Summarizing

I've been spending a lot of time lately reading classic novels.
Maybe not so much during the holidays because I keep falling asleep reading pride and prejudice, not because the book is boring, but because I go to bed at 2-3 am, therefore I am beat when I start my pre-sleep reading.

Anyways I have been feeling creative of late and I am going to make a summarized version of my most beloved books, paint well selected scenes from the stories and make it into what I call "children's books" though they would be more like cliff's notes versions of the real deal.

Another thing I enjoy doing these days is giving my favorite books alternative titles or extreme summaries.
The storyline in itself (even from the greatest of novels) can become quite comedic if you really think about it, some could say maybe to the point of redicule, but I enjoy making fun of the things I love; for me it's part of the fandom.

If I would make an extreme summary of Jane Eyre it would look something like this:

Jane Eyre - poor, mistreated, barely legal girl, falls for rich, decieving old guy (with a mad wife in the attic.)

Pride & Prejudice - white trash girl with vulgar family meets snobby, rude hottie with a bad personality. 

Romeo & Juliet - children of sworn enemies find forbidden love and commit double suicide. 

Jane Eyre 1996

Okay so this has totally turned into a Jane Eyre blog by now... :P

Jane Eyre poster

They totally removed William Hurt’s awesome sideburns and made him at least 15 years younger on the poster! (Probably to attract a younger superficial female audience)

As you can probably deduce from the title I've watched the Jane Eyre movie from 1996 with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg when I had aboslutely nothing better to do yesterday. 

As always there is some positive and negative points (though in this version, mostly negative).

Let's start with the positive:

+ It was beautifully scored

+ I looooove William Hurt's voice

+ I was super impressed with Anna Paquin's British accent! She was a good child actress^^

Anna Paquin as young Jane Eyre

Then there is the negative, and I can't stress the first point well enough:

- It was grossly shortened, especially the part where Jane runs away and is taken care of at the Moor House. And they totally erased one of St John’s sisters. Plus we didn’t see her suffer famine and heartbreak wich I think gives feeling to a movie. I don't know it just felt like she left Thornfield and she wasn't heartbroken, starved and at the point of death at all. She was totally fine, wich she should not be. 

- Hurt was a much less playful and much more severe Rochester. (And it is Rochester's charm and playfulness that I feel in the book that keeps me interested and draws me in.)

- Gainsbourg didn’t seem in love with him and was a little too serious.

- No gypsy scene wich could have added to Mr. R’s playfulness and we could see his true character; his desire to know what she feels about him.

Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fairfax

It was a shame, because there was a whole cast full of brilliant actors (such as Joan Plowright) but they couldn't even show their full potential because the film was so extremely shortened. 

It was a little less boring than the 1983 version, but without Dalton's charm and accuracy of dialouge and events. 

Brontë sisters power dolls!!

This video is hillarious!

What made me laugh the most was the Brontësaurus! XD Check it out.
This was a fake commercial done in 1998 that never aired, it's apparently used in eductional purposes now^^

I've googled after a pic of the Brontësaurus, but I couldn't find it! Neither do I know how to do screencaps and I couldn't find the video to download to my computer, so I guess I'll have to live without the Brontësaurus, unless some kind soul can help me out? ^_~

I found these pics though:

Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë fight against evil publishers who don't want to publish books written by women!

They come complete with book-throwing action!

The dolls come together to form the all-powerful Brontësaurus

Anyways, this made my day!^^ 

(I kind of wish this toy was real XD)

Pride & Prejudice (1995)

Today I have finished watching the 1995 version of Pride & Prejudice. It is one of the most famous versions (much thanks to Colin Firth playing Mr. Darcy) and I dare say it is much thanks to this version and Mr. Darcy that Colin Firth made his first steps to fame. But it must be said, that it is completely understandable that when Firth made his first appearance as the proud and scowling Mr. Darcy that ladies swooned all over the world.

Does he not have the most awesome sideburns in history??

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy

Well, we all know the story really, of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Elizabeth Bennet has four sisters, her most beloved sister and also described as the prettiest is her older sister Jane. Their mother is a loud, overbearing woman who can think of nothing else than getting her daughters married off to wealthy men. Her two youngest sisters (Kitty and Lydia) are described as "the silliest girls in the country" and giggle all the time and only think of going to balls and meeting officers. The middle sister Mary is quite plain and is neither like her older sisters who enjoy intelligent conversation as well as dancing and socializing, or like her youngest sisters who can only think of boys. Mary only enjoys improving her mind by reading. Elizabeth is her father's favorite, because she has something of his wit and an independece that he admires and it is she who is the heroine of the story.

One day a Mr. Bingley moves to town and as he is a wealthy man Mrs. Bennet insists on her girls being introduced to him, in hopes that he will take a liking to one of them. Which he later does, he immediately notices Jane (the eldest). Bingley is a sociable, kind, sweet man who is liked wherever he goes, unlike his best friend Mr. Darcy, who is far more handsome and twice as rich, but far less likeable.
Darcy immediately strikes a bad chord with Elizabeth when his friend Bingley prompts him to dance with her and Darcy declares that she is "tolerable" but not handsome enough to entice him. And poor Lizzie sits close to him and overhears it. She likes him less and less the more she sees his unsociable behaviour and his proud and rather rude manner.

The Miss Bennet(s)

Lydia, Lizzie, Jane, Mary and Kitty

So, because of a series of lies and misunderstandings Elizabeth starts hating the man, but Mr. Darcy in turn starts to love her. (If you want to know more, read the book or watch the series, if you have 6 hours to spare! Or watch the 2005 movie if you have only 2 hours to spare, and can stand Keira Knightley.) 

My opinion:
I liked this version, I have only been exposed to the 2005 film with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen before, which I assumed left out some bits since it was just 2 hours long. This version, is 6 hours long, with 1 hour per episode, wich is perfect if you intend to watch one or two a day.
I liked it very much, though I must admit that I liked the feelings, the passion of Elizabeth that Keira portrayed and how desperately Mr. Darcy (Mcfadyen) loved her. I still loved Jennifer and Colin's more mature performance. As to the other actors, I found them of equal talent and delight.
The only thing that bothered me about the 95' version was that Mrs Bennet has a LOT of lines and every time she speaks my ears hurt, her voice is so shrill! If I would re-watch it I would skip over "the mother" parts. :P

ball at Netherfield Park

Who could blame the girl for falling in love with a guy with a house like this!?

My favorite scene was when Mr. Darcy was taking a bath!^^ lol

This is how a man gazes at the woman he loves; with complete admiration!

Jane and Bingley

Oops, did I give too much away now?

Whatever, like you didn't know how it would end! ^_~

I end this post with a picture of the only kiss of the entire series:

aaaaaaaww

ps: those really are great sideburns, are they not? :P

How can I breathe with no Eyre?!

Found this when I googled pictures of Jane Eyre for my blog (wich runs a deep risk of becoming a Jane Eyre blog :P). Anyways I thought this was funny^^

^_^


Right now I'm reading two books at the same time, the first one I started is called The Japanese Lover by Rani Manicka. The second is Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. I think my obsession with 18th and 19th century novels is not quite over. Though I have always liked them and enjoyed filmatizations of such books, I have not taken the time to read them (except for Sense & Sensibility; which I read in high school) but now I will go through them all!!

Having only read about 40 pages of Pride & Prejudice I can't really form a good opinion of Mr. Darcy in written form, but he seems extremely unsociable and kind of rude. Actually, totally rude, except for when it pleases him not to be. Therefore I at the moment much more prefer my dear Mr. Rochester as a fictional romanic hero. ^^ (so far...)