My daughter is doing a paper on Jane Austen. And in the process we’ve been rereading and revisiting the books and various movie versions of four of Austen’s six books. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion and Emma. I can’t tell you how hard it was for me to read, watch, discuss and even visit the new Jane Austen exhibit at the Morgan Library. NOT.
I seriously, seriously love all things Jane Austen. In fact, when our DVR finally gasped its last, it was in the process of recording the last hour of the newest BBC version of Emma. 
And despite the fact that I know the story by heart and the DVD is out this week and can be netflixed, I screamed and threw a shoe at the television (which thankfully wasn’t hurt since it was an Ugg). My latest obsession with Austen knock offs is Lost in Austen the BBC miniseries about a woman who falls into Pride and Prejudice—quite literally. It’s wonderful. Next to the actual novels, my idea for the perfect escape.
Anyway, after listening to my daughter’s wonderful presentation a couple of dozen times yesterday, I was struck again by just how timeless Austen’s novels are. And how each succeeding generation has brought her more fame.
In truth, the idea of being famous after the fact isn’t all that appealing to me. Give me my NYT moment now – PLEASE. But still, the fact that characters Austen imagined and stories she crafted have been interpreted and reinterpreted in so many different ways is absolutely mind-blowing. She’s still speaking to us over a hundred years after she died. Through Darcy and Elizabeth, Eleanor and Edward, Anne and Captain Wentworth, and my personal favorites – Emma and Knightly – Jane Austen is still capturing our hearts and minds.
What is your favorite Jane Austen novel, favorite heroine, hero (please someone join me in choosing someone besides Darcy) and what is your favorite film or television version of one of her books?
Knightly—SIGH……
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book and there will never be another man for me over Colin Firth’s Mr. Darcy. So yummy.
Hi Mom (and Mom’s friends)!
Gotta say my favorite Hero is Colonel Brandon (I really don’t like Willoughby though I do feel sorry for the guy). Perhaps I’m biased because Alan Rickman was just so absolutely fabulous as him in Sense and Sensibility but I loved him when I read the book too so who knows.
For Heroines I’m an Emma girl. I don’t care if Jane Austen thought no one would like her, she’s still my favorite. On that note my favorite adaptation is definitely the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma. Though that could be because I watched it about ten times to make up for the fact I might have sorta sped through Emma to write my paper.
My favorite Jane Austen book is Persuasion though (The recent (okay 2007) adaptation with Sally Hawkins as Anne was phenomenal
). There’s a special place in my heart for the girl who gets a second chance at love. I also have the bonus of sounding super cultured when I list off the Jane Austen book most of the uninformed forget about as my favorite 
.
One last thing, because I saw that someone’s daughter *shock* didn’t like Pride and Prejudice and I’ve gone through the same thing with a ton of my friends, it won’t work for everyone but for me, and some of my friends, watching the movie versions first helped phenomenally. Once those voices get into your head, reading the books become infinitely less like work and a thousand times more enjoyable.
The movie/miniseries didn’t work for her, either. She’s your age, actually. Quite the shock for me, indeed. Maybe she’s a late bloomer. It’s not that it was difficult reading for her. She’s just not into it. She prefers other sorts of books. (sigh).
Oh, this is perfect timing. I keep seeing Lost in Austen come up on my Netflix queue, and I haven’t watched it yet. So your post is like a sign
Pride and Prejudice will always be my favorite, but I also really like Persuasion. So nuanced! My favorite Mr. Darcy will always be Colin Firth, but I like any version of any Jane Austen movie ever. I didn’t know Lost in Austen was a series. I have the book but haven’t read it yet. Must. Netflix. Lost in Austen.
I just ordered Lost in Austen and the new Emma from Amazon. Can’t wait to watch them!
Lost in Austen resides happily on my DVD shelf. And YAY! We have wifi in Binghamton. So I can check in!
I loved Lost in Austen, I just watched it on Netflix two weeks ago. I got such a kick out Darcy swimming in the fountain, I loved the comparisons from modern day to the past. Favorite book would be Pride and Predjudice, Favorite Heroine, would be Emma, and I have to admit I have not read all of Austen’s work so I couldn’t really say which hero I’d like more. I loved Mr. Knightly in the recent PBS Emma and I watched Northanger Abby last night and I wasn’t to impressed with Tinely, he was a bit to weak for me, maybe he is better in print. I don’t think I have a favorite adaptaion or film, they are all good.
The scene with him coming out of the fountain is a hoot. Wonderful homage to Colin Firth. (Even though he isn’t my fav Darcy — give me the dude from MI-5 (the show) in the K. Knightly version.
My faves are, in order: Darcy (Colin Firth), Knightly (Jeremy Northam), and Col. Brandon (Alan Rickman). Never heard of Lost in Austen but will now have to look it up. Since I love the A&E version of P&P so much, I didn’t think I’d like the Kiera Knightly movie, but I did.
I have a small problem with Knightley kind of being her brother. He’s not actually related, I know, but the fact that he has been an older mentor type to her– and the fact that he judges her so harshly, not undeservedly so, but still… I have issues with that relationship. Knightley is not the Austen hero for me.
I guess alot of it has to do with Jeremy Northam–he could sell me snowballs in Alaska, LOL!
Knightly, Knightly, Knightly…. LOL… and definitely Jeremy Northam.
The newest BBC/PBS version of Sense & Sensibility is my favorite movie and I really do love the story. My girls, 6 & 8, watched the last 30 minutes with me last week, and I loved seeing their reaction to it. “Mommy, why is she walking in the rain? Why is she sad? Why did he break her heart?” I can’t wait until they are old enough to really get the stories.
My daughter read Pride and Prejudice finally, and she hated it. For the first half. By the second half, she got a little more into it. Still, not really her thing. It kills me. I’m hoping she likes Jane Eyre, which she reads for school later this year. But that, in part, is what I enjoyed about writing Jane Slayre– the hope that if she doesn’t like Jane in original, she finds something to like in the Slayre version, and she goes back and reads with a new perspective.
Sorry, gotta go with Darcy. But, I have a thing for Willoughby, too, which is embarrassing to admit because he was so bad, so horrid to sweet Marianne. But she was better off, wasn’t she? Because Colonel Brandon is the better man.
I love all Austen books, but Pride and Prejudice is still my favorite. And I hated Lost in Austen. But hey, if there are people who enjoy it, then it’s a success. Just not for me. Maybe I’m just too much of a stodgy purist when it comes to Jane Austen.
Alan Rickman, Colonel Brandon. ‘nuf said.