How I love period dramas!
What started with a general idea to read a few remaining Jane Austen books has led me into a renewed interest in period dramas. While in Chicago recently, I picked up a copy of Persuasion. After reading it rather quickly, I did my usual post-book routine – I searched for the best film version of the story, the version that matched my imagination most accurately, that would be the final piece in full enjoyment of the story. Well, the first version I found (and watched online via Netflix) did not satisfy, and while waiting for another version to arrive in the mail, I started browsing similar movies. Now my queue is full of period dramas, some romantic, some not. A few I have been able to watch online, instead of waiting for a DVD.
The first new one I watched was called North & South, about a country girl moving to an industrial town, and becoming an advocate for cotton mill workers’ rights, clashing with the mill owner while at the same time falling in love with him. It far exceeded my expectations, and made me realize that Jane Austen is really just a lot of fluff. Don’t get me wrong, I adore her characters and stories, but to find equally endearing characters in the setting of a meaningful and interesting plot… Sorry Jane, but you’ve officially become the harlequin romance novelist of the period.
Next up (also watched on my computer) was Bleak House. Based on the Dickens novel, this story centered on a never-ending inheritance legal case, with plot twists and connections unexpected and brilliant! I chose to watch this because it had such a high star rating on Netflix, and it featured Gillian Anderson (who was perfect in her role). I couldn’t have been happier with the whole thing, and wish it could have lasted longer. I will have to add the book to my short list of must-reads.
This weekend, I’ll have some Jane Austen fluff in Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, but I mean to follow these with Cranford, another series based on several novels by Elizabeth Gaskell. I saw a bit of it on TV last year, but I’m looking forward to seeing the whole thing.
In short, my winter (and spring, andpossibly part of the summer) will likely be spent reading and watching Gaskell, Bronte and Dickens, and on the look out for more new stories.
December 10, 2009
Posted in: Uncategorized
One Response
A&E has two period series that I just love: Sharpe’s and Hornblower. I remember my grandma had a lot of Georgette Heyer Regency Romance novels. She isn’t Jane Austen, but they were fun to read when I was spending the Summer with Grandma.
Leave a Reply