More 'Emma': Success! I have finished the book!

[plumeriandeity]

Usually I read the book before I watch the movie, but there are always exceptions to the rule. As I said in a previous post, I've had the novel Emma for about 7+ years now, and was sadly never able to get through it. I either found something else to engage my attention, or I just had no time for reading. But in any case, I owe a HUGE thanks to the

Comments

[jus_de_pomme]

I did the same thing with Emma. I would make it halfway through the first chapter and then toss it aside with a "boring!" This series got me to pick it up and read it in a day or two though, and I actually really enjoyed it. So yay for a decent mini-series to drag you in!

I just watched N&S the other day for the first time, so I'm going to start reading it as well. Want to compare notes at all? And maybe for your next Austen, you could read "Persuasion." I thought it was very sweet.

Yay new period drama friend to gab with! :D

[plumeriandeity]

Glad to know I wasn't the only one who couldn't get through "Emma" at first! I restricted myself to a few chapters per day but today I just breezed through the last quarter of the book. GAWD I love the proposal scene.

OMG what'd you think of N&S? I can't get enough of it and I *adore* that story. And Richard Armitage. *sigh*
And yes, would love to compare notes with you on N&S! I'll have to hunt down a copy.

Thanks for the Austen rec! I'm curious about "Persuasion"...I was reading the synopsis for it on the PBS Masterpiece website and told myself that I should read it first then watch the series.

:) Yay indeed!

[jus_de_pomme]

The proposal scene was awesome. I was so impressed with how close the miniseries and the book were to each other in that.

N&S is... freaking amazing. I may have watched it twice in the past 3 days. ;) I had been putting it off, and I have no idea why, because I absolutely loved it. It was really beautiful in certain ways, but had a kind of grittiness to it that I really loved too. Austen makes you think that everyone lived happily in the country, but that entire time period was so turbulent and had so much change to these new industrial cities. But yeah... I'm still so gaga about it right now, lol. Richard Armitage just perpetuates unrealistic expectations of men in it. :P I just downloaded N&S onto my Kindle last night, so when you track it down, let me know.

I've watched that version of Persuasion. It was okay. I liked the book better though, I think. I'm going to watch Northanger Abbey tonight, actually. I know next to nothing about it, so no expectations, heh.

[plumeriandeity]

Love your icon!

I think the proposal scene in Emma is probably one I've watched a tonne of times next to the the kiss in N&S. OMG it gets me every time.

I totally agree with what you said about N&S. I think that's why I love it so much. It's so much darker than Austen's stuff (at least the ones I've read/seen of Austen). I've noticed that in Gaskell's stuff (Cranford, Wives and Daughters), though I think N&S is much darker than the other two.

Richard Armitage is ten kinds of lovely in N&S. Truly, if men were like him in reality!

I want to watch Northanger Abbey tonight, but I think I'll probably catch it on PBS Online. No time :( Always good going in to something with no expectations. That's how I was with N&S and I was totally bowled over, haha.

[aimeesworld]

North and South is an excellent book. I can't speak for its accuracy to the adaption though - I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

Seconding the recommendation for Persuasion. Read it first. The 1995 adaption is excellent though. I really didn't enjoy the more recent one: it made everything and the characters so dull and serious.

[plumeriandeity]

Ooh you have to watch the adaptation of N&S. It's just so brilliantly done.

That's sad to hear the latest Persuasion adaptation made the characters dull and serious. That's always off-putting!...You want the characters to interest you otherwise what's the point, right?

Making a list right now of book recommendations. I'll snatch both N&S and Persuasion from the library tomorrow :)

[plumeriandeity]

It really is a very funny novel, compared to P&P. I liked that because I'd seen the miniseries, I could match the scenes to those in the book and it made it funnier. I liked the way Romola Garai played the character because even though she is supposed to be all poised and ladylike, I liked that she was kind of silly and super gushy and girly...like we all are!

I need to re-watch the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma. I think I need to watch it with a clear perspective, without the BBC series clouding my opinion :)