Sunday, March 30, 2008
Am I a Janeite?
I have been obsessed -- obsessed -- lately with period dramas. Thanks to the love that is YouTube, I've been able to fulfill by thirst pretty readily. What started with Pride & Prejudice (two versions), Sense and Sensibility(two versions), and Emma (including the baaaaaaad Kate Beckingsale version!) has expanded to Becoming Jane, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park (two versions). Since then, I've branched out to watching the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre (oh, is Toby Stephens perfect for this or what!!), A Room With A View, and just last night the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
But watching these hasn't been enough. I have reread Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and have Pride & Prejudice as the next to reread. I feel like there should be a ton more of this type of book, and I want to be aware of them all ... ALL!! Why did Jane die and stop writing? Just isn't fair!! Or the Bronte sisters, for that matter!! Of course, now I have friendly people sending me information on the Jane Austen Society meetings, and hearing stories of turning about the room derived from my "obsession". And I've noticed that some of my emails and writings have taken on a delicious Regency Era turn ... though I don't seem to use enough colons and semi-colons.
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1 Cents Added:
I read P&P at least twice a year. Watch the A&E version as many times and read whichever of her novels strikes my fancy at any given time. I can't even put in order next that I love more. It would be like ranking my children in whom do I love more? Her writing makes me wish we still talked eloquently. We have lost something with losing our formal English and going with the more informal version. How is it that phrases like, "It will not do" are dead? Or words like ardently have lost meaning. *sigh* Thank goodness there are others like me. =)
By 
, at 12:04 PM