Scents and Sensibility

I watched this movie last week. As you know I am not a real fan of Sense and Sensibility, but I thought I'd give this one a try. It had some actors that I knew, which is what got me interested in the first place. I have to say that it really was quite enjoyable - more so than any of the other movies (From Prada to Nada excepting). They came up with a clever and somewhat realistic modern take on the story. Normally I'm just annoyed with the characters in this story, but I rather liked all of them in this telling. It has it's silly moments, but over all it is a fun and delightful little movie. I'd definitely watch it again.

Sense & Sensibility

I have to say I thought Mansfield Park was my least favorite Jane Austen, I was wrong. Sense and Sensibility wins that award. It's not that I haven't tried to like it. In fact, whenever I sit down to watch one of the movies I always say to myself, "I'm going to like it this time." Let me say, if I didn't like the first few times, it's not going get better on further viewings.

I've decided to dedicate one post for all of the versions of Sense and Sensibility, because I think I would be writing similar things on each one if I wrote them singly. For example: I hate Marianne. I can't stand her character. She's silly and overly emotional and makes poor choices. I can't relate at all to her character and frankly I'd be disgusted if I did. That's not to say some Marianne's weren't better than others, but I didn't really like any of them. Whereas, I really like Elinor's character. I think she's smart and strong. She is forced to deal with so much and yet, she doesn't wither (like her sister). I don't think Edward deserves her. In most of the versions he's a weak character and not much of the true Austen hero. Now Col. Brandon - there's a man. He is the Austen hero, but I can't totally like him because he falls for Marianne. It all just frustrates me.

Then of course there's Willoughby. He's a horrible man and I don't know why, when he left for town and then never contacted Marianne again, that she didn't realize just how bad he was. Then of course there's the woman he seduced and her baby. I just hate him. I guess you could say that Jane Austen did a very good job at creating a villainous man.

It's taken us a few weeks, but we have gotten through all of the versions of S&S. Here is the order in which we watched them.

1995

1971

1981

2008

Alan Rickman was probably my favorite Col. Brandon. He's so soft spoken and attractive and attentive to Marianne. He really was the hero of the story.

Margaret, the third Dashwood sister. I feel bad that she's not included in every episode. I think she is a truly wonderful character and in a lot of ways adds some comic relief to the story. This little girl was my favorite.

Elinor and Marianne. This version had the most attractive cast. I loved their hair! Do you recognize Elinor? She played Mrs. Gardner in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. She was a really great Elinor. This Marianne wins the prize for being the most obnoxious and over the top! I could barely tolerate her!

I really liked this Col. Brandon, from the 1981 version, as well. (Reading with Marianne). I liked in this version when Elinor says that if ever anyone deserved to have the desire of their heart, he did. It was really true in this version.

Although I really like Emma Thompson, I have to say that this was my favorite Elinor (2008). She was strong and level-headed, but you could truly feel her heartbreak which I don't think the others did as well at portraying. This was also my favorite Edward. He certainly is attractive, but he had a much stronger character than the others seemed to.

Here are Marianne and Elinor from the 1981 version. I mostly put this up to see if you recognized the two actresses. Marianne played Suzanne in The Scarlet Pimpernel and Elinor played Charlotte Lucas in the 1980 version of Pride and Prejudice.

Best Fanny Dashwood EVER! She's in the 1981 version. This is when she finds out that Edward is engaged to Lucy Steele.

I do like Sir John Middleton and Mrs. Jennings. What fun characters they are. I liked their goodness and kindness mixed with a large dose of the ridiculous! Do you recognize her from the British Comedy Keeping Up Appearances?

I also rented the Sense and Sensibility graphic novel from the library. It was a fun little look through, but I since I don't really like the story, I didn't spend a long time with it.

I'm ending with From Prada to Nada - modern retelling of S&S. I don't know what it is about this version, but they make Jane Austen's story just so much more palatable. Maybe because it's shorter, or maybe because it's modern. I just like it better. Here is a version I can recommend and watch again and again. If you're like me and dislike S&S, then this is the movie for you. I don't know if it's as great for someone who likes S&S, but since I've not come in contact with someone who's seen both, I can't say.

Literary Amnesia

Wow! I almost feel as though the post journal entries page should say "welcome back you big slacker!" But, it has been an eventful, if not always pleasant couple of weeks. Although, I have been keeping a list of things that I wanted to write about, so that I wouldn't forget. So here goes . . .

I think I have Literary Amnesia. Yeah, it's a clinical thing. They say that it gets worse with age, heaven forbid! Actually, considering the amount of books I read, on average, per year, this was bound to happen. I was browsing the books at Walmart one day, when I saw that they had a new Victoria Alexander book, The Perfect Wife. I was kind of excited, so I bought it. I have yet to buy a book that I already own, so at least I'm not that bad. Well, I started reading it and kept thinking to myself that this book felt oddly familiar. So, after about 100 pages or so I decide to look at the copyright date, which was 1996 or something. I'm thinking that it's very possible that I could have read this book. I then take out my reading journal and look back through it so see if I have read it in the last couple of years. Low and behold, I read it in 2004. It had a different cover and I got it from the library, but it was the exact same book. The funny thing is that I didn't remember the plot or the end all that well. It was a good book, if you like regency romance novels, which I do. I'm still shaking my head about it though.

I have also read a few other books since last I blogged. Here's the list: The Stolen Princess by Anne Gracie, The Perils of Pleasure by Julie Ann Long, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, To Love an Earl by Elizabeth Thornton and Cherished by Elizabeth Thornton. I actually really enjoyed them all, but if I had to pick . . . The Seduction of the Crimson Rose was a wonderful sequel in the Pink Carnation series. I like it second to The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I also loved, loved, loved The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It was the Caldecott book award winner this year. It was amazing. The plot was very imaginative and pictures/narrative was very innovative. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes children's books and picture books. Don't be afraid of the the number of pages. It only took me about 2 hours to read. It really was wonderful. The last two books on the list I have read several times, so it goes without saying that I enjoy them. The older Elizabeth Thornton books are so much better than the new, in my opinion that is. Also, on the subject of wonderful books, I don't know if I've said anything about Word Nerd. I found it by accident at the library when I was cleaning books. (Yes, believe it or not we do clean books at the library. If you don't know how this is possible, just ask me. I do it every week.) Anyway, so this book . . . so cool. It's a dictionary of sorts. It has random trivia about all sorts of words. I can't even tell you how fascinated I am with this book. It's been sitting on my kitchen table for almost a month now. I read 5-6 pages a day. I love it. But then again, I love the dictionary, so this is right up my alley!

I also have seen quite a few movies this last little while, so I thought I would give some reviews. These are in no particular order, except for the order they come out of my head. Strange Bedfellows - Rock Hudson stars in it. It's very much in the 60's romantic comedy style, so you can guess that I liked it. Jumper - was interesting. I wish I had the power to go anywhere I wanted. It's amazing to me how narrow-minded people can be sometimes though. Juno - I don't know that I'd recommend it. I enjoyed it and I really liked how her parents handled the whole situation. There were some really great themes, but I hated the fact that they made teenage pregnancy look ok. I was really disappointed there. The music was cute though. Dexter - not a movie, but CBS is airing it right now on Sunday nights and I am loving it. A serial killer who works for the police and kills the killers. I mean what's not to like? I find it interesting that they call it Dexter. Someone really had a clever vocabulary. Jane Eyre - I am always amazed how wonderful they made this movie. The neck rubbing and the beautiful proposal scene. La, how wonderful! Sense & Sensibility - the new version. I never really liked the Emma Thompson version, so I wasn't expecting to like this one. But it really was rather good. I need to watch it all the way through, no interruptions, but I quite like it. It's not Persuasion or Pride and Prejudice, but I didn't go in expecting that. I also have had a Pride & Prejudice marathon. I have watched all of the versions I own. It was so fun to contrast and compare them all. It was the most enjoyment I've had for a while. The LDS Beauty and the Beast. I have to say, it was bad. It had such potential and it so utterly bombed. The Way We Live Now - it's been many years since I have seen this mini-series. I remember really liking one of the plots, but being overall bored with the movie. Well, I guess time changes you because I really rather enjoyed it. I liked all of the characters, for all sorts of reasons. It was interesting. Pillow Talk - I LOVE this movie. I think I could quote the whole movie, without even turning it on. I don't know why it hits my fancy, but it does.

This last week I came down with the flu. It has not been fun. All I've wanted to do is sleep and yet when it comes time to sleep my brain goes on overdrive. I don't think I've had more than 5 hours consecutively since last Saturday. I'm not very much pleased with myself. And being sick also cuts down my mental power. (Mom keeps teasing me that being sick puts me on the same intellectual level as normal people). It's like I've been anywhere between 50 and 85% brain power since last Saturday. In some cases it's been quite funny, but mostly it's been frustrating.

The week prior my mom was out of town in Chicago and I had a bit of responsibility put on me, which wasn't fun. Then we have been getting some big orders lately, so I've had a lot of work to do and with not my normal brain functioning, it took a lot longer than it should. But we sold over 300 books to Amazon in the last week, which is pretty awesome and a local National Guard unit bought 100 paper hug kits. Plus we've had several little book orders. It's been great to get all of this business. We are actually getting close to having to print again. Which would mean that we've sold 5,000 books.

In some other just random trivia, I went to Costco yesterday. While I was down by the frozen food I happened upon this couple that was playing rock, paper, scissors to decide who got to pick the kind of pizza. It just cracked me up. I want to marry someone who would do that with me. It was very endearing. I also got a new pair of jeans, that are one size smaller and oh my! They look so good! I might even take a picture and post it. They are so great! Well, I think I've caught up on everything. Phew!