Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Complete Jane Austin on PBS pt.1

I have to confess that I've caught the first three weeks of these but did miss the last one. I've instructed the family that at 9 each Sunday I will be watching PBS and to not disturb. It's been a nice little break but Sunday night I was too much of a football fan to remember poor Jane.

Even though I missed one I did want to add a few particular comments on the ones I had seen. I will begin by saying that I enjoy any Jane adaptations but there are two things that have bugged me about these.

Since these are SO short they do feel rushed. I know a colleague who hadn't read one of the books was a bit lost as much isn't explained and charachters or plot lines are completely elimated. She's also reading P&P now and commented that the themes are so similar she keeps getting the characters confused.

I recently finished rereading Mansfield Park prior to the airing and I was more disappointed with this one. I really love this book but their Fannie was all wrong! She needs to be soft spoken; I think this actress would have been better as Maria.

I am looking forward to catching the rest of these and seeing how the S&S and Emma are done. I own the Firth/Ehle P&P and can watch it anytime but it's always fun to see on TV so can't wait for that to begin. Happy Viewing!