Tuesday Open Thread: Inaugural Edition
We’re starting a new feature on AustenBlog this week: the Tuesday Open Thread. Each Tuesday, this post will include links to articles that didn’t quite make the cut for a full-blown web post during the previous week. We will occasionally break our usual “six degrees of Jane Austen” rule for something we find especially interesting or amusing or just gives us an opportunity to make a snarky remark we can’t resist (see the second link below). We currently envision presenting the links without much commentary, but don’t hold us to it. In comments, discuss the links or anything at all Jane-related or tangentially related.
- Mrs. Elton would approve of an article in the Telegraph about the revival of Bristol, complete with anti-Bath trash talk.
- “I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh.” (Thanks to Alert Janeite Tina B. for the link!)
- P&P Remix: Darcy the Society Serialist! (Not the Horror!P&P Trailer we linked a while back) (Thanks to Alert Janeite Zoe for the link!)
Look for more changes on AustenBlog this summer!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Has the 2005 P&P Gift Set promo booklet already been discussed, with Deborah Moggach’s assertion that Lizzie was desperately in love with Dear Wickham? I just read that on TWoP, and wanted to die.
I’m bringing more than a spork to this fight.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Linkage plz?
July 8th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
TWoP entry.
I’m ThreeDimen there, BTW.
The quote:
July 8th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Since it’s an open thread…
I just convinced my father to read Emma. I won over my mother and two sisters some time ago, but until now the closest my father had come to Jane Austen was watching Bride and Prejudice (he like Bollywood). Now I made a deal with him and I’ll watch the Godfather trilogy (which he claims is the perfect movie) and he’ll read Emma (which I claim is the perfect book).
July 8th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Well, like there’s the perfect Jane Austen quote for every occasion, there’s the perfect Godfather quote for every occasion. Leave the gun, take the cannoli. But you have to leave out the third movie if you’re talking perfection. The first two (well, most of the second) are from the book, which is also quite good. Violent and icky, yes, but a compelling page-turner. And the film, especially the first one, is filled with amazing performances. (Though let’s not discount Robert DeNiro in the second film as the young Vito Corleone. The “flashbacks” are the best part–they were in the book but taken out for the first film.)
Unrequited love for Wickham? What the Ferrars?
July 8th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I think Livia, Colin and Smiley Dress are all looking a bit smug and self-satisfied in that photo….love the little handbag, though.
Speaking of dresses, you can have fun dressing Lizzie and Darcy here:
http://www.stardoll.com/en/dolls/276/Pride_and_prejudice.html
Mr. Darcy looks rather fetching wearing only a vest and knickers!
Kira, I hope you enjoy the Godfathers. I agree with Mags’ assessment of numbers one and two (I think the fist one is very nearly perfect) and although the third has a silly plot and some less-than-stellar performances (okay, one hugely less-than-stellar performance) I still watch it for the always delicious Andy Garcia
As for Ms. Moggach’s view of Lizzie/Wickham–I think her whole “reading” of P&P (and her resulting screenplay) was pretty wonky altogether!
July 8th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Ok, since this is an open thread, I must share a story I’ve been dying to get off my chest with others who will understand.
I met this woman a few months ago in a group; we were talking about movies, and Pride and Prejudice 1995 came up, segueing into Jane Austen in general. This one woman said Becoming Jane was fantastic and apparently very faithful to Jane Austen’s life and Anne Hathaway was a great Austen scholar. So, trying to be polite to this complete stranger but defend Jane against this total rubbish, I said something like “Actually, that movie is pretty inaccurate.” And her defense was, “Well, didn’t she know that guy? And, she never got married, right?” I think I made some response about the insignificance of her relationship with Tom Lefroy, but really, I was too stunned by her logic to attempt much response. As if getting the two tiny facts right that she knew Tom Lefroy and never got married are enough to make the whole movie accurate!
But here’s the kicker: later in the conversation, I was trying to be polite again, so I asked this lady what she does. She teaches high school English!!
July 9th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Why are there shelves in the closet?
July 9th, 2008 at 4:40 am
In general, Lynne, or in Hunsford parsonage??
July 9th, 2008 at 8:45 am
You have to watch the video to appreciate Lynne’s comment…and it’s worth watching anyway!
Zoe…that’s a shame. That’s a real shame.