The Complete Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
Anyone else think the actor playing Henry Tilney looks slightly like Jude Law? And did the BBC Robin Hood watchers out there recognize John Thorpe? EEEEEE Northanger Abbey! I was so looking forward to this adaptation tonight! Not just because I read it not so long ago but because I nearly flipped over the moon when I saw it this summer and couldn't wait to watch it again.
Things I liked about this adaptation:
Practically everything.
~ Characterization? Spot on. Especially the Thorpes. ('Oh Isabella!' eh, Tara?) Henry Tilney was deliciously cheeky. And I really liked Gen. Tilney's arched eyebrowed oppressiveness.
~ The dangerous 18th century Gothic novels? ZOMG YAY!! The dream/fantasy sequences and passages quoted were a fantastic way to convey the raciness of those novels at the time.
~ The seduction of Isabella Thorpe. OK, yes, not in the book directly, but straight out of the pages of the seduction and coquette novels of the times so that I heartily approve of this as well.
Things I wish they'd kept in:
~ The japan chest and Henry's 'remember that we are English' admonition. Jane makes such a fuss over 'foreign' influences vs. good, hearty English ones it's a shame this element was left out, especially since it's such a foil to the Gothic treatment Catherine receives at the hands of the very English Gen. Tilney. Ah well, more fodder for me and my dissertation. :p
And that's basically it! 9.5/10 on my scale! And yours?
Things I liked about this adaptation:
Practically everything.
~ Characterization? Spot on. Especially the Thorpes. ('Oh Isabella!' eh, Tara?) Henry Tilney was deliciously cheeky. And I really liked Gen. Tilney's arched eyebrowed oppressiveness.
~ The dangerous 18th century Gothic novels? ZOMG YAY!! The dream/fantasy sequences and passages quoted were a fantastic way to convey the raciness of those novels at the time.
~ The seduction of Isabella Thorpe. OK, yes, not in the book directly, but straight out of the pages of the seduction and coquette novels of the times so that I heartily approve of this as well.
Things I wish they'd kept in:
~ The japan chest and Henry's 'remember that we are English' admonition. Jane makes such a fuss over 'foreign' influences vs. good, hearty English ones it's a shame this element was left out, especially since it's such a foil to the Gothic treatment Catherine receives at the hands of the very English Gen. Tilney. Ah well, more fodder for me and my dissertation. :p
And that's basically it! 9.5/10 on my scale! And yours?