Period Drama Ending Tournament - First Poll

The results are in, and I've listed our nominees in order of nomination and seconded nomination.  I felt this was the only fair way to do it, but I'll admit I was quite peeved that most of my favorites ended up competing against each other.  Sigh.  At any rate, here they are.

1. Emma (2009)

2. Pride and Prejudice (1995)

3. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

4. Cranford

5. Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

6. Little Women (1994)

7. North and South

8. The Sound of Music

9. Ever After

(Note: I vaguely know Ever After's storyline, but I have no idea if this
picture is actually from the ending or not, as I haven't actually seen the film.)

10. The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

11. Sense and Sensibility (2008)

(so this isn't actually the last scene, but I couldn't find a picture of the last scene.
Plus, this one made me giggle because of the look on Edward's face.)

12. Wives and Daughters

13. Little Dorrit 

14. The Young Victoria

15. Nicholas Nickleby (2001)

via

16. Les Miserables (2012)

I realize there is more to the Les Mis finale than Enjolras.  Like, you know, the rest of Les Amis.
But see, they're there-- some of them.  Courfeyrac on the left and Grantaire on the right.  

17. Master and Commander

(Note: I have not seen, nor do I know very much about any part of Master and Commander,
and I don't know how it ends, so here is a picture of Russell Crowe standing in front of water.)

17. Northanger Abbey

18. Our Mutual Friend

Final episode of Our Mutual Friend, also known as "John Needs a Doctor"

19. Bright Star 

20. Return to Cranford

This was nominated but never seconded-- however, I love the ending so I took
the hostess' privilege and seconded it myself so we'd have an even 20.

Please go vote in the polls on the sidebar!  They will remain up until next Wednesday.

And That's All There Is... There Isn't Any More

{announcing Yet Another Period Drama Blog's first Period Drama Ending Tournament with a quote from a children's book, not announcing my cessation from blogging.  Didn't want to scare anyone there.  Bonus points that aren't actually worth anything if you can name the book.}

I've had great fun reading through all your lovely comments on the topic of North and South since my recent post on the matter, and practically everyone seems to agree that the Northbound Train scene is one of the best in the movie.  Well, for a while now I've been pondering which period drama ending scene could be considered the best... and so I'm asking all of you.

On Valentine's Day, Melody posted a Jane Austen movie endings throwdown in which readers of her blog voted for the best Jane Austen movie ending (yes, thank you, Mary).  Emma 2009 ended up winning, and I--who voted for Emma 2009, by the way-- ended up commenting to say that I'd had a very similar idea and wasn't it amazing how similarly our minds work.   The reason I'm telling you all this is a) because I find it amusing how often Melody and I have the same ideas about things and b) so that you won't think I stole her idea, because I didn't.

Anyway.  On to the tournament.  The way it works is simple.  You comment on this post with a nomination for Best Period Drama Ending, along with the reason why you think the ending is so good.  You can nominate as many films as you like (provided they are all period dramas).  The catch is that in order for an ending to be included in the tournament, at least two people must nominate it.  So if you check the comments and find that someone else has already nominated P&P95, for instance, you should just say, "I second the nomination of P&P95," and bingo, P&P95 gets entered.  Clear as a clear thing?  Good.

So... start nominating!  The comment box will be open until Saturday the 16th at 6 PM, and later that night (or on Monday if I don't get to it then) I'll post the polls.

February PDC Tag Answers

I'm linking up to Miss Laurie's Period Drama Challenge tag questions again, and this time I feel justified in doing so because I've actually reviewed a movie since the beginning of the year.  (There will be more reviews coming soon... it's a bit embarrassing to realize I'm almost halfway through the time allotted for the challenge and have only reviewed one movie!)

1. What period dramas have you watched in February?

Let's see... I began Season Two of Lark Rise to Candleford (need to review Season One...), saw Ivanhoe (1982) with my sister Anne-girl, saw Our Mutual Friend (1998) with Anne-girl (though we finished it on March 5th) and began Emma (2009) with all three of my sisters--our second viewing!  It warms the cockles of my heart to see my little sisters loving Jane Austen.  :D

2. How many Charles Dickens adaptations have you seen?

Not quite as many as I would like! In alphabetical order...

A Christmas Carol (1984)
Bleak House (2005)
Great Expectations (1999)
Little Dorrit (2008)
Muppets Christmas Carol (1992)
Oliver! (1968) {yes, the musical counts!}
Our Mutual Friend (1998)

I've also seen a live stage play of Oliver Twist at a local middle school which was remarkably well-done, but I can't really count that among film adaptations. ;)

3. Do you prefer heroes that are spotless wealthy gentlemen or gritty hardworking men?

Hmmm, great question!  I actually discussed this with a friend not too long ago, and I'd have to say that I prefer a mix of the two.  My favorite literary heroes are Mr. Knightley from Emma, Sir Percy from The Scarlet Pimpernel and Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables, and each in his own way is a gentleman (well, duh-- a hero has to be a real gentleman or he's not a hero.  Period.).  Mr. Knightley probably falls most easily into the category of "spotlessly wealthy" yet he's not afraid to get his hands dirty and as Miss Laurie pointed out, he's one of the hardest working gentlemen in fiction!  Sir Percy, too, is not only a member of the landed gentry but he also has impeccable taste in clothes and on the surface appears to be the perfect mindless coxcomb-- but of course anyone who knows TSP is giggling her head off and rolling her eyes over the idea of Percy being a mindless coxcomb.  I mean, just look at the famous Chase Scene from the movie.  Percy doesn't shy away from gritty, hard work.  And Gilbert's a farmer, for Pete's sake.  But at the same time he also knows how to behave in Polite Society (okay, so his manners at the Christmas Eve ball leave something to be desired) and the fellow can tie his own cravat.

So, yes, I prefer heroes that can be both.

4. Do you tend to prefer heroines that are sweet and gentle or adventurous and spunky?

Again, I prefer a mix of the two.  I like a heroine with some backbone to her (but someone who's a total brat like Scarlett O'Hara doesn't even deserve a mention) who is kind and compassionate to others.  Anne Shirley, Elinor Dashwood, Jane Eyre, Molly Gibson and Amy Dorrit come to mind (and yes, Amy does have a spine, believe it or not!).

5. Do you enjoy listening to period drama soundtracks? Do you own any?

Indubitably! I love period drama soundtracks!  Movie soundtracks in general make for lovely listening... I have a few Pandora stations based on soundtracks from movies I haven't even seen (I'm quite fond of Concerning Hobbits and The Riders of Rohan from LOTR, and the Star Wars themes are great for when you want something exciting).  I only own the soundtracks to Pride and Prejudice (the real deal, of course), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and our family owns The Civil War soundtrack (the Ken Burns film) but for some reason I can't find it anywhere... I've gone through all our CD cases and it hasn't turned up.  Sigh.  But anyways, I also love the soundtracks for Emma (2009), the themes from Little Dorrit (2008) and TSP (1982) and the entire soundtrack from The Young Victoria.

Next review coming up... all four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster.  Fancy bumping into YOU, Basingstoke!

North and South Review

"Reckon I'll leave my brains at home, then."

~Nicholas Higgins, episode four

Where do I begin?

I'm hesitant to write this review because I know so many of you adore North and South.  In period drama-loving-circles, it seems to be one of the best-loved stories in the history of the BBC.  I mean, the movie has everything.  Romantic tension.  Political tension.  Familial tension.  Tension between friends.   (Hmmm, do I spot a theme?  Should we maybe rename the movie Lots of Stress and Practically Everyone Dies?)  It's a sweeping story.  It's tearjerking.  It's giggle-worthy (though not as much as some other period dramas I could name... Emma, anyone?).  It's passionate.  It's fascinating.  And I really do like it.

Just not as much as I feel I ought to.

It's not my favorite period drama.  It's not even on my top five list.  Maybe top ten, but maybe not.  ( don't particularly like making lists.)  And so I'm afraid I may offend some of you with this review, because I know some of you love this movie much more than I do.  So please, take my silly ramblings with a grain of salt.  Let me give my take on N&S, and if you so desire, feel free to leave yours in the comment box.  But hey, it's a free country, and you may laugh as much as you chuse, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.

Anyways.  We shall proceed.

Oh, and as usual, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.  Proceed with caution.

I'm reviewing my second viewing of North and South, you must understand, and I must say I'm glad it's my second time around.  Because if I'd written this after my first viewing, I wouldn't have looked on Margaret so favorably as I do now.  But now I've read the book twice and seen the movie twice, and Margaret has jumped far higher in my estimation since my first encounter with her.   Daniela Denby-Ashe might not look like the Margaret described in the book, but I think she fits the part perfectly.  Unfortunately there are some parts in the movie (most notably Mr. Thornton's first proposal and that early scene where she wouldn't shake his hand) where she seems like a real snob, but I think that can really only be blamed on the page-to-screen transition.  Margaret's emotions are vividly expressed in the book, while the movie can only show so much of what she's thinking and feeling.  And the book does say that Margaret has a haughty appearance, so we can forgive Daniela Denby-Ashe for looking a bit snobby at certain times.  

I love how she's not as drop-dead gorgeous as some other period drama heroines I could name.  She's certainly beautiful, but not in a particularly stunning way.  Margaret strikes me as being a very normal heroine, and I like that.  She doesn't do anything particularly stupendous in the course of the story (other than pulling an Eponine during the riot scene...) and she stays at home and takes care of her family.  On the surface, she might actually seem a bit boring.  Yet, polite and genteel as she may be, she also knows her own mind and isn't afraid to speak up about something that bothers her.  She's the kind of heroine who matures and changes as the story unfolds, and that's my favorite kind of protagonist.

Richard Armitage is Mr. Thornton.   The End.  No one else could ever play the part to perfection the way he does.  North country accent, check.  Tall, dark and handsome, check.  Middle-distance smolder, check.  Manages to make the character tremendously likable despite his many flaws, check.  

Yes, I just said "many flaws."  I know Mr. Thornton has a huge fan following, but let's be honest: he's not perfect.  The man has a decent amount of pride and a pretty hot temper: he's actually rather brutal in that first scene in the factory.  (And yes, I realize that Stephens could have burnt the whole factory down and Mr. Thornton had a right to be furious, but throwing him to the ground and kicking him?  That's going a bit too far.)  Sure, we get to know him better as the story moves along, and I firmly believe that he actually changes a bit after he meets Margaret, but he's no Mr. Knightley.  *ducks and covers head*  I know I'm going to get some flak for this, but... well, I've never been afraid of opinionated comments.  *rubs hands gleefully*  Bring it on, ladies.  I have a caps lock too, you know.  

Humor aside, I really do like Mr. Thornton.  No, I mean that.  I do.  He's a great guy and his character and integrity are hard to match.  I feel awful for him during the failed proposal scene.  I admire him for refusing to speculate and risk hurting hundreds of employees.  He's a wonderful character... but I'm just not as impressed as I probably ought to be.  Maybe it's the fact that he's a little heavy on the melodrama.   I do my share of melting at the "Nobody cares for me except you, Mother" line, but when you think about it, he does come across as a bit... angsty.  And all the staring into the middle distance and here-comes-the-smoldering is well and good, but it gets old.  

And this picture cracks me up.  Just saying.

Nicholas and Bessy Higgins are two of my favorite characters in the movie-- they're much more likable than they are in the book.  In the book, Nicholas comes across as a bit of a loutish oaf--at least at first--who has no interests beyond going to the pub and stirring up trouble between the workers and the mill owners.  In the movie, he's a caring and compassionate father who truly wants to do what's best for his own family and for his coworkers, with as little trouble as possible.  Some people say Nicholas is the real hero of N&S.  I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say he replaces Mr. Thornton (for all my fun-poking, I really do think he's a great hero), but Nicholas certainly has an awful lot of heroic qualities.  He's a bit rough around the edges, but his heart is, as they say, in the right place.  (I've heard that expression a hundred times, but never yet heard it said of a mean person that his heart was in the wrong place... just saying.)  He takes in Boucher's children after Boucher's death (um, you didn't think there wouldn't be spoilers, right?) and doesn't brag about it to anyone.  Even after it's a certain thing that Mr. Thornton's going to lose his mill, Nicholas stays after hours and does extra work because it needs to be done.

Bessy Higgins is much more pleasant in the movie as well.  Maybe it's just because I grew up on Elsie Dinsmore and have had it up to here with brain-fevered, patiently-suffering heroines, but Bessy's character in the book drove me nuts.  Yes, yes, it's wonderful that you're dying of TB and thinking of nothing but heaven, but if you could stop gushing about it every other minute in a dialect nobody can understand without a glossary at the back, we'd appreciate it, thankyouverymuch and have a nice day.  Bessy in the movie has a bit more backbone and a sense of humor.  She's still sickly, but that's not her fault (and to be fair, it's not the book-Bessy's fault either).   Bessy's death is probably the most heartbreaking part of the whole movie.  My sisters and I joke that Elizabeth Gaskell stories could all be renamed Funeral Parade, and N&S is no exception.  Is it really necessary to have someone die in every episode?  (actually I don't think anyone dies in the first episode... but Margaret, that is NOT the POINT.)

Mrs. Thornton... is amazing.  I liked her from the start, which was a change from the book because I don't like her very much in the book at all.  She's so courageous in the movie, such a strong person, and even though she's not exactly kind to everyone at first meeting, you get the feeling right away that you're looking at a heroine of sorts.  Without her, Mr. Thornton wouldn't be the man he is.  Without her, Fanny might be a billion times worse (perish the thought).  One of my favorite lines of hers is when she says that if Margaret had accepted Mr. Thornton's first proposal, she would have tried to love her for his sake.  Talk about a sacrifice--she hates Margaret! But, after all, "a mother's love holds fast and forever. A girl's love is like a puff of smoke - it changes with every wind."

Speaking of Fanny Thornton-- this girl is hilarious.  She provides some much-needed comic relief (N&S is probably the most somber of all Elizabeth Gaskell's works) and she has some of the most quotable lines in the movie.  "London and the Alhambra.  They are the two places I long to see."  "Believe me, I almost fainted! I thought they were going to knock down the door and murder us all!"  And I love how Mr. Thornton shuts her up every time.  "You were in no danger."  Anne-girl and I agree that the best part in the whole movie is when she's playing the piano upstairs and Mr. Thornton comes in, gets his coat, and looks skyward for just an instant as Fanny caterwauls.  How he (and his mother) ever put up with her for twenty-something years is a mystery beyond human comprehension.

Oh, and while we're talking about fun characters we mustn't forget dear Ann Latimer.  Do not underestimate Ann Latimer.    It takes a great deal of wit and fortitude to communicate only by blinking, you know.  And the occasional nod.

Also Henry Lennox.  Poor Henry Lennox.  Doomed to be the character nobody likes simply by dint of being the guy nobody wants to marry.  He and Ann Latimer should get together.  He can teach her how to talk and she can teach him how to smile.

Rambling on, rambling on... let's see, what next?  Favorite scenes, perhaps?  I love the part where Margaret bumps into the Thorntons at the exhibition.  Tension, snobbery, Mr. Thornton getting the better of everyone, Henry being annoying and of course Fanny being hilarious. As usual.  "Ugh.  John is such a stick in the mud."

I usually get a bit annoyed when characters misunderstand each other in books and movies, but oddly enough I don't get irritated in N&S, even when John and Margaret are behaving so coldly toward each other after Frederick's mysterious visit.  Perhaps this is because I'm comparing the movie to the book (it's obsessive-compulsive, I can't help it!), and if it is, there's a good reason.  The misunderstandings and the tension and the Orczy-worthy mental anguish sloshing around in the book are wondrous to behold, and by the time Mr. Thornton finally finds out the truth about Margaret's brother, the poor reader is too exhausted to appreciate the fact.  It seems that everything that could happen to prevent Mr. Thornton from finding out Margaret's innocence of wrongdoing DOES happen in the book, and it's a nice change of pace when Nicholas just randomly springs the news about Frederick on him in the movie.  (Did that paragraph make any sense?)

And... here we are.  The ending scene.  Also known as the Northbound Train scene.   The scene that well may be the most famous period drama ending ever.  It's beautiful, it's romantic, it's a perfect finale to a splendid miniseries, and IT DRIVES ME INSANE THAT MR. THORNTON'S SHIRT IS UNBUTTONED.  The fact that they're kissing in public makes me want to pull my hair out too.  But the shirt collar is worse.  No, no, no, no and no.  A gentleman of Mr. Thornton's status and prestige wouldn't have been caught dead outside without his cravat, whether or not the love of his life was passing in another train.  It just wouldn't have happened, okay?  Ugh.

There, now I've had a good rant and temporarily quelled my desire to put a Post-it note on the TV screen over the offending collar the next time I see the movie.

Griping aside, it really is a lovely scene, and does justice to the scene in the book-- dare I say I even like it better?  But the whole thing would be so much nicer without Henry messing it all up.  If he didn't have to be there at the end, it would all be so much more romantical.  Oh, well, at least Margaret didn't follow through with her threat of needing Henry to help explain her business proposition.  If Henry had helped to explain, I think the story might have ended rather differently.

Don't you?

I give N&S four out of five stars.  It's not my favoritest of favorite period dramas, but I do truly like it. And after all, I can't help the fact that I don't appreciate it as much as some people do.  I suppose it is because I am not musical and have never read The Alhambra.

P.S. North and South is available for purchase on Amazon, in case that is news to anyone, and if you click on that there link just below to purchase it, Amazon sends me money in exchange for pointing you in their general direction. Just sayin'.

Where's Miss Dashwood?

This blog has been... well... quiet of late.  Period drama reviews are scarcer than scarce things.  Posts about literary characters... say what?  We don't even remember those.  Whoever writes this blog has been flying in and out like a tornado in a trailer park.  "Hi toys!  Bye toys!"  (Apparently she's been watching too many Pixar movies.)  

So where's Miss Dashwood these days if she's not here?

She's catching up on emails and phone calls with friends.

She's reading Pride and Prejudice out loud to her second-youngest sister.

She's teaching an American history class every week (and has had it up to here with the Stamp Act.  Do not mention the Stamp Act to her at this time.).

She's babysitting a squirming bundle of adorableness every week for six hours at a time.

She's finishing her senior year of high school.

She's writing fiction in her spare time.

She's reveling in the delights of Our Mutual Friend with her sister the Anne-girl.

She's studying for her driver's permit.

She's helping her friend Melody run the P&P95Forever Club.

She's working on a bunch of blog posts in draft.  Heh.  Well, sometimes.

She's sewing like mad.  Well, when she has time.  Which isn't that often.  But she does it whenever she can.  Because she's finally launched her own business.  She's on Etsy--not with much, as yet, but there nonetheless.  Here.

Is she a has-been around here?

Absolutely not.   North and South will be reviewed on here. Very soon.  As will Ivanhoe and Our Mutual Friend and all four seasons of Jeeves and Wooster.  And Les Mis (the brick).  And she'll be spouting off presently about why Jo March and Laurie Laurence should not have gotten married, and why the ending of Little Women is just as it should be.  

For now, though, she's just popping in to tell you she isn't dead.  To thank you for being patient, for sticking with her, for leaving comments and being the lovely followers and friends that you are.  (And for putting up with her pointless use of the third person in this post).  And to direct you to this post by a friend of hers, a post which she is absolutely on-her-honor NOT copy-catting right here and now.  No. Never.   Don't even imagine it.

The results are in...

...and my Classics Club spin book is 1984 by George Orwell.

Well, whoop-de-do and Tyler too.

I'll confess I was a bit disappointed when I saw that #14 had been picked and that I'd be reading one of the books in my ho-hum section-- and to be honest, I'm a little scared to attempt this book.  But I said I'd abide by the rules, and abide by the rules I will.  Animal Farm wasn't that bad, after all-- I can survive 1984.

What did you end up with, now that the spin has spun?

Single? Really?

You guys! It's a holiday today! And you all know what THAT means.

*crickets*

Sigh.  It means that Amy ditches this blog's normal fare of Jane Austen and Les Miserables and writes Deep Stuff that pertains to the holiday in the hopes of convincing someone that she really does think about things other than balls at Netherfield and Regency fashions and Marius Pontmercy.  (See here.)

So.  Today we talk about hearts full of love.  (And I'm totally NOT going to drag Les Mis into this. I promise.)  Today is Valentine's Day, and most people over the age of ten are either A) celebrating the day with a Significant Other or B) bewailing the fact that they don't actually have a Significant Other.  Then there are people who honestly don't care that it's Valentine's Day (so I suppose that's C) and then there's the final group.  D group is made up of people who aren't romantically attached but aren't about to let that spoil their enjoyment of a fun holiday lots of chocolate.

Maybe I'm just noticing it more this year since I'm older than I was last year (thank you for pointing that out, my dear) but it does seem as though everywhere you turn, someone's making a joke about Singleness Awareness Day.  Or bemoaning the fact that they're celebrating V-Day alone.  Or saying how much they love being "single."  I've made my own plethora of jokes along those lines (spinsters unite, and all that) but to be honest... am I really single?

I mean, the world's definition of "single" is "someone who isn't romantically involved with another person."  I'd add a qualifier--"and someone who is actually old enough to be romantically involved with another person."  (Because a thirteen-year-old dramatically wailing, "When will my Prince Charming arrive?  I want a boyfriend soooooooooo bad!" is not the kind of person I'm talking about here.)  I'm not quite sure I'd think of myself as someone who is actually old enough, heh, so there you have it. I'm not single.  I'm just a kid.  Good, we wrapped that up pretty quickly.  Now I'm off to eat chocolate.

...Okay, well, you're not getting off that easily because I actually do have more to say.  I don't consider myself single.  Not just because I don't think I'm old enough yet, but also because... I'm not.

I have a family.  An amazing family.  The best-ever mother and father, three beautiful sisters and one hilarious brother.  I have friends.  Many friends.  Wonderful friends.   The only thing I don't have is a boyfriend.  And you know what?  That's okay.  At this point in my life, I don't want a boyfriend.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't become a rip-roaring feminist who shrieks to the world that she doesn't need a man to be happy and successful and fulfilled in life.  I do want a wonderful man to come along someday for me.  I'm just saying that I'm not single.  I'm surrounded by loving people, for pity's sake!  If I were single, I'd be without a home and without a friend and without a face to say hello to.  People are made to be dependent on each other, and I'm incredibly blessed to have a godly and supportive family and a warm circle of friends.  Alone this Valentine's Day?  Me?  Are you kidding?  No one sent me flowers, chocolates or promises he didn't intend to keep today.  No, today I got handmade paper hearts from my sisters and brother (and lots of chocolate, so I kind of lied in the last sentence, but I had to complete the quote) and a gorgeous old-fashioned valentine from a dear friend.  (A female friend, people.)

Now don't start misunderstanding this post.  I do not have a problem with the term "single," nor do I have a problem with people making jokes about their relationships (or lacks thereof).  I'm just saying that I don't have anything to complain about this Valentine's Day.  I didn't spend the morning drifting about the house and soulfully rendering "On My Own." (I'll do that tomorrow when I vacuum the upstairs, never fear.)  No, today I put the finishing touches on handmade cards for my family and did an impromptu version of "Circle of Life" with my siblings while we were supposed to be cleaning up after breakfast.   And at lunchtime I exchanged valentines with my family members and laughed myself sick over my sisters' demonstration of talent.  (Seriously.  How many romantic Prince Charmings out there are going to send valentines with Adventures in Odyssey quotes and hand-drawn original cartoons carefully rendered thereon?)

I'm not single, and I'm not going to die (um... to  all of you wrinkling your brows... it's a quote.  My sister will laugh.  Petie and Eowyn will too, I think).  Isn't that revolutionary?
How about you?

...Eh, well, forget all that I said up there, okay?  Because that picture you see above sums it all up much better.  Obviously, I am not content with being unattached.  I am, of course, unhappily in love.  Just ask my mom.

Let's Go For a Spin

"...take your turn, take a ride on the merry-go-round..."

~Masquerade, Phantom of the Opera

(I find it amusing that this girl is neglecting her needlework
in favor of a book.  Ahem.  Cough.)

The Classics Club is sponsoring a Classics Spin from now until April 1st.  The rules are simple--list twenty books from your Classics Club list in a separate post on your blog and number them.  They can be any twenty books you choose.  I've separated mine into four categories, as you can see below.  On Monday the 18th they'll announce a number over at the Club, and the assignment is to read whatever book corresponds to that number before April 1st.

I'm in!

I'm posting these here because I want to keep myself accountable-- if the number turns out to be, say, 19 and I'm stuck with Moby Dick, I want Moby Dick to be listed ast #19 on my blog so I can't back out and rearrange my list at the last minute.  :D So, in essence, you are all holding me to this list.   *dramatically lays hand over heart*  I shall not fail you, my friends.

Re-reads
1. Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
2. Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens)
3. El Dorado (Baroness Orczy)
4. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
5.  Eight Cousins (Louisa May Alcott)

New Reads I'm Excited About
6. Lorna Doone (Richard Blackmore)
7. A Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
8. Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
9. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
10. The Sword in the Stone (T. H. White)

Not Particularly Excited, But Not Dreading
11. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (Anne Bronte)
12. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Victor Hugo)
13. He Knew He Was Right (Anthony Trollope)
14. 1984 (George Orwell)
15. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)

Viewing With Some Trepidation
16. The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
17. Far From the Madding Crowd (Thomas Hardy)
18. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
19. Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
20. Daniel Deronda (George Eliot)

Will you be spinning with me?

Period Dramas, Blog Parties and Valentines Gone Wrong

We strive towards a larger goal... those little games don't count at all!

The picture placed strategically above these words has nothing to do with this post.  It simply informs the world that I have zero interest in football, a fact which you probably already knew, but I had to include that picture here because I burst out laughing every time I see it. (I am told that the Crows won the Super Bowl.  Or maybe it was the Rooks.  Some kind of large, flappy, ugly birds.  Whatever.)

At any rate, today I shall be answering the lovely Miss Laurie's Period Drama Challenge tag questions.  I signed up to participate in the PDC about a month ago, and the idea is simple: choose a certain number of period dramas to watch between January and July, and review each one.  They don't have to be films you've never seen before, but they do have to be films you've never reviewed before.  I chose to do 10 films, and though I haven't done any reviews yet (cough...) I'm participating in the tag because it looks fun.



1. What period dramas have you watched in January?

Jeeves and Wooster (season four), Lark Rise to Candleford (season one, almost done) and North and South (the whole thing).

2. Do you prefer period dramas peppered with humor or laced with dark emotions?

A combination of both.  Humor is always good ("TAKE IT, EAT IT") but I like a bit of drama now and again pretty much all the time.

3. What was the first period drama miniseries (two episodes or longer) that you ever watched?

Pride and Prejudice (1995).  I saw Anne of Green Gables long before that, but I'm not sure if that one really counts.

4. How many Jane Austen adaptations have you seen?

Nine.  P&P95, Sense and Sensibility (both recent versions), Persuasion (both recent versions), Mansfield Park (1983), Northanger Abbey (2007), Emma (1996 Miramax) and Emma (2009 BBC).  Oh, and I've seen the Wishbone episode "Pup Fiction" which is based on Northanger Abbey, but I don't suppose that counts.

5. What period drama, that you haven't seen before, are you most looking forward to seeing in the future?

Ivanhoe (1982).  My sister and I are planning to watch it next Saturday... I haven't read the book yet, but she has, and I know the basic story, and-- forget all that.  ANTHONY ANDREWS AND OLIVIA HUSSEY.
Ahem.

In other news...

Jessica is hosting a Literary Valentine contest over at her blog this week, and since I can't resist such things, I made a wee Les-Mis-themed entry.  I thought about making a Jane Austen card, but decided that I had more opportunity for humor with Enjolras, so... here ya go.

Yes, well, the poor chap's not the romantic sort.   (Kudos to people who can identify Patria.)

And to top it all off, Kellie is hosting her third annual Literary Heroine Blog Party! This will be my third year participating (the first year was when I had a private blog) and I'm quite excited.  Do hop over to her blog and take a peek at the festivities from February 16-28!

The Classics Club: North and South

Today, I have a confession to make.  A little one, yes, but a confession nonetheless.

I was hesitant--really, really hesitant--to join the Classics Club.

My sister went before me.  And though she's younger than me, in many ways I behave like the younger sister.  "If Anne-girl's going to do it, then I'm gonna do it too."  She put her name on the Classics Club membership roll, made a list of fifty or so titles, and started reading.  And since she did it, I took the plunge and did it too.  And then... I kinda-sorta started to regret my decision.

Don't get me wrong; I love classic literature.  Reading books is one of my passions.  It wasn't the reading that made me fidgety-- it was the reviewing.  Because I can't stand writing book reviews.  Being objective is practically impossible for me when I'm talking about a book I love, and trying to make the story sound interesting to others without spoiling it is... um.... not my strong point.  And so each and every book post I've written since joining the Club has been... well... difficult.

My dear Melody and I read North and South together during the month of November (okay, so I overlapped a wee bit into December... your point?) and though I thoroughly enjoyed it, all the time I kept thinking in the back of my mind, "I'm going to have to review this on my blog when I finish..."  Not liking the prospect, I put it off and put it off.

And then earlier this week I read a fantastic (yes, truly fantastic) post by Mabel, a fellow book blogger and Classics Clubber.  Her blog is private, so I won't link to it here, but if she's reading this I just want her to know that she made my week.  Because this fantastic post she wrote was all about writing one's thoughts about a book as opposed to writing an objective review, and how both approaches are perfectly acceptable.  

"For me," Mabel says, "expressing that beauty [of discovering people through literature] is the thing. Fumbling through it, journaling, shooting out half-baked ideas and questions about books. That’s so much more fulfilling to me than analysis, which absolutely contributes to the journey for me — but is by no means the soul of it. I know that analysis can allow us to see books from different perspectives. But the human factor, the emotion, the intuition, the visceral reaction, the journey! It’s vital. To dismiss it as unimportant to the literary conversation goes against everything I believe literature stands for.

Thank you, Mabel. That was completely what I needed to hear.  I've been trying all this time to write left-brained reviews for the Classics Club and pushing off my impressions of the books because they didn't sound focused enough to be truly good.  I mean, who wants to read my personal opinion on books?  If people are looking for a book review, they want to know the bare bones of the story (premise only, no spoilers) and how long it is and whether there are any boring parts.  Right?  Right??

Eh, maybe not.  Maybe not always.  After all, that's not the kind of review I look for.  I like to know what people think of books, what parts they liked best and which character they identified the most.  Why shouldn't I write reviews that fit that bill?

So today I bring you my thoughts and impressions of North and South.  If you haven't yet read the book and are looking for a good review to determine whether you want to read it or not, this isn't the post for you.  But if you, like me, have read N&S and enjoyed it, then please do stick around and add your two cents.

I think the most outstanding aspect of this N&S reread (and I'm using the word in the sense of "something that really stood out") was Margaret Hale's character.  I felt that I got to know her far, far better this time around than I did the first time, and certainly better than I would have if I had only seen the movie.  For though the movie's portrayal of her is excellent, there are certain wee Margaret-details that got lost in the translation from book to movie.  So little of Margaret's inner struggle during the Hales' uprooting (uprootment?) from Helstone is shown in the movie, yet the book deals with her feelings quite unflinchingly.   I felt myself identifying with Margaret so much more in the book than I ever could in the movie.

Take the hand-shaking scene, for another example.  Sure, in the movie there's a wee explanation after the fact about how Margaret wasn't accustomed to taking a gentleman's hand like that.  But it still rather looks as if she's just being haughty.  In the book, however, the real circumstances are made quite clear.  "It was the frank familiar custom of the place, but Margaret was not prepared for it.  She simply bowed her farewell; although the instant she saw the hand, half put out, quickly drawn back, she was sorry she had not been aware of the intention."

"Quiet strength" was the phrase that kept coming to mind when I read about Margaret.  And I think that very well may be the attribute I admire most in a heroine.  Elinor Dashwood comes to mind when I think of that phrase; so do Amy Dorrit, Esther Summerson, even Anne Shirley to a certain extent.  Because quiet doesn't necessarily mean silent.  Margaret, indeed, is pretty outspoken.  Yet she remains a lady no matter what: gracious, dependable, anything but a wimp or shrinking violet, yet feminine.  That's what a heroine ought to be.

Mr. Thornton, too, was more likable in the book-- NO NO STOP THROWING ROCKS.  I DO NOT MEAN THAT HE IS NOT LIKABLE IN THE MOVIE.  I only meant that I got to know him better in the book, that I understood where he was coming from, so to speak.  I liked how Mrs. Gaskell shows us things from his point of view now and again.  I tend to get annoyed with narrative in contemporary fiction that switches back and forth between the hero and the heroine, but in this case it didn't annoy me at all.  (Though I must say, things that annoy me in "modern books" almost never seem to annoy me when it comes to older books.  Either I'm a snob or they Just Don't Write the Way They Used To.  Take your choice.)  I think I may write a post entirely about Mr. Thornton sometime soon-- I seem to have a great deal to say about him, and not much space for it today.

Henry Lennox is also dealt with more gently in the book than in the movie.  I abhor his character in the movie.  One gets the feeling that if he really HAD helped Margaret to explain her business proposition, it might have been "explained" a wee bit differently and with, perhaps, some more violence than she had bargained for.  (Um. Sorry. Inside joke.)  In the book, he's a genuinely nice young man who is interested in Margaret because he likes her, not because... well, in the movie there really isn't any reason for him to like Margaret because their relationship is too rushed.  (Why is this post suddenly becoming a book-to-movie comparison?  Maybe because my entire life is made up of book-to-movie comparisons.  I need to find a new hobby.)  The Henry Lennox who appeared in my head when I read about him looks somewhat like Benedict Cumberbatch in a top hat, not a scowling koala with caterpillar sideburns.   I want the Henry Lennox of the book to have a happy ending with some other nice girl (not Margaret.  Obviously).  I want the Henry Lennox of the book to end up with Ann Latimer.  Evidently, something was lost in the translation from book to movie.

However, I do prefer Mrs. Thornton's characterization in the movie.  In the book, she's too stern, too unbending, too proud and prejudiced.  I have a grudging respect for her in the book, I suppose, but we see too little of her tender relationship with her son for me to truly like her the way I do in the movie.   In the movie you get the feeling that she will eventually love and accept Margaret for John's sake-- in the book, Margaret's last line does not exactly convey that idea.  "Hush, or I shall try and show you your mother's indignant tones as she says, 'That woman!'"

All in all, though, I have to return to my broken recording recurring theme-- the book is always better.  Always.

Just go read it.