Posts
My book club will be meeting a week from tomorrow to discuss Jane Austen's Emma. I am on page 24 of 448. Normally this wouldn't concern me, because I'm a pretty speedy reader. I read the final Harry Potter book in eleven hours and all seven of The Chronicles of Narnia books in well under a day. I'm not telling you this to brag (well, maybe a little - I'm pretty good, you have to admit); I'm telling you this so you have a point of reference. Because, my friends, getting to page 24 of Emma took me three days. Three days!! I don't think I can get through this book. Jane Austen's writing style bores me to tears. (I realize that this simple statment will have many of you howling for my blood, and to you I say: I live waaay too far away for your idle threats to frighten me... much. So bring it.)
Really, though, is there something fundamentally wrong with me? Am I missing some vital component of my second X chromosome? I enjoy the movies - Sense and Sensibility (though are there honestly people who find Alan Rickman attractive? I don't get it.), Pride and Predjudice (the BBC version, of course), and Mansfield Park. And who can find fault with anything that inspired the movie Clueless? Am I right, Barbaloot? That's quality cinema, that is.
Hey, speaking of movies, and also because I'd like to change the subject quickly before anyone builds up enough steam to write a lengthy, scathing comment about me being an uncultured Austen hater, has anything good - or at least not as terrible as some of the movies Kristina P. has seen - come out lately? My hubby will be out of town most of the week so I'll be making a trip to Blockbuster for flicks and a ridiculously large box of Junior Mints (maybe two) to keep me entertained in the evenings. Recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
6 hours ago
24 comments:
I haven't been to the movies in a few weeks. I think the last one I saw was Duplicity, and not only was it cute, but it has yummy Clive Owen in it.
And I usually have about 100 pages to go on the day of book club.
Wikipedia and Crib Notes always comes in handy.
I HATE Emma---the movie. Hate Hate Hate! Weird-considering my relationship with Clueless, right? :) But seriously-that has got to be the worst movie ever. I read Sense and Sensibility once, and it was tolerable...but not that great. I don't blame you for struggling through that thing.
Good luck!
Don't worry. I am also a very fast reader, and every now and then I hit a snag like that too.
One semester I was supposed to read the English Patient. Seriously, not a long book at all. Except that I couldn't read more than 3 pages without falling asleep.
At night, during the day, even sitting up at the kitchen table. 3 pages, max.
I remember one night I tossed and turned for two hours trying to fall asleep. I was exhausted, but sleep just wouldn't come. So I broke out the English Patient, and 3 pages later, blissful sleep.
I enjoy Jane Austen, but I will admit the reading isn't as quick for me as it is with other authors. It's almost like I have to get myself into Austen mode, and then when I am, it all goes a lot faster. :)
I saw Duplicity and thought it was the stupidest movie on earth. If it didn't have Clive Owen in it, then I would say it was awful. The soloist just came out in theaters and I can't wait to see it. Nothing else I can think of that's all that great.
I thought I was the only one who couldn't get through anything Austen has written... it's tedious and I just can't make it through! I did enjoy the one movie I've seen made from her books... I ought to try again.
My book club is doing Little Women this month - I really ought to re-read since it's been a decade... or two...
I am also a fast reader. However I usually get interrupted so much now that it slows me down...hmm, wonder why that is. :)
I have only read one Jane Austen book, (it was this year) and I did not like it. I have not liked any of the movies either--not really.
Good thing I'm the one person who lives vaguely close enough to be a danger, right? ;)
Recent movies...ummm...I don't see anything recent, not until it hits netflix at least. I like some older movies too though... I dunno, what kind of a mood are you in? Do you have stipulations (certain ratings are not ok, or ratings are ok so long as it's for one thing or not another...?) I might be able to make some recommendations based on that...
I did the exact same thing with Pride and Prejudice. I didn't like Wuthering Heights either. There is just no accounting for it...
The other Austen books leave me cold but Pride & Prejudice is one of my favourite books and i always wanted to be Lizzie Bennet, a woman with a mind of her own at a time when stepping outside societies rules was very frowned upon. My son manages a cinema and he tells me i've got to see "burn before reading" and i enjoyed Inkheart.
I love the Austen movies, too, love to read, and usually fast, too. But certain styles of writing I cannot handle, either. And I don't quite know how to overcome it. Any ides, anyone?
:~D
Hmmm. I'm glad to read you have some fellow people who have something wrong with them so they don't like Jane Austen. :) I just LOVE the language. I feel my IQ goes up a little every time I read her stuff. I think Emma is full of wit and reads just like really good, intelligent chick lit. But then I prefer anything written by a British author at least 100 years ago to pretty much anything else.
I love both the movie and the book AND I love Clueless! I guess it can go both ways. (except that I suspect you and Barbaloot might be kidding about Clueless, but I'm not.)
I am sorry. I adore Austen. But I completely get not being able to read something that does not interest you! Good luck.
I LOVE Clueless! I respond with Cher quotes all the time. :)
And I've never read Austen. Oh no, I just admitted that. There are people clicking over to unsubscribe from me as we speak I'm sure.
What does it say about me that I love Clueless and haven't read Austen? Uh Oh!
I haven't seen many movies lately, but I did see Rachel Getting Married and I loved it. Now, many people think it's just weird and depressing, but THEY DIDN'T GET IT. Or maybe I just enjoy really FEELING a movie sometimes. I cried a lot. So if you feel like having a cry fest and hurting over the sad state of humanity WHILE being inspired, then get that one...
I couldn't make it through Emma, either. So far the only Jane Austen novel I've liked is Pride and Prejudice.
Oh, and on DVD I've heard The Visitor is really good. The House Bunny is funny if you're in the mood for something COMPLETELY brainless.
I do not like Jane Austen. I can swallow the movies, but it's not something I'd CHOOSE, you know?
We just watched Yes Man, and it wasn't too bad, we only had to fast forward one part.
Just watch the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow. I loved it. I, like you, have not finished the darn book. I have started many a time, just not finished. After you watch the movie, skim through the book with your superhuman speed reading skills and put markers in it, like you really read it and pondered it. Unless your bookclub reads your blog (which is a huge possibility) they will be none the wiser.
I love Jane Austen, I hate to read the books. (Get cliff notes)
i love love love jane austen, but i have never been able to make it more than 10 pages into emma. i love almost all of the jane austen movies. speaking of which, one time i made adam watch sense and sensibility with me. and he liked it! he really used to hate it that i told people that. all the more reason to tell people, i say. now you know. next time you need a jane austen movie night, you can make adam watch s&s with you. and now you have leverage knowing that he already liked it once.
and since you're asking for movie recommendations, i highly recommend "the visitor". Richard Jenkins was nominated for best actor for this role, so you know at least the acting is good. the rest of it is good too, though.
OK -- so I just hate Jane Austen all together. I mean -- not personally. I am sure if I were to ever have met her, she would have been quite pleasant. But I HATE the books. I HATE the movies (and that guy is HIDEOUS) and I can't understand a single word of the muttering. BORING!
Hi!
I'm not going to go baying for your blood on the Jane Austen thing, but ALAN RICKMAN... mmmmmmmmmm. He may be 40 years older than me (no joke) but yum yum lovely. I discovered a ticket collector on the train the other day who had a voice exactly like his and he gave me a funny look when I closed my eyes and imagined he was Alan Rickman ! :)
Confession: I am an Austen Addict. But truthfully, Emma was not my favorite. SHE'S SO SELFISH! WHAT A BRAT!!!
I love P & P, but my all time favorite Austen is "Persuasion." I don't know why, when the heroine has no backbone to speak of and her father is a total idiot, but maybe it's because it doesn't get as much attention as her other works.
And one more thing....if you can get through Emma, I strongly recommend you track down a copy of Joan Aiken's book, "Jane Fairfax". Aiken wrote the story of "Emma" from Jane's point of view, and I loved it so much better than "Emma". (And, incidentally, I enjoyed the A&E/BBC version of Emma with Kate Beckinsale much more than Gwyneth Paltrow's version.)
I like Jane Austen and I loooove Alan Rickman...yum!
One of my favorite movies is "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." Johnny Depp...double yum!
I had to read Emma for a book report in my Brit Lit class in high school. I probably shouldn't admit this but it just didn't grab me. I read the first and last chapters and since my book report was in the form of a dialogue between myself and another student (not) reading Emma, we fudged our way through it. However, we did it with a British accent, the first of our teacher's students to do so in 30 years of teaching the class. We got an A. Meanwhile, I love the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow and have enjoyed others of Austen's works much better (P&P is funny but it is very dry humor). Also, just so you know, Miss D is Jane Austen time period but NOT Jane Austen style. It's a piece of fluff compared to Jane. But fun fluff.
OK, I thought of one... I recently saw "Marley and Me" and I really liked it. The previews made it look like a comedy about a crazy dog...but it's not really. It's about life, marriage, and family: the ups, the downs, and just sticking together and pressing forward. If you've ever had a dog that you've loved, then the ending will probably be hard (as one might imagine, the movie follows the 12ish years of the dogs life...so at the end they have to bid him farewell...) In any case, I heartily recommend it.
Post a Comment