I was not all that impressed with the first episode of Emma; I was a bit put off by some of the more modern aspects of the interpretation, but by the end of the second episode, I had been won over by this youthful, boisterous, joyful interpretation of Austen's novel. I am now anxiously awaiting the incident at Box Hill, Emma's realization of her love for Mr. Knightley, and one of the most perfect proposals in all of literature. If I have to have a cold, at least I have wonderful consolation while I "suffer"!
One last miscellaneous tidbit to leave you with before the weekend ends: I LOVE Charles Dickens.
These are all the Charles Dickens-related books that I have at home with me. There are a few more that live at school, but I like to keep them close! I also thought I would include my favorites from Dickens' canon.
Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations are the novels that redeemed Dickens for me. I read A Christmas Carol in seventh grade and Oliver Twist in tenth grade and wasn't terribly impressed by either. Tale of Two Cities changed all that for me.
Here are the rest of my Dickens favorites in order of how much I love them: You can't love Dickens and NOT love David Copperfield; I love Nicholas Nickleby because it is one of Dickens' truly comic novels; I did my undergraduate thesis on Our Murual Friend. Many critics thought it was a disappointment, but I found the tale of love, redemption, and resurrection to be moving and well-written.
Finally, Little Dorrit is my new Dickens love.
It's pretty much a toss-up as to whether I love OMF or LD more, but love them I do!
8 comments:
Did you see the BBC dramatization of LIttle Dorrit that aired on Masterpiece last year? It was absolutely superb -- and available on Netflix.
Ohhhhh yes! I loved it! I was in love with Arthur Clennam before I saw the adaptation, and having him be played by Matthew McFadyen didn't hurt things any ;). I actually read it because of the Masterpiece/BBC version, and I'm so glad I did!
I am a new convert to Dickens. I was always intimidated by his books (based on what others said about him...lesson learned to read the author myself before making a judgment) but read a sort-of-biography on him called The Man Who Invented Christmas which made me want to finally read one of his works. I read Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol last year and am currently reading Great Expectations. I am hooked:)
Welcome to the world of Dickens, Book Psmith, and thanks for stopping by the blog! He is definitely worth the effort, and I think you will find your reading very rewarding. I find his longest works to be his best because they really allow him to run with his love for descriptions.
I love reading and teaching (I'm a teacher) Dickens a lot. I also like watching adaptations of his works. My best loved among his novels is GREAT EXPECTATIONS but I really like all the others I've read/studied.
I've reviewed several of Dickens's works in my blog. The latest "A Tale of Two Cities (book and TV adaptation). If you want to take a look
go to http://flyhigh-by-learnonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/tale-of-two-cities-by-charles-dickens.html
By the way, nice place here! I've become a follower and I'll be back!
I forgot to ask, did you like EMMA 2009? I loved it!
Maria-Welcome, and thank you for your kind comments! I will definitely visit your blog because I MUST read what you think of A Tale of Two Cities. And I did, indeed, love the new Emma. In fact, my roommate wanted to watch the Gwyneth Paltrow version again, so I watched it with her and just kept thinking how much better the Romola Garai version was. I even thought Johnny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightley was better (which I didn't think was possible!). I will visit soon!
Well I must say that I did opt for the Super Bowl over Emma, but only because my family was recording the series to watch on the following Thursdays. :) I loved it so much! I had seen the Beckinsale version, and was watching part of the Gwyneth version on YouTube simultaneously, but the new version tops them all - it's one of my favorite miniseries!
And oh, don't get me started on Dickens. I never thought I'd love Dickens as I do, because when I first read him I wanted to pull my brains out through my ears. Now I own Our Mutual Friend, Hard Times, David Copperfield (of course!), Bleak House, and Barnaby Rudge, and my family also has AToTC, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol. Which is to say, I'm never lacking in wonderful literature!
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