Austen Week: Film Adaptations (Part One)

With every great Jane Austen novel, there is a film or tv serial adaptation. I thought I would take a look at various film adaptations and some Austen inspired films. Keep in mind, this is not the complete list, it is only the more recent ones and those which I have seen.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice (1940) B&W

This film is by far the oldest adaptation I have seen. It follows Jane Austen's novel closely, however the difference being, the period of the film is set at a later date, with gorgeous large gowns and elaborate costumes. The film is relatively spot on, however you may notice one minor change towards to end of the film, which I would prefer not to spoil.
The characters are well played and I am particularly fond of Laurence Olivier's portrayal of Mr Darcy. Similar to Colin Firth in the 1995 film, he has a certain charm about him, although since this is set at a later date, he seems a little bit odd and eccentric.

Where to buy: various regions on Amazon.

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

By far the most famous adaptation of the novel, as a BBC production. This version is very long, which allows for the film to stay faithful to the original story without skipping important scenes and plays host to a brilliant cast, with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy and Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet.
One of the most famous scenes from this verson is the lake scene, where Darcy emerges wet and not properly attired. It became one of the most unforgettable moments that can also be seen in modern Austen inspired films such as Lost in Austen. This was not written in Austen's novel, however it made for great entertainment. I am not sure what Jane Austen would have thought though.

Where to buy: Available in-store or on Amazon.

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

The most recent film, I have heard mixed reviews. Mostly positive, however the odd few who arent too fond of Matthew Macfayden's portrayal as Mr Darcy as they are stuck on Colin Firth. Nevertheless, if you put personal opinions of actors aside, for a big time film adaptation, it was fantastic. The one thing that disappoints me is the different endings in the US versus the UK. It ends abruptly in the UK version, where as the US have a sweet ending between Darcy and Elizabeth, which ofcourse was not included in the book. If however you buy the DVD, some UK editions have the US ending in the bonus features so you will not miss out. The film features an all star cast of popular actors such as Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfayden (Spooks), Talulah Riley (St Trinians), Judi Dench and Donald Sutherland.

Where to buy: Available in-store or on Amazon.

Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey (1986)

Northanger Abbey is an early work of Austen's. It is oddly one of my favourite as I love Henry Tilney. It tells the story of Catherine Morland, a 17 year old girl obsessed with Gothic novels. Her life tends to revolve around the books she reads as she has a wild imagination. Catherine is taken to Bath with family friends where she meets new friends, attends balls, is persued by men and falls in love. Henry Tilney is a rich young man and the love interest in this novel. Catherine finds him extremely fascinating and the adventures all start when she reaches Northanger Abbey, the Tilney estate which is wrought with a sadness. Catherine takes her knowledge of Gothic tales and expects the estate to be full of the same horrors and mysteries of the books.
This adaptation of Northanger Abbey, while close to the book is rather slow. As it is dated, it is hard to judge it as I would only be comparing it to the more recent version. Henry Tilney is not as attractive in this version and Catherine isn't as youthful as expected. The cast is not as well known, with the exception of a young Peter Firth (Spooks) as Henry Tilney.

Where to buy: Amazon

Northanger Abbey (2007)

This is my favourite version of Northanger Abbey. As it is a new adaptation, the cast are young, the music is more suited to the film and we get a better sense of Catherine's understanding of Gothic novels and how she connects them with her version of reality. Throughout the film, we are given short scenes from the gothic stories Catherine is reading, making the setting more intense. Felecity Jones plays the part of Catherine Morland extremely well as we can tell she is naive, yet desperate to understand life and love. JJ Feild also makes a fantastic appearance as Henry Tilney. He makes more sense for the character as he is young and intelligent and it is easy to understand why Catherine is so intrigued by him.

Where to buy: Available in-store or on Amazon.

Emma

Emma (1996)

Emma is a story about Emma Woodhouse, a rich, smart, yet naive young lady who has the goal to create romantic matches in her community. While her heart is in the right place, she can only seem to make one decent match, followed by numerous failed attempts. Thankfully, with fate in the cards, most of Emma's friend make a great match and Emma finds herself in love. The film is perfect in my opinion and I was very pleased that they cast Jeremy Northam as Mr Knightley. He always does a superb performance in period films and this simply shows why is he always cast for such a role. Gwyneth Paltrow is cast well as Emma and they are joined with an outstanding cast including Toni Collette (an Australian actress who was ironically born in my neighbourhood), Alan Cumming and Ewan McGregor. Even though this is from the 90's, It is enjoyable to watch over and over again.

Where to buy: Available in-store or on Amazon.

Emma (1996)

Released the same year as the Gwyneth Paltrow film, this version is a television adaptation. With a strong cast, including Kate Beckinsale as Emma and Mark Strong as Mr Knightley. This was a decent version, however if you watch Emma with Gwynth Paltrow, this may be a slight let down. Both 1996 versions are similar, with a few changes and varied scenes. The interesting this about this is that Emma is a brunette, where as she is a blonde in the other. It probably doesnt make a big difference but it did for me.

Where to buy: Available in-store or on Amazon.

Emma (2009)

This is a more recent BBC adaptation of Emma. Unlike the others, I do not stock this in my collection as it was not a favourite, although I have seen it on television. While it did pack an all star cast, it didn't seem to go down well with audiences. In a way, it was like a copy of the 1996 film. Cast included Romola Garai as Emma, Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) as Mr Knightley and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore-Harry Potter). After the performance by Jeremy Northam in 1996, Miller simply failed to match up, lacking in the same charisma, charm and wisdom that Mr Knightley is meant to have.

Where to buy: Amazon.

Part Two is next... including Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park.

Austen Week: Past reviews

In addition to new reviews I will be posting this week in honour of Jane Austen, I have also put together a collection of my previous Austen related reviews so that I will not be repeating them.

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
This is a wonderful and insightful Austen inspired fiction novel that plays off what every Austen addict dreams of... living the life of a Jane Austen character. It is a story about a 21st century LA girl Courtney, who heads back to Regency England and experiences life in another body, of a girl named Jane.






Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
This book does not continue from Courtney's story in the first book. In fact it is parallel to her story and is about Jane and her experience in the 21st century. What is great about this book is that it is a twist on what is usually expected of Austen fiction and you get the opportunity to see how someone from Regency England can survive our time...

Jane Austen's Little Instruction Book by Jane Austen (edited by Sophia Bedford-Pierce)
This book is an insightful little charming selection of observations from the pages of Jane Austen's novels. It is elegantly illustrated and covers various topics that would interest the reader; from relationships, simple rules, life lessons, to comments on men and women. It makes for a great little gift for a friend or Austen addict.



Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies app
This book put simply is Pride and Prejudice meets zombies! With the main storyline in place, Seth Grahame-Smith introduces some crazy zombies into the plot. It is definately appealing to the male audience.
The book is available in both paperback and hardback. The hardback is much more exciting, with additional full coloured oil painting illustrations and more zombies... if that is even possible.
The app is just as exciting, allowing readers to explore further into the book and watch illustrations come alive!

Austen Week: My Jane Austen Book Club - Jane Austen Birthday Soiree

Last week, My Jane Austen Book Club launched the Jane Austen Birthday Soiree. The Jane Austen Birthday Soiree is an exciting birthday giveaway event to celebrate Jane Austen's birthday, where bloggers have been invited to post their Austen giveaways in one location. I have run through the list and there are some extremely exciting prizes and I am speeding my way through them as we speak.

It is an international giveaway, so you are all free to enter. Head on over to My Jane Austen Book Club now for the links to enter the various giveaways.

Austen Week: Austen Authors

To start off the Austen Week, I thought I would begin with our modern day Austen Authors.

Austen Authors is a collective blog formed of popular published authors who publish Austen fiction. Some of which include Sharon Lathan, Abigail Reynolds, Monica Fairview, Cindy Jones, and Heather Rigaud. These authors do not just write fantastic Austen sequels, but they share their views on the Austen world through blog posts, events, giveaways and much more. Not only do they post, but they even engage with readers through their own blogs and the Austen Authors blog. I myself starting reading the Austen fiction after I had seen the blog. I have even sent a tweet to Sharon Lathan saying how much I loved her books and she responded instantly! They are a marvelous group of authors always willing to engage with loving readers, promoting their genre to the world.

So if you love Austen and would love to read some Austen inspired sequels or chat with the authors, then head over to Austen Authors, enter a giveaway, read a blog post or simply take a look at what sort of books they write.

Austen Week!

In honour of Jane Austen's birthday on the 16th December, I decided to run a Jane Austen week this week - full of Austen reviews, film adaptions, sequels by various authors, cover art and much much more! To top off the week, just in time for Christmas, there will be an Austen giveaway! More detail on that will come towards the end of the week.

Just to note, for those of you who leave a comment at the end of every Austen post this week, you will gain an extra entry in the giveaway and should you win, you also receive an extra special surprise!!

If you are an Austen sequel author and would like to contribute a book to the giveaway, by all means, do get in touch!

Review: The Hunters: Phanton

Goodreads Description:

The past is never far. . . .

Elena Gilbert and her friends saved Fell’s Church from evil spirits bent on destroying it, but the town’s freedom came at a price: Damon Salvatore’s life.

Damon’s death changes everything. He and his vampire brother, Stefan, had been locked in a vicious battle for Elena’s heart. Now that he’s gone, Elena and Stefan can finally be together. So why can’t Elena stop dreaming of Damon? As Elena’s feelings for Damon grow, a new darkness is brewing in Fell’s Church. Elena has been to hell and back, but this demon is like nothing she’s ever seen. Its only goal is to kill Elena and everyone she loves.

Review:
Phantom is the first book in The Hunters trilogy which continues where The Return trilogy left off. It is difficult to review this book without spoiling it and even the previous book, so I will do my best not to go into too much detail. In the slight chance of spoilers, I suggest you read The Return: Midnight first.

After the major trauma of the last trilogy, Fell's Church was completely turned on its head. There was death, action and your typical Stefan, Elena, Damon love triangle. Elena and the gang did their best to protect the town, to restore it back to how it used to be before the Kitsune came in town. Thankfully, things get back to normal... for now. We have now been thrown forward into the future where summer is coming to an end and the gang are getting ready for college.... the odd thing is, none of them recall their last year at highschool, graduating, the summer or where they are going to study... what is even more shocking is when people they knew who passed away have magically reappeared. They have some catching up to do as their lives went on without them even being there.

While it was great to continue on with my favourite series, I felt this book was a great let down. It was rather slow and I found myself wanting to skip pages just to finish it. In the beginning, I had forgotten that L.J.Smith was no longer writing the series so I didn't approach it with a negative opinion. However, it is easy to notice this book is different. Characters have new personalities and Stefan is no longer the loving and kind vampire, instead he appears to be the annoying rude Stefan who is controlled by Klaus in the tv series.

Final Comments:
In comparison to the entire Vampire Diaries series, this book is a let down. There are some enjoyable parts of the book and a bit of action from supernatural beings, but it is not a page turner. It is interesting to see the relationship between some characters progress, such as with Meredith and Alaric, and even the introduction of new characters. If however you are a big fan of the series, I do suggest you give it a shot to see how it turns out.

Release Date: November 2011
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Author: Ghostwriter (L.J Smith)

I would love to hear your opinions on the book.. so please do share them.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies App

Back in August I wrote a review for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the famous book that combines one of Jane Austens best work and well, Zombies. Take a look back at the review if you want to know more.
The great thing about this book is that it comes in many formats, paperback, hardback and a graphic novel. What is even more interesting is that there is now an interactive app! I have yet to check it out myself but I stumbled across it at another blog (vvb32 reads) and thought I would share it for any of you interested in how some books are turned into awesome apps.

You can find more info on the app at Quirk Books site.
Take a look at the preview of the app below:


If you already have the app, do post a comment below as I would love to hear your opinion on it and perhaps share it with everyone else.

For those interested in the book, you can also win a copy of it at vvb32 reads blog.