Immersed in Austen

This weekend I have enjoyed a feast of Austen (or more specifically Pride and Prejudice). I read the book for lunch (not literally of course!), savoured the 2005 movie version as an entree, feasted on the BBC 1995 production as a main course (at my husband's suggestion ;-)!)and then finished my Austen feast with the much more light hearted Lost in Austen. So here is my take on how these different mediums of the classic novel pan out.

(For the record I am a "Austenophile" - I have read all her novels (many times), own the DVD's and own/have read books on "The life and times of Jane Austen". Someone less immersed may have different opinions to me!)

The Book is still the gold-standard. Rereading the book I was reminded that the language and characterisation just sparkle - there is at least one quoteable wittisicm on every page, and the ability of Jane Austen to describe a character in one or two sentences is rarely paralleled. I enjoyed this reread so much that I have started going through the rest of my Austen collection this week.

The movie sufferes from condesing a long book into ~ 120 mins and therefore scenes are removed or concatenated, as are some characters. The effect of this is that some of the irony and sublety is missing (consider the "don't judge me Lizzie" scene after Charlotte Lucas agrees to marry Mr Collins - true to the sentiment but in the novel acheived over several conversations) and the timing of some of the plot is sped up. (Eg Lady Catherine turns up at Longbourn within hours of Jane's engagement to Mr Bingley, which was the event which precipitated her travelling to Longbourne). I think that the casting is generally excellent, Rosamund Pike is a fabulous Jane, and Brenda Blethyn and Tom Hollander bring an empathy to their characters of Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins respectively. The two characterisations which are the poorest are Mr Bingley - who comes across as more foolish, rather than amiable, and Mr Bennet, who suffers greatly from having his wittisicms cut short (I also cringe at the American Accent of Donald Sutherland). The cinemetography is also excellent - I especially like the scene at the Netherfield ball where the camera weaves through the crowd showing vignettes of the what is occuring. Overall the film does a good job as a cut down version of the main dish.

The 2005 BBC series at five hours long is indeed a feast of Austen (it takes me less time to read the book;-)). With the luxury of time, and a producer and director who wanted to be faithful to the novel. This means that most of the wittisicms and keen observations remain - with the authors voice being taken by Elizabeth or her father. Watching this again after the movie I did feel as if Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, were perhaps a trifle old for their parts, but the performances are excellent. The ending is a little more rushed than the novel, (Bingley's proposal occurs in the second visit rather than the fifth as in the novel), but that is because the chapters in question don't describe in detail the scenes but are more concerned with Elizabeths state of mind (I am reminded of one literary critic who writes that Jane Austen writes the comic romance rather well - the proposals of Darcy and Collins - but seems embarrassed to write the real thing (in the book it is merely glossed over with a Elizameth stammered a reply to the effect that her views were no longer the same!)

I finished off my feast with the second half of Lost in Austen. This really was dessert to the more serious courses with the modern day Austen lover (Amanda Price) somehow swapping places with Elizabeth Bennet and causing havoc with the plot. It is well cast and well written - although more than a few liberties were taken with the plot! (Wickham is apparently not the blackguard we thought) This was a very jolly take on the period drama/"fish out of water" genre. If definitely sped up the ironing!

So, for true Austen read the book(s), but either the movie or the miniseries will sate your Austen appetite - particularly if you would like to do something else (like mending or ironing) while partaking!