing shots with your inner bad girl, you’ll be rooting for Mary Crawford to win the object of her, and Fanny’s, affections.

Heh.

Whilst trolling manybooks.net for free e-books, we happened on a site called The Best Media in Life is Free, which has a listing of free e-texts of books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. The listings are broken up into Pre-1700, 1700s (The first two on the list…The Monk and The Mysteries of Udolpho!), 1800s (including Jane Austen’s novels), and 1900s. Now that is what we call a reading list! We recommend manybooks.net for e-books in just about any format you need; and feedbooks.com also has a wonderful list of free public domain e-books, which have been beautifully formatted for easy and pleasant reading.

Speaking of e-books, a while back we snarked on the Kindle a bit, but in the past week had the opportunity to play with one. We take back our fugly comment, because the Kindle is anything but. It’s really quite cute! It’s tiny and clean-looking, and it makes using and reading e-books an incredibly easy experience. You just push a button and get a book in seconds; which might pose a problem if one is not careful with paid downloads, but feedbooks.com has set up a really easy way to get free, nicely formatted public domain e-books on your Kindle as easily as you download them from Amazon. Download their Kindle Download Guide, which installs as a book, and “shop” for free e-books right from the guide. We are having serious gadget lust and need to get an eInk e-book reader SOON! It probably still will be a Cybook Gen3; but we really love the ease of use of the Kindle.

Adventures in Reading reviews Jane Austen: Obstinate Heart by Valerie Grosvenor Myer.

Austen is described as a person with charm and wit, but also as an individual looked down upon socially as being rather “backwards” or common by her family later in life. Some of Austen’s nieces and nephews are described as rather snobbish and prudish (they would be entering the Victorian period after all) and Myers discusses how parts of Austen’s life were “white washed” in the years after her death by her family. Myers’ approaches a “sour grape” perspective on Austen’s life versus the romantic entanglements of her heroine’s.

Lori Smith, the author of A Walk With Jane Austen, was interviewed at the She Plants a Vineyard blog.

SPV: Many women love Jane Austen’s novels. What is it about her novels that are so timeless and that we can relate to?
Lori: There are lots of answers to that question—her writing is lovely, she herself had a wonderful wit and energy for life, which comes through in her stories, they’re full of humor and her characters are people that we still recognize today. And she’s writing about falling in love, which is an awful lot of fun on its own. But there’s much more substance to her than just the romance.

I think a big part of it is the character that Austen wove into her stories. They’re not so much about falling in love as they are about the kind of people who are allowed to fall in love, people whose characters have been refined, who have been willing to admit their own faults and change. They’re worthy. I think that gives her stories incredible strength—which sometimes movies and spin-offs miss.

We were referred to A Great Undoing, Natalie Jenner’s entry in the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award competition. The novel is a modern retelling of Persuasion, set in Montauk, Long Island and Manhattan in the 1960s. You can download and read a free excerpt and leave feedback. The novel currently is a semi-finalist in the competition and will advance to the next round based upon the feedback that the excerpt receives, so get to it, Janeites!

And we are reminded that we have not updated our sidebar book links in a very long time, and hope to get to that task this week. That’s it for this week’s Weekend Bookblogging, Gentle Readers, and always remember: Books Are Nice!

After all the excitement and media attention of the first few weeks, perhaps, as the sole Mansfield Park 08 review we found (actually Alert Janeite Lisa sent it to us) says, we have reached adaptation fatigue with Jane Austen.

It’s hard not to wonder, three weeks in, if PBS’ decision to air “The Complete Jane Austen” in single-episode weekly installments does a disservice to its subject. As early scenes of “Mansfield Park” unfold there is no denying that the bloom has faded a bit from the rose. The manor houses, the décolletage, the inevitable brass candlesticks do not provide quite the cozy respite they once did. The characters too seem a bit worn about the edges: Here is the spirited but disenfranchised heroine, the noble man she loves but seemingly cannot have, the scheming female friend, the charming rake, all vying for income and position with marriage based in love being the ultimate and elusive prize.

So one can be forgiven a little armchair psychoanalysis — is a country walk in Austen ever just a country walk? And why are all the rakes and rogues instantly identifiable by the wildness of their hair?

But it would be a shame to take what may be a flaw in the concept out on its parts. As itself, “Mansfield Park” is as charming an adaptation of the novel as one would wish, and if American television viewers can find value in weekly weigh-ins of the morbidly obese or soap operas thinly disguised by surgical scrubs, they can certainly look past the repetition of skirt-trailing picnics and thundering carriages bringing dire messages in the middle of the night.

Hear, hear! And it’s awfully early in the Complete Jane Austen to be getting bored with it, especially with Miss Austen Regrets and a new S&S, both of which have received very positive reviews, on the way still. While MP is not perhaps the most inspiring film in the current set, taking a glass-half-full attitude, we are looking forward to seeing James D’Arcy in Gaping Frilly Shirtage™ (one of his best looks in our opinion), not to mention Sir Walter Elliot’s brocade suit from P95. (more…)

Lots of local book groups and events going on right now, many (but not all!) in connection with The Complete Jane Austen.

In northeastern Pennsylvania, Wyoming County Reads will have several events, including a discussion of Pride and Prejudice (the library is giving away free copies? Or do they mean you borrow it from the library for free? Not sure), several lectures, country dancing lessons, and a screening and discussion of P&P05 at the Dietrich Theater.

We previously posted about “Jane-uary” at Kansas City Public Library; not to be left out, Manhattan (Kansas) Public Library also is having a Jane Austen Festival (PDF), with book discussions, lectures, and a film festival.

In St. Petersburg, Florida, the St. Pete Beach Public Library is starting a discussion group that will read and discuss each of Jane Austen’s novels between January and June 2008. Sense and Sensibility is up first, with discussions starting on January 31.

All the local fun is not confined to the U.S., either–Warminster Library in Wiltshire has declared Jane Austen the Author of the Month for February.

Books in standard and large print, audio books and film and television DVDs sourced from across the county will be displayed in the library from February 4.

Perhaps the local fishwrap will even learn that Jane Austen’s wasn’t Victorian.

Janeites in Australia and New Zealand are finally getting to see the film adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club. The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview with director Robin Swicord.

Now is an especially demanding time for Australian FOJs and the younger, mostly female, related species known as “Jane-ites”. This is the year for premium British TV redos of Persuasion, Sense And Sensibility and Mansfield Park.

As the American screenwriter, director and admitted FOJ Robin Swicord puts it: “They got some really excellent writers to do these versions. I’ve been keeping tabs on all this recently. And there’s quite a buzz about it in the Austen cosmos.”

You can say that again!!! When our Gentle Antipodean Readers get to see the film, let us know what you thought of it.

Alert Janeite Lisa let us know about a play called “Lizzy, Darcy & Jane” that is currently running at the Tabard Theatre in London.

Lizzy, Darcy & Jane follows Austen’s early womanhood as she struggles to grapple with society’s prescriptions. Jane’s active imagination is constantly wandering from reality and entering a world where her characters develop and mature as she does. Disappointed in love, Jane sentences her emphatic imaginary friend, Lizzy Bennet, to a life married to the insufferable Mr Collins, but Lizzy is too wilful for her author and retains her questionable relationship with a certain brooding Mr Darcy.

*blinks*

What the Fitzwilliam?

The play opened earlier this month and closes on February 2, but this is the first we’ve heard about it, unfortunately. Hopefully there is still time for our Gentle Readers to catch it. We would LOVE a report. Really.

Alert Janeite Lisa let us know that the Sense and Sensibility period clothing pattern site is holding a Regency Film Costume Class three times in 2008.

If you love costume films–particularly Jane Austen adaptations–then this is the class for you! We dissect the costuming for six films (one per week), looking at issues including authenticity, methods, design vs. execution, and more. This class is especially meant for groups of friends to enjoy together.

Classes begin February 4 through March 10; summer and fall dates to be announced. Registration is now open and costs $25, with a discount to $15 per person for groups of five or more taking the class together.

Alert Janeite Bert’s Region 2 DVD of Sense and Sensibility lists “Interviews with cast and crew” under DVD special features on the cover of the DVD, but there are no such interviews on the actual discs. E-mails and phone calls to BBC Shop have gone unreturned. We know that several Gentle Readers have received their DVDs, and there’s no information about special features either on Amazon UK or the BBC Shop; can someone please post in comments what exactly is listed and what is contained on the DVDs?

Alert Janeite Carmen let us know that the latest adaptations of Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion either are or shortly will be available in Spain (Region 2). These DVDs contain English and Spanish audio tracks and subtitles. MP is available now, NA and P will be available on February 4.

A 3-pack of the new films also will be available on February 4 that will save some money over buying them separately.

MP: DVDGO – El Corte Inglés
NA: DVDGO – El Corte Inglés
P: DVDGO – El Corte Inglés
Package – DVDGO – El Corte Inglés

El Corte Inglés also has the special edition of P&P05 that comes with a 64-page book; not sure what that could be! A Making-Of type thing, perhaps?

The Editrix has been under the weather for a few days, having caught the contagion that is sweeping le travail de la journée the past couple of weeks. Also the ceiling began leaking at AustenBlog World Headquarters earlier this week, clearly an evil plot by the Wickhams, which apparently has been fixed. Or so they say. Anyway, hope to get back to normal now.

Alert Janeite Cinthia found a press release with some new photos from Miss Austen Regrets on the PBS site. Well, hello there Mr. Haden. What was the quote from her letter?

To make his return a complete Gala, Mr. Haden was secured for dinner–I need not say that our Evening was agreable.–But you seem to be under a mistake as to Mr. H.–you call him an Apothecary; he is no Apothecary, he has never been an Apothecary, there is not an Apothecary in the Neighbourhood–the only inconvenience of the situation perhaps, but so it is–we have not a medical Man within reach–he is a Haden, nothing but a Haden, a sort of wonderful nondescript Creature on two legs, something between a Man & an Angel–but without the least spice of an Apothecary.–He is perhaps the only Person not an Apothecary hereabouts.–He has never sung to us. He will not sing without a Pianoforte accompaniment. – Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra Austen, December 2, 1815