Austentatious - 2 - Pride and Prejudice

OK, so I've been doing patchwork, as can be seen from the past couple of posts. I do the blocks in a combination of hand- and machine-piecing, and when hand-piecing, I like to either have the telly running with something, or listen to an audio-book. Nice "me"-time

And this is my second "response" to Stephanies Jane Austen-challenge. Actually, it is item 5 in my original post : Acquiring and watching the old (1980) BBC adaptation of P&P.
It's the one where Fay Weldon wrote the script.
And I have acquired, and have been sewing, and watching ...
And what do I think.

Well, it does not age well. Elizabeth Garvie is as delightful an Elizabeth Bennet as anyone could wish for (and she does remind me of my good freind Linda), and David Rintoul is as wonderfully horribly proud and disapproving, and lovesick a Darcy as anyone could wish for, but ...
It is theatrical. Done in a style completely different from the way the more recent adaptations (the 1995 series and the 2005 movie), and thus comes across as slightly stilted at times. People waiting for other people to speak, actors wanting to stand in the right place, before commencing to speak. That sort of thing. And - as seems quite usual - the sisters are generally too old.

So, is it a waste of money to get it ? No. Not if you are an avid Austen-fan. It has its moments :-)
AND, it has the most true-to-Austen dialogue of the lot. When not being direct quotes from the book itself, it draws heavily on Austens letters and her juvenalia. Fay Weldon must have sat herself down and read everything, before writing the script.
And - of course - she wrote the wonderful little "Letters to Alice on first reading Jane Austen" at the same time, which has now moved to my bed-table, to be perused at leisure. Fay Weldon is a wicked, and very clear-headed reader.

What I don't like about this version ?
What I dislike about most versions : The sisters are too, too old ! The only version that got them right, agewise, is the 2005 movie ... and that - incidentally - is also the only one, which doesn't try to make Mary ugly, just clueless.
Wickham. He is just not a believeable bad guy. Same problem as with the Henry Crawfords and the Willoughby's of the various versions. Hard to find someone young, charming, sexy and bad-news'y enough for me.
Mrs Bennet. I cannot for the life of me fathom what Mr Bennet ever saw in her. That is easier to understand in the other versions.

And this fulfills the second item on my Austen-challenge list :-)

Austentatious

OK, "Stephanie's Written Word" blog has a Jane Austen challenge, and I think I might as well jump in. It runs from July 1st 2009 to January 1st 2010, and the challenge is to pick out "six Austen-themed things you want to finish to complete the challenge"
So ... what do I want to do ?

1. Well obviously watch my favourite Austen movie : Persuasion with Amanda Root. Lovely, lovely movie and with a feel very close to the book.

2. Start on my "Fassets of Austen" quilt. The plan is to make a version of the Austen coverlet using Kaffe Fasset fabrics. I will - naturally - be using the Inklingo collection for that. And I do write "start" because I am quite confident that it will not be finished. "The Jane Austen Patchwork Mystery" (book), can be found here. The collection for printing is right here.

3. Try out at least 3 different recipies from "The Jane Austen Cookbook"

4. Watch "Lost in Austen" with my DD (age 14).

5. Acquire (and watch) the old BBC-adaptation of Pride and Predjudice, the one Fay Weldon adapted ... and failing that, re-reading "Letters to Alice" by Fay Weldon, which is her (funny and well-written) introduction to the world and the novels of Jane Austen.

6. Watch the newest Sense and Sensibility adaptation. I have it, but have not (yet) watched it.

... and then - naturally - re-read any and all of The Novels :-)

Oh, and I'll mark all my postings relevant to this challenge with the label "Austentatious" :-) So you should be able to find my (irrelevant) musings.

This should be fun :-)