Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Jane Austen

I must confess that I have never read a Jane Austen book nor watched a movie about any of her books.

I know - shocking!

A lot of people talk about Jane Austen on their blogs so I clearly must be doing something wrong.

SO - in order to correct this error, I will pick up a book and/or movie this weekend.

But - which one? And should I watch a movie first or read a book first?

Help!

18 comments:

Janell said...

BBC version of Pride and Prejudice - love it!!! If we lived closer you could come over for 5 hours or so and watch our copy with me!!!! Oh so good - I might just have to watch it myself tonight.

Jan said...

I have never read the books, but I just got done watching her movies on a PBS series. I loved them.

I am with Frumpy. BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. Good Luck Red. And wouldn't it be fun to watch it all together. Bummer.

tiki_lady said...

ok, me either! I recently watched pride and prejudice. Ehhh.. It was ok. Perhaps, I need to watch another or read a book.

tammy said...

My personal favorite...Pride & Prejuidice. believe it or not but on Sundays my oldest daughter who is 13 and I love to kick back in the living room and watch that movie together. it is definitely an all day event. I would say the BBC series definitely!!!

chelle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chelle said...

Hi! Thanks for the link! Now I will be spoon feed every new post! Won't miss a thing!

I have read all of Austen's work. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? That is a lot of reading, especially since I am not a fast reader. But I love to read her work and it is not a race.

I would NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT read Northanger Abbey. I read it once and did not like it at all. It was her first book and it was just not very good.

LOVE Pride and Prejudice. I have a small copy of it that I keep in my purse so I can read it while I am waiting in line.

I LOVE sense and sensibility. WONDERFUL. But my all time favorite is Persuasion. VERY GOOD. I might start here.

Emma is aright but not her best work. Mansfield Park is WONDERFUL but it is long and has a slow start so I would not read it first. But it is one of my favorites. So here is the order I would suggest: If you are still reading this comment.

1 Pride and Prejudice
2 Persuasion
3 Sense and Sensibility
4 Mansfield Park
5 Emma

and if you want to be able to say that you have read all of Austen's work lastly read : Northanger Abbey. But don't expect too much.

Hope that helps.

Beeswax said...

Start with a Pride and Prejudice movie. I love the BBC but it might be a little long for your first taste. I also love the Keira Knightely version.

Also, Emma Thompson/Hugh Grant Sense and Sensibility is SO great. Even better than the book, for me. Make it a double feature.

Here, I blogged about it:
http://diversifiedbeeson.blogspot.com/2007/09/im-not-using-good-sense.html

if you are going to start reading, start with P&P.

I sure am giving lots of advice for someone who doesn't know you at all! Happy watching/reading!

This Girl loves to Talk said...

your not the only one... i had never until i joined a book club at church (enrichment monthly activity) i still think they are pretty hard to read but we have done

Pride and Prejudice (then you can watch the movies - they are good the BBC version is like 5 hours - in chapters so you can stop and the new hollywood one with kiera knightly - i really liked it)

and we did mansfield park last month

Anonymous said...

Start with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE--the movie!!! :) I can recommend that one because it is the ONLY one that i have seen and I loved it! (i haven't read any of the books or seen any more of the movies...but i want to!)

Wonder Woman said...

I've seen the two versions of P&P and the one of S&S and loved them all. I recently rented a movie called "The Jane Austen Book Club" that made me want to read all her works. I read the two I mentioned and loved them. Then I tried Northanger Abbey and didn't get past the first 3 pages. That's all I've read, and therefore what I recommend.

I definately recommend the "Jane Austen Book Club" to anyone who's read all her work, or someone in the midst of any of her books.

Redhoodoos said...

Thanks for the suggestions. I was out for most of the day today and didn't read your suggestions until I came home - but I rented "Jane Austen's Book Club". I tried to get the other two Pride and Prejudice movies - but they were already rented. Thanks for the ideas and thoughts!

julie said...

I do not allow myself to watch movies until I see the books. The only exception was Sense and Sensibility. When I saw that movie way back when I did not know who Jane Austen was. Pathetic!

If you are struggling with the language then it is helpful to see the movie first but I enjoy the books so much more if I have not seen the movie previously.

DON'T forget Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte! It is every bit as good as Jane Austen's Books, if not better.

All the stories are great because they are uplifting and have fantastic stories! How I wish I was just starting to read them for the first time. However the second time around is not so bad.

I have Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility if you want to borrow them. Or you can go to the library!

tiki_lady said...

i love charlotte bronte!

Pancake said...

Well, I am with you... in the unread department! Let me know what you find and I will read it with ya!

The Broad Squad said...

I am all about P&P!!!

Anonymous said...

I haven't read them or watched them ither. I know, it's like we're doing something wrong!! Let me know how you go.

Marilyn said...

My advice for the Jane Austen Book Club- I started reading the book and HATED it! I didn't finish it. The short version of the P&P movie is a good starter. I LOVE the book-read it several times. I also watched the Emma movie first-I loved the movie but the book is tough to get through-I was glad I watched the movie so I knew what was going on....I also loved Sense & Sensibility movie-I'm getting through the book now.....I agree with all the suggestions you've received. Have fun-the PBS P&P movie is awesome too if you have the time. Another book I enjoyed a TON was "Austenland." The author is LDS and the book is tooo funny!

Wonder Woman said...

Marilyn - I didn't realize "The Jane Austen Book Club" was also a book. I've only ever seen the movie they made. I can't picture it in a book format and it being entertaining.