Stave Three of A Christmas Carol

Wait...were we talking about the 2007 Persuasion...without ME?? I have to say that while it took a lot of liberties with the book, it seemed to capture the general flavour; Besides, Rupert Penry-Jones rocked Captain Wentworth!! (He also played St. John Rivers in a version of Jane Eyre; sadly, I do not think he used his full potential on that, but I feel he COULD have made something amazing with it, if he acted it more the way he acted Wentworth).

I wanted to tell you, I think it is great that you and your family filmed a version of Mansfield Park. That sounds like a lot of fun. I remember when I was younger, my sisters and cousins would put on plays. Unfortunately, we never filmed them.

Yes, I think the actor was a good Wentworth, but I like Ciaran Hinds better. I don't know if I have seen that version of Jane Eyre, is it the Michael Fassbender one? I have it on Dvd, but haven't seen it. What do you think about St. John?

I really like Ciaran. I have seen some of the ads in the sidebar on youtube but the actual movie version eludes me... oh, I just watched the desk scene, when he come back not for his gloves but his umbrella. I always wonder, why make such a small change as that? It is perplexing. I understand artistic license but that is just so trifling hehee but not too trifling for me to notice and comment upon apparently

I don't know, unless it is because in the store, he wants to usher Anne out under his umbrella- but is beat to the punch by Mr. Eliot.

Yes, but that is an entirely different scene and Anne is actually waiting for Eliot at the store scene, is she not? That was another thing the movie really changed up, for Anne was alone waiting in the store and Wentworth showed up and then ELiot to whisk her away, but she was with other women in the book. In the movie she stops to make sure Frederick is going to go to the concert before leaving with Eliot. At the concert, Wentworth leaves, and Anne runs after him, he leaves after a short convo, Eliot accosts her again- and this movie makes it very clear he proposes to her, the book was somewhat veiled in that regard and the BBC series left it off completely. Gosh you are waking up my brain cells

She WAS waiting for Mr. Eliot with her sister and Penelope. But, Wentworth didn't know that. He was hoping he would get to spend more time with her, I think. It's been years since reading the book- and I may be getting confused with the film versions. I hate when he leaves the concert after Anne's father treats Wentworth like dirt. Poor Anne, I felt so bad for her at this part. She had such hopes that things were looking up.

All that running in the movie never happened in the book. She is running after Wentworth at the concert, never happened in the book. She is running hither and yon in the movie finale trying to find Captain Wentworth and it is one of these legs of flight that the letter from him is given to her! It is confusing. She runs and runs and finally she meets the Crofts who say oh, he just went to your house. What? He had just been there and so had she before she started running hither and yon. LOL. Finally she meets up with him on the street at the same time as Charles who begs off walking her in lieu of his potential gun purchase and none of that happened in the book at all except the detail of Charles Musgrove wanting to buy a gun and leaving Anne in the care of Frederick to take her home, since she is all worn out

Yes, the book does make plain that the more Anne's father and Elizabeth see of Frederick, the better they treat him each time which initially means they actually acknowledge his existence By the concert I think they bow to him which is again another notch up in terms of being recognized of being someone worthy of acknowledging. I did find it quite interesting that in one breath Elizabeth can be talking up the importance of relations with family and the next breath dismissing Anne of being of any importance to her. I love how Jane works these unlikable snobs into her stories LOL.

Sir Walter is ridiculous. I kind of wish that Austen WOULD have married Mrs. Clay to Sir Walter. It would have been a nice twist of irony since the family schism was all about Mr. Eliot marrying beneath his station.
You made me want to watch Persuasion. Lol, Good Night. Sweet Dreams to you, my friend.

Yes, Sir Walter is vapid and vain. Everything they have must be the best simply by virtue of the fact that they own it, and since they own it, it must be hankered after and acknowledged as the best by anybody that knows anything about anything. Elizabeth is his daughter to be sure, fawning over people she does not even know simply because they have a title. Good night my dear!

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Good Night to you as well, Sweet Dreams. It would be nice if real life were more like books and ended in happily ever after.

Haha hey Tinuviel how are you? Yes, I have derailed this thread to talk things Austen with Galatea I did recommend an earlier thread of yours to Gala... do you remember your book thread? Is it still active? Yes, I really did prefer this Frederick to the BBC portrayal

Ugh, I said Matthew Macfadyen played Knightley in one of the P&Ps, but of course
it was not Knightley but Darcy. Sigh. I sometimes get the characters mixed up

I did not care for him as Darcy, either, much preferring Colin Firth's smoldering
portrayal Overall, though, the 2005 movie was well done I think, just to remember
the scene of Elizabeth completely losing track of time as she allows the gravity
of her error regarding, and feelings toward, Darcy sink in... same as when they
were dancing in a very crowded room, and all others disappear, leaving just the two.

Read We The Living. I had forgotten how it ends, heh, until I read it again. I like forgetting to be reminded all over again. I will say no more. Except to ask you, have you read any of Ken Follet? I highly highly highly recommend his Pillars of The Earth book and sequel, World Without End. I actually saw the mini series before reading the books, and my daughter wondered how I could enjoy the books knowing what was going to happen but ha! I had forgotten the details until reading them so it was magically all as if new And a fabulous story, oh yes, I forgot to ask you about John Irving also, he wrote A Prayer For Owen Meanie among other things (including The World According to Garp).

I really enjoy stories with the themes of religion and God running through them even if only as an undercurrent... Pillars of the Earth is medieval in setting and all about the church, the good the bad and the ugly as it were, a superlative story exquisitely told and magnificent in sweep, I feel like a critic writer for the paper or something haha LOL. Truly a wonderful read, the abuses of the church throughout history and the corruption of those in power masterfully pitted against the humble servants of God struggling just to survive in feudal monarchical England. Oh joy, it was one of Eddie Redmayne's first; he also had a small role in the Boleyn Sisters. In the mini series of Pillars, Ian McShane is the wicked grasping-for-power worldly priest (oh he does wicked devilishly well) and Matthew MacFadyen (he was Knightly in one of the P&Ps) is the good monk.

I haven't seen the 2005 version simply because the 1995 version with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth was so PERFECT. I didn't want to be annoyed by an inferior version. I honestly can not imagine a film doing better justice to the book than the 1995 version. Colin Firth is a dream in that movie and Ehle is a perfect Lizzie, bright and charming. Everyone was so well cast. I think it is the most perfect film adaptation of any book- almost word for word.

I was just thinking I would have to watch this movie again, and I would say watch it even knowing you hold the other in such high esteem... then watch the series again, it is on youtube, as is the movie... I cannot even remember which version I watched most recently, and think it may actually have been the mini series with Jennifer Ehle. I know in the movie version I did not like Rosamund Pike as Jane. I thought she was too weak for the role, and it is not that she is not a pretty woman, for she is, but they somehow managed to make her look less than her best, and considering the fact that Jane was supposed to be superior to all in her looks, I found that a flaw in the film Lydia is played by Jena Malone, whom I have always loved since her portrayal of the young Ellie Carroway in Carl Sagan's Contact (or rather, the movie of the same name; by the time the movie was made, he had passed, and the movie was dedicated to him. I have seen that movie too many times to count ) and perhaps it is because she does such a smashing job of it that I find her so annoying haha because Lydia is annoying It is like when I saw Gladiator, which my daughter loves, I hated Joaquin Phoenix, he was just too believable being a detestable person as Caesar, and yet he was such a sensitive person in the movie Her, he completely redeemed himself Her is an interesting movie, though it does have one scene that was pretty icky...

I haven't read any Follet or Irving. The Follet sounds like something like I would really enjoy. I like epics, and grand, sweeping books. Your endorsement means a lot. We saw LOTR before reading the books, and it didn't decrease the pleasure of the stories, but heightened it, in a way. When we read about Tom Bombadil, it was like finding a bonus, since his part was not in the films. I generally like to read books before seeing the films, but I realized that if I did that, I would not watch anything and broke down when all the Thomas Hardy books came on Masterpiece Theater. How did you know I have a penchant for Ian McShane? Lol He is a glorious Heathcliff (from the 1967).