the one that got away

I know we’re almost at the end of summer, but if you need one last read for the beach or the Labor Day weekend, I’ve got the perfect recommendation. Melissa Pimentel’s The One That Got Away is a funny and fairly adorable modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. It’s a touching, feel-good story, and a must-read for anyone who has watched Austen adaptations with a smidge of envy.

Ruby and Ethan were perfect for each other. Until the day they suddenly weren't.

Now, ten years later, Ruby is single, having spent the last decade focusing on her demanding career and hectic life in Manhattan. There's barely time for a trip to England for her little sister's wedding. And there's certainly not time to think about what it will be like to see Ethan again, who just so happens to be the best man.

But as the family frantically prepare for the big day, Ruby can't help but wonder if she made the right choice all those years ago. Because there is nothing like a wedding for stirring up the past…

Ruby is a New York career woman through and through, and she’s mostly content with her life. However, with her best friend decamped to New Jersey with baby #2 on the way and her younger sister about to be married in a castle in the UK, she’s reevaluating some things – and worried about seeing her successful ex Ethan at the wedding. What follows is a then-and-now tale of love, loss, and figuring it all out again years after the fact.

Given that Pimentel’s novel is a retelling of Persuasion, you can likely guess the ending. That doesn’t mean that there weren’t some unexpected twists and turns along the way though – this is a thoroughly updated version. I won’t say any more, because I think this book deserves to preserve the surprises it does have.

Beyond the plot, it’s clever and entertaining, and I found myself chuckling several times, or at least smiling down at the book with gentle amusement. Pimentel knows her audience and her pop culture, and I think she infuses the right amount of cute into a familiar storyline without edging over into sappy. I very much enjoyed The One That Got Away.

Now, I do want to be fair and mention things that brought me out of the story a bit, though they didn’t dampen my enjoyment: the first chapter is a bit of a slow set-up, and you have to just push through it and get adjusted to Ruby’s first-person narration. Don’t worry, she’s intelligent and unpretentious, and if you’re anything like me you’ll end up liking her immensely. The second thing is that the book is set up in Then chapters and Now chapters, so you slide between Ruby’s first person present and third person from the past. Third thing: there are several Briticisms scattered about that I don’t imagine would naturally be flowing through an American’s head. But, as the book was published first in the UK, this does not surprise me. And as I mentioned, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.

In all, The One That Got Away is a satisfying, charming read with a heroine to root for and the perfect dose of English scenery.

Recommended for: fans of modern Jane Austen adaptations, and anyone who likes light, smart, and funny women’s fiction, à la Marian Keyes.

The One That Got Away will be released by St. Martin’s Press on August 22, 2017.

Fine print: I received a finished copy of this book for review consideration. I did not receive any compensation for this post. 

waiting on wednesday (72)

Today I’m participating in "Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Its purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

I'm trying, contemporary young adult (romance), I really am.  I want to start liking you as a genre again, so I'm going to read more of you in 2014.  I started off with Jennifer E. Smith's This Is What Happy Looks Like.  It didn't wow me, but I'll give the author another shot.  There's good news, though!  There's (at least) one contemporary YA book I'm unequivocally excited for this year: Claire LaZebnik’s The Last Best Kiss.  LaZebnik writes young adult retellings of Austen books, and I loved Epic Fail, her take on Pride and Prejudice.  The Last Best Kiss is based on Persuasion, which is one of my favorite books ever.  I. CAN'T. WAIT.  It will be released by HarperTeen on April 22, 2014.

Anna Eliot is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook.

Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life.

All Anna wants is a chance to relive their last kiss again (and again and again). But Finn obviously hasn’t forgotten how she treated him, and he’s made it clear he has no interest in having anything to do with her.

Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn’t care about Finn either, but even though they’ve both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he’s the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too....

With her signature wit and expertly authentic teen voice, Claire LaZebnik (the author of fan favorites Epic Fail and The Trouble with Flirting) once again breathes new life into a perennially popular love story. Fans of Polly Shulman, Maureen Johnson, and, of course, Jane Austen will love this irresistibly funny and romantic tale of first loves and second chances.

What books are you waiting on?

jane austen giveaway hop – for darkness shows the stars & persuasion

I didn’t understand what a giveaway hop was when I signed up for this gig, and that’s a feat, considering that I’ve been blogging about books for 3+ years.  You know what people say when they’re trying to get you to try a new food?  ‘Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it?’  That’s what’s happening today.  It seems fitting that the theme is Jane Austen, whose books I’d try to force on random strangers regardless.

So, what’s on offer?  I’m giving away a prize pack of Diana Peterfreund’s YA sci-fi retelling of Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars, and… the ORIGINAL Persuasion by Austen.  If you’d like to win both books, simply fill out the FORM.  Giveaway open internationally, will end on October 24^th at 11:59pm EST.  Winner will be selected randomly and notified via email, books will be shipped via Amazon or The Book Depository.

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.

But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Persuasion is a tale of love, heartache and determination. Anne Elliot is persuaded by her friends and family to reject a marriage proposal from Captain Wentworth because he lacks in fortune and rank. More than seven years later, when he returns home from the Navy, Anne realizes she still has strong feelings for him, but Wentworth only appears to have eyes for a friend of Anne’s. Moving, tender, but intrinsically ‘Austen’ in style, with its satirical portrayal of the vanity of society in eighteenth-century England, Persuasion celebrates enduring love and hope.

Want to check out other Jane Austen giveaways?  The hop links are listed below.  Happy Friday!

for darkness shows the stars

Here’s something that will surprise exactly no one: my favorite Jane Austen novel is Persuasion.  I may have mentioned it a couple of times on the blog (not obsessed at all…).  It has been my favorite Austen book ever since I read it during my freshman year of college.  I reread it regularly, and I think Anne and Captain Wentworth’s story is not only timeless, but that with its inner tension and repressed desire, the romance is absolutely swoon-worthy.

We’ve established my longtime love of Persuasion.  When I heard that Diana Peterfreund was writing a sci-fi retelling of my Austen favorite, I might have flipped out.  Danced around the room?  Definitely had a huge grin on my face.  To quote myself from a ‘Waiting on’ Wednesday post, “It’s going to be SO GOOD! And you don't even know how tempted I am to use multiple exclamation points there.”  Without further ado: For Darkness Shows the Stars.

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.

But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

A post-apocalyptic world that was decimated generations ago by genetic-level malfunction (and then worldwide warfare) is now ruled in name by the Luddite community, who shun technology and innovation as the cause of humanity's downfall.  Elliot North is born into that world a Luddite, given a privileged upbringing and education, and handed far more responsibility than she is ready to handle.  Her best friend Kai was born a servant and worked long hours on the North estate.  When Elliot refused to run away with him Kai left on his own, and now, several years later, he has returned to the estate – but not to Elliot, and not as Kai.  What follows is a deeply romantic story of redemption, forgiveness, and unlooked-for progress that might just tear a society apart.

Better to get it out in the open: if you’ve read Persuasion, you know how this ends.  But that doesn’t make the journey, or Diana Peterfreund’s prose, any less wondrous.  Peterfreund has developed a reputation for writing nuanced female characters who face unimaginable challenges.  In Elliot, I think she has created her best heroine yet – a girl who is bound by responsibility but pines for passion, who is unappreciated by her peers but continues to do what is RIGHT.  It’s not that she’s miraculous or angelic – she’s just doing the best she can in a strange, fractured world.

The story’s focus on thought life lends itself to descriptions of the characters’ pent-up emotion and their mingled misery and hope.  For Darkness Shows the Stars is full of that, but it never loses itself in the description, nor does the pace or tension lag.  The narrative is broken up in parts by letters and notes passed between Elliot and Kai over the years, but these add to the story, providing important ‘flashbacks’ and insight into the characters’ pasts, revealing the patterns and prejudices that shape their personalities.

Peterfreund’s sci-fi is thin on science but heavy on the consequences of that science (definition: post-apocalyptic).  Her descriptions of life in a Luddite-ruled world are both detailed and chilling, and remind the reader that humans are both good AND evil.  When you’re in the midst of reading it will feel too possible.  In all, I believe that For Darkness Shows the Stars is a masterfully written novel that explores the nature of love, duty and evolution, while showing that true feeling will find a way to survive.

Recommended for: fans of the Jane Austen original, Anne Osterlund’s Academy 7, and anyone with a soft spot for extremely well-written sci-fi/fantasy that seethes with romantic tension while at the same time exploring themes of future, ethics, duty, and hanging onto the past at the expense of the present.

Fine print: I received a signed, finished copy of For Darkness Shows the Stars from the publisher for review at Book Expo America.  

retro friday – mansfield park

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville that focuses on reviewing books from the past. These can be old favorites, under-the-radar treasures that deserve more attention, woefully out-of-print books, and so on. Everyone is welcome to participate!

Whenever I need some therapeutic television time and hockey isn’t on, my best bet is to put in a lineup of period film DVDs. Those that regularly make the cut? The Young Victoria, Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Gosford Park. Feel free to suggest others – I haven’t added to my collection in quite a while.

The other day I needed some Austen-induced calm and went on a movie binge. And then I decided that a re-read of Mansfield Park was in order. A week of Austen immersion commenced!

Taken from the poverty of her parents' home, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with only her cousin Edmund as an ally. When Fanny's uncle is absent in Antigua, Mary Crawford and her brother Henry arrive in the neighbourhood, bringing with them London glamour and a reckless taste for flirtation. As her female cousins vie for Henry's attention, and even Edmund falls for Mary's dazzling charms, only Fanny remains doubtful about the Crawfords' influence and finds herself more isolated than ever. A subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, Mansfield Park is one of Jane Austen's most profound works.

Mansfield Park: home of the Jane Austen characters with the highest morals and highest likelihood of producing genetically unstable children (cousins…kissing cousins). Too soon? Okay. But really. This book features one of Austen’s youngest protagonists. Also one of her most devout and timid and principled.

Fanny Price is hard to love at times. It’s not necessarily because she’s a prig – it’s that she is judgmental and passive and more self-effacing than a regular, self-respecting member of the human race has any right to be. I’m being a little bit ridiculous, yes, and not taking into account the roles of women in the pre-Victorian era. Even so, it is hard for this modern woman to find her anything but watery.

While not as emotionally satisfying as other Austen works, Mansfield Park IS a classic, and I always come away from re-reads enriched in some way. This time, I can say that I examined the structures of society as shown in the novel and was impressed by the sibling devotion between Fanny and her brother William. This is poignant on a personal level to me because I am quite close to my siblings, though I too communicate with them from long distance. I had forgotten the very existence of Fanny’s brother (horror!) – and their friendship is rather delightful.

Recommended for: anyone already acquainted with (and a fan of) Austen’s other works, the curious classics reader, and those who, having seen the film version, wonder how the book stacks up in comparison.

waiting on wednesday (22)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

Last week I watched the 1995 film version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. And then, caught up in the story and the language and the romance of it, I reread the book. For...what, the tenth time? It’s my favorite of Austen’s works, and I’ll admit to reading spin-offs, retellings and (gasp!) fanfiction in the past. Diana Peterfreund, a very cool local author (she writes about killer unicorns, kids) has written a sci-fi reimagining of Persuasion, and it will be published this summer. I’ve already pre-ordered it. And I might have to start a countdown soon. It’s going to be SO GOOD! And you don't even know how tempted I am to use multiple exclamation points there. It would be entirely pertinent. For Darkness Shows the Stars releases on June 12, 2012 from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins).

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.

But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—-one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

What books are you waiting on?

epic fail

If my Waiting on Wednesday post and participation in past ‘Everything Austen’ events didn’t warn you, I’m an Austen-ite. I am more likely to pick up an adaptation or re-telling of one of Jane Austen’s books than I am to eat milk chocolate. True fact. Dark chocolate, now, that I eat more often than I’d like to admit. When I read a summary of Claire LaZebnik's Epic Fail (after I got over the hilarious title, that is), I knew I had to check it out.

Will Elise’s love life be an epic win or an epic fail?

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school—not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.

As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn’t exactly on everyone’s must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise’s beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince’s best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.

Epic Fail is Elise’s story, but in terms of narrative, it’s Pride and Prejudice in a Hollywood high school. Other things it is: cute, sweet, predictable, and a good bit of quick fun. If you know the original, you know how this plays out. What saves it from sappy and overdone is Elise’s smart inner dialogue. She’s perceptive and at the same time her worries and concerns ring true for a real kid (albeit an intelligent one).

Outside of Elise, the other well-defined characters were her sister Juliana, and to a lesser extent, Derek. If you’re looking for true learning and honest change in your next read, this isn’t your novel. And if we’re going to talk weaknesses, a glaring one for me was the inclusion of characters from the original P&P who didn’t fit in the space of Epic Fail. Elise’s cousin (who takes the place of Charlotte) definitely had the feel of an add-on, and could have been left out with no problem at all. Despite a slight excess of shallowness, this read resonated as ‘fun’ rather than ‘contrived.’

Recommended for: fans of Austen retellings and spin-offs, those who are into young adult lit with a dash of celebrity and the Hollywood trappings, and anyone looking for some quick and light summer reading with a classic theme and a happy ending.

If you are interested in other YA takes on Jane Austen’s classics, check out this article!

waiting on wednesday (14)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

I was introduced to Jane Austen and her wonderful books in high school. My English and Journalism teachers teamed up to invite the senior girls to their houses to watch the BBC five-hour version of Pride and Prejudice (yes, that sort of thing happened at my teeny-tiny private school). This started a long love affair with Austen, but also with Austen re-tellings and riffs. A couple of years ago I read Austenland by Shannon Hale (who also writes Grade A YA fantasy), and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I was thrilled to hear that it was being made into a film, and ecstatic to find that a sequel/companion novel is on its way! Midnight in Austenland will be published by Bloomsbury USA, and releases on January 31, 2012.

When Charlotte Kinder treats herself to a two-week vacation at Austenland, she happily leaves behind her ex-husband and his delightful new wife, her ever-grateful children, and all the rest of her real life in America. She dons a bonnet and stays at a country manor house that provides an immersive Austen experience, complete with gentleman actors who cater to the guests' Austen fantasies.

Everyone at Pembrook Park is playing a role, but increasingly, Charlotte isn't sure where roles end and reality begins. And as the parlor games turn a little bit menacing, she finds she needs more than a good corset to keep herself safe. Is the brooding Mr. Mallery as sinister as he seems? What is Miss Gardenside's mysterious ailment? Was that an actual dead body in the secret attic room? And-perhaps of the most lasting importance-could the stirrings in Charlotte's heart be a sign of real-life love?

The follow-up to reader favorite Austenland provides the same perfectly plotted pleasures, with a feisty new heroine, plenty of fresh and frightening twists, and the possibility of a romance that might just go beyond the proper bounds of Austen's world. How could it not turn out right in the end?

What books are you waiting on?

shades of milk and honey (+ giveaway)

I found myself proclaiming to my friends that I’d found ‘the perfect book’ yesterday. I didn’t mean that it was THE perfect book for all time and all people. I did mean that I’d found the book that feels as if it was written expressly for me, because it fits my tastes perfectly. And luckily for the rest of you, it’s also well-written, so there’s a chance that you’ll find it just as enchanting as I did.

Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of Jane Ellsworth, a woman ahead of her time in a version of Regency England where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. But despite the prevalence of magic in everyday life, other aspects of Dorchester’s society are not that different: Jane and her sister Melody’s lives still revolve around vying for the attentions of eligible men.

Jane resists this fate, and rightly so: while her skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face, and therefore wins the lion’s share of the attention. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Jane has resigned herself to being invisible forever. But when her family’s honor is threatened, she finds that she must push her skills to the limit in order to set things right – and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

Shades of Milk and Honey is precisely the sort of tale we would expect from Jane Austen…if she had lived in a world where magic worked.

Kowal employs lyrical prose that engages all the senses. I could smell, taste, hear and see the living art contained in her work. Simply put, it is beautiful.

Reviewers are correct in that the setting of Shades of Milk and Honey corresponds to an observation of manners that Austen also featured in her work. It isn’t actually Austen, obviously. It won’t read the same way. But that doesn’t mean that Shades won’t please some Austen fans – it will. It’s reminiscent of Georgette Heyer as well, featuring an elegance of language and phrasing that reminds one of the brilliance of early 20th century minds (and the superiority of their educations).

It is not perfect – no. I don’t want to give anyone such an exalted view that they are let down when they read it for themselves. There are certain plot elements and characters that Austen readers will recognize straight off. But coming to the book as I did from the extremely high praise and recommendation of Elitist Book Reviews (whose taste I trust in almost all matters), I expected beauty, cleverness, and a certain luminous quality. I got all that and more. I felt sublimely entertained and edified at the same time. I feasted my senses and nourished my soul.

But there we go again into sacred territory. Let me explain: it’s perhaps not that it’s SO wonderful, but that it fed two very important parts of me, and a fiction book hasn’t done that in a long time. I’ve most probably been reading the wrong things, or expecting that edification is only the provenance of non-fiction. But it seems to me that good books, really good ones in both an ethical and literary sense, aren’t popular anymore. Modern reads always seem to have something to dissuade me: too much sex, too much violence, a credo or character that I can’t respect. This book skipped the objectionable, but held my interest. It taught me something, but didn’t feel like anything beyond a beautiful pastime while I read it. It was like a well-loved Alcott or L.M. Montgomery tale, without the obvious moralizing.

Oh, and it is so gorgeous! I have cover love to the nth degree, but the words inside and the book design itself…all conspire to make this one of the most beautiful and subtle and yet wonderful things I’ve seen in…ever. The only way I could have loved it more is if there were actual gilded edges. And I’m kind of glad there weren’t, just so that I won’t feel too precious about lending it out. Because this IS the sort of book I will evangelize for without any qualms.

Recommended for: historical fiction and subtle fantasy fans, Regency-era devotees, readers who view Austen as the comfort food of the book world, and anyone looking for a beautiful read with strong art overtones and a classic feel.

------

I'm giving away two copies of this book, because I loved it, and I want other people to love it too. Also, when I tried to buy it at Borders I found that they’re not carrying it in stores. Travesty! UPDATE: Author Mary Robinette Kowal is completely awesome and is sending SIGNED bookplates for each winner. Hurrah!

To enter:

Leave a comment on this post with a word or phrase that makes you think of milk or honey. Synonyms, colors, associations, whatever you want – write it down!

Please include a method of contact. Giveaway is open internationally. Comments will close on September 15 at 11:59pm EST, and I will notify the randomly selected winners via email.

Good luck!

dissuasion

The Everything Austen II Challenge officially started on July 1, and this is my first contribution. You might say I’m a bit behind. It’s not that there aren’t a lot of great books and films to choose from, because there are plenty. But I think anyone who has been book blogging for a while will agree: our to-be-read (TBR) piles are enormous, and even the thought of tackling them for a challenge can be daunting.

Luckily this challenge allows for films. Or maybe not so luckily?

Jane Austen's last novel provides the plot for this earlier Granada miniseries. Set in pre-Victorian England, this movie tells the story of Anne Elliot, who now having lost her "bloom" is re-united with the dashing Captain Frederick Wentworth, whose advances she had refused seven years earlier.

Now that he has gained both connections and fortune in the Napoleonic Wars, she regrets that her neighbor, the meddling Lady Russell, persuaded her to refuse his proposal of marriage. She watches him woo the young Louisa Musgrove, suffering terribly while he appears to have forgotten entirely his earlier attraction to her. Manners and mores often thwart her strong desire to tell her true feelings, but his emotions are masked too by fear and the lasting pain of her rejection.

I’m a time-tested fan of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. I read it for the first time as a freshman in college, and I’ve been an evangelist for it ever since. And though I’ve found small faults with the previous Persuasion film adaptations, I liked both of them well enough to buy them for my home DVD collection. All that to say, I had high hopes for this mini-series, even though it was made in 1971. Over ten years before my birth. So…how can I say this?

Persuasion, the 1971 BBC mini-series version, is an absolute failure. There, that wasn’t so bad, was it? I ripped off the band-aid, we all know how I feel…except that this is supposed to be a review. *le sigh* One thing I can say about myself: I whine like a champ. So, what was it that turned me off about this DVD experience?

First of all, the hair. I have an irrational prejudice against hair poufs. I KNOW. Weird. Well, the hair is high in this adaptation, and it made my eyeballs hurt. Number two: the actors, but especially Anne. I haven’t seen someone’s face this frozen since…the last time I watched a Nicole Kidman movie. I thought they didn’t have Botox back then?! The one decent (and incredibly pompous, as he’s supposed to be) portrayal? Sir Walter Elliot.

Three – (and yes, I know I’m starting a new paragraph in the middle of ONE topic. The text needed it, trust me.) it took almost an hour for Captain Wentworth to show up on screen. I know that the whole thing runs around four hours, but that’s taking things pretty far… And four, with which I will end my rant: the whole thing reminds me VERY strongly of a soap opera. There are good classic movies and dismal classic movies. There were stellar made-for-television programs back then. This isn’t one of them. The level of production, the failure of the actors, the length of the script – it could have been tightened, shined to a high gloss, and been so much BETTER, you know? It hurts my soul (but only a little bit – don’t worry).

In sum, I’d recommend this only to the die-hardest of all BBC Austen series die-hards. I’m fairly sure no one else will be able to sit through it. Again, *sigh*. If you want a different take (5 stars!) on this one, look no farther than Velvet's review. Different strokes, eh?

I watched this film for the Everything Austen II Challenge, which is hosted by the awesome Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word.

second helpings of everything austen, please!

The Everything Austen challenge is back! Last year Stephanie of Stephanie’s Written Word hosted a fabulous challenge called Everything Austen. How much fun was that?! I watched the BBC and Masterpiece Theater Austen films that I’d never gotten around to before, and I learned about a whole new world of literary Austen adaptations. This year the challenge goal remains the same: read, watch, craft, or do six Jane Austen-related items in the next six months.

Last time I was an overachiever and committed to twelve items. I won’t be so foolhardy again. I mean, I love Jane Austen (show me someone – aside from Mark Twain – who has read her books and doesn’t). But TWELVE items! That’s pressure. And since I am not reliable under pressure (shine the light on my character failings, why don’t you?), I try not to push the envelope. However, I do happen to have six films and books in mind for reading, watching and reviewing by December 31, 2010. They are…

Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard (this was on my list last year and I never finished it…oh, the shame!)

I Was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison

Scones and Sensibility by Lindsay Eland

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange (another hold-over from the good old days)

The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

Miss Austen Regrets (2008)

The official challenge start date is July 1, so there’s plenty of time to get involved and decide on items. And something useful I discovered last time: it’s perfectly fine (and even normal) to substitute your choices if one or a few turn out to be really tedious. So to sum up: it’s flexible, it’s Jane Austen, it is whatever you want it to be. What’s not to like? Oh, you like? Sign up here! Will you be taking part?

everything austen challenge – officially over

Unofficially, will continue forever. I mean…wait. I got all that Austen out of my system, didn’t I? Err…

The Everything Austen Challenge was hosted by Stephanie’s Written Word, and it was a huge success. That’s not just me talking, either. I met many people throughout the blogosphere with a passion for Austen, and we all enjoyed the challenge together. But let’s get to the fun part: where I list what I was supposed to watch/read, and then what I DID watch/read.

My original list:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Prada and Prejudice

Emma (1996)

Becoming Jane (2007)

Lost in Austen (2008)

My extended list – Everything Austen (x2):

Darcy and Anne

Me and Mr. Darcy

Persuading Annie

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Persuasion (2007)

I Have Found It [Kandukondain Kandukondain] (2000)

What I ACTUALLY read/watched (click for link to my review post):

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Emma (1996)

Becoming Jane (2007)

Darcy and Anne

Sense and Sensibility (2008)

Persuasion (2007)

Mansfield Park (2007)

Captain Wentworth’s Diary

Northanger Abbey (2007)

PLUS, my dad reviews Lost in Austen (2008) and a look at an old favorite – Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field.

In case you weren't counting, that adds up to 12 items, though a couple of them creatively filled the 'requirements.' So I hereby declare that I completed the challenge! In 2010 I hope to read: Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, Prada and Prejudice, According to Jane, Mr. Darcy and Me, Scones and Sensibility and Persuading Annie. And if a couple more should pop up in my reading list? All the better!

sea monsters rule the day

I’ve discovered, much to my surprise, that I like classic novel mash-ups. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? A delicious farce, and one of my favorite books of the year. I won’t defend it as real or wonderful literature. I only found it extremely enjoyable. It was laugh-out-loud fun, and quotable too. Definitely something to throw out into the conversational arena when you need a little humor or a couple of raised eyebrows. So when I heard Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters was coming out, I was delighted. Actually cackled with glee.

From the publisher of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale of romance, heartbreak, and tentacled mayhem. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters expands the original text of the beloved Jane Austen novel with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents, and other biological monstrosities.

As our story opens, the Dashwood sisters are evicted from their childhood home and sent to live on a mysterious island full of savage creatures and dark secrets. Can they triumph over meddlesome matriarchs and unscrupulous rogues to find true love? Or will they fall prey to the tentacles that are forever snapping at their heels? This tale blends Jane Austen’s biting social commentary with ultraviolent depictions of sea monsters biting. It’s survival of the fittest—and only the swiftest swimmers will find true love!

So obviously Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters should be a favorite, just based on the title, and the description sounds pretty fantastic, too. And in parts it was hilarious. There were moments when I felt the need to read aloud. But unfortunately the combined effects of typographical, continuity and factual errors kept me from really enjoying the book. I felt that I couldn’t focus on the content for the sake of the grammar. That’s a shame (and a disappointment).

The book has an added mystery, which I quite enjoyed, as it gave the reader something to puzzle over while ‘admiring’ the addition of sea monsters to a beloved text. So it’s not just S&S PLUS sea monsters, it’s an extra parallel storyline. The thing was, during the last third of the book especially, this additional content was not integrated well into the whole, and mistakes such as spelling troops ‘troups’ were littered all over the place. I can forgive a lapse or two – as my brother Joey says, “I find a couple of typos a book.” It’s when you find that there are enough to count, to keep track of…that’s when the reading gets tough.

I got the feeling that this book was pushed through the editing process to make a deadline, and not given the same care and attention as the previous title, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Either that, or it was meant to look sloppy. In any case, I have a hard time recommending it because I wasn’t able to enjoy it fully. Here’s hoping for better luck with Quirk Classics in the future.

I read Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for the Everything Austen Challenge hosted at Stephanie's Written Word.