Posts tagged with jane-austen

Jan 2 2019

Weekly Book Giveaway: Persuasion (Penguin Classics Deluxe), by Jane Austen

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It's a short week, but let's start off 2019 right: with Jane Austen. This week's Book Giveaway is the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition of Persuasion. Due to the wonky holiday schedule, we're extending this giveaway through Monday, January 7th. A full review will follow shortly...

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Aug 2 2018

Older and wiser, sure, but not old and wise

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So much Jane Austen news recently! I just learned that there are TWO modern-day film adaptations inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion in the works. I have always loved the 1995 movie version of Persuasion, and I thought the 2007 version was... reasonably watchable, but I'd like to see an adaptation that plays up what I consider to be a central aspect of the novel...

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Aug 1 2018

They're obviously hoping to play up the nude bathing.

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Well, this is VERY EXCITING. According to PBS, ITV is working on an 8-hour-long adaptation of Jane Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon, to be written by Andrew Davies. It would be even MORE exciting, of course, if they didn't describe the heroine as...

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Jul 31 2018

Starting at the top

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According to the Georgian Papers Programme, a researcher named Nicholas Foretek has found evidence that the first documented purchaser of any novel by Jane Austen was actually the Prince Regent (later George IV). I know that Austen had, at best, mixed feelings about the Prince Regent, but...

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Jun 21 2018

If only...

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I want to go here: Dumbarton House in Washington D.C., headquarters of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, is hosting its 7th Annual Jane Austen Film Festival on Wednesday nights from July 11th through August 1st 2018. I don't actually like any of the films that they've chosen, and...

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Mar 12 2018

Persuasion (Modern Library Edition), by Jane Austen

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As longtime readers of the site know, every few months I indulge myself by reviewing specific editions of Jane Austen's novels. These are not meant to be reviews of the stories (hot take: Austen's books are great! You should totally read 'em!), they are reviews of the supplementary materials included by various publishers. I am a raging nerd, so...

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Mar 12 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: Persuasion (Modern Library Edition), by Jane Austen

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This week's Book Giveaway is the 2001 Modern Library edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion. I'm only a few pages in, but I'm already irritated by the foreword, so brace yourselves for a lot of very nerd-specific ranting. Our review will be posted shortly...

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Mar 8 2018

My people

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Slate recently featured an excerpt from Ted Scheinman's Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan. It's sweet, if a little dorky, and definitely makes me want to go to an Austen convention one day—I'm not doing any dressing up or dancing, but I definitely...

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Jan 8 2018

Weekly Book Giveaway: Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe, by Melissa de la Cruz

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Well, it's no longer the holidays, but it's always Pride and Prejudice season 'round these parts, so this week's Book Giveaway is Melissa de la Cruz's Pride and Prejudice and Mistletoe. Based on my previous exposure to Ms. de la Cruz's work, my hopes are not high, but we'll see. A full review will be posted shortly...

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Nov 14 2017

Intriguing

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I'm tempted to buy this Pride and Prejudice-inspired board game, but I've been burned by many an Austen-themed novelty item before...

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Oct 10 2017

Wasteful

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The Seattle Repertory Theatre is currently running a theatrical adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The local paper recently posted a lukewarm review that killed any desire I had to see the play, but I still wanted to...

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Sep 28 2017

I'm more adventurous when things are free.

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The Guardian just posted a fairly positive review of Ever, Jane, a Jane-Austen-inspired online role-playing game created by Judy L Tyrer, formerly of Linden Labs (the studio behind the online world Second Life). I'm not a fan of online role-playing, but I might give Ever, Jane a shot...

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Aug 8 2017

With bells on

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I was just asking for another TV or movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and the universe has responded: according to Radio Times, ITV is planning an new TV version of the novel that will "tease out the story's 'darker tones'". My first reaction is: do the darker tones take take much teasing? I mean, this...

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Jul 25 2017

Scrambling for cash

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Chawton House Library, the “Great House” once owned by Jane Austen's brother Edward, is seeking to raise around £150,000 over the next 18 months to stay open after a longtime backer withdrew support. (The £150,000 is just to keep the doors open while they apply for millions in capital grants...

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Jul 20 2017

Persuasion = The Shallows

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There's a mildly amusing essay over on the Guardian website that compares Jane Austen's Persuasion to a kung-fu movie. I think the analogy is a stretch (if you're talking about the characters being hemmed in and surrounded by potential dangers, why stop at kung-fu films? There are lots of horror films that play up claustrophobia and danger. Why not a shark movie?), but...

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Feb 15 2017

Times change

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The Guardian recently posted an impressively misleading article entitled "Portrait of 'real' Mr Darcy unlikely to set 21st century hearts aflutter". Unfortunately, this isn't a portrait, at least not of a real person...

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Feb 13 2017

Mansfield Park: An Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen

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It's been a few months, and I am a huge nerd, so it's time for one of my favorite literary indulgences: reviewing annotated Jane Austen novels! Today I'll be complaining about Harvard University Press's recent edition of Mansfield Park. As always, please note: this is not a review of Austen's novel...

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Feb 13 2017

Weekly Book Giveaway: Mansfield Park: An Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen

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This week's Book Giveaway is Harvard Press's Mansfield Park: An Annotated Edition. This will hurt me to give away, both because I'd quite like to keep it and because it weighs a zillion pounds, and will thus cost a fortune to ship. A full review will follow shortly...

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Nov 28 2016

Pride and Prejudice: Third Norton Critical Edition, by Jane Austen and edited by Donald J. Gray

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When reviewing an annotated Jane Austen novel, I always want to emphasize that I am focusing solely on the quality of the critical content featured in this particular edition. (I don't have anything left to say about Pride and Prejudice other than it's amazing, and...

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Nov 28 2016

Weekly Book Giveaway: Pride and Prejudice, Third Norton Critical Edition, by Jane Austen and edited by Donald Gray

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As everyone who loves me knows, there is nothing I find more relaxing than hate-reading critical essays about Jane Austen. I picked up this particular book right after the election, and I'm offering it up this week as part of our Weekly Book Giveaway. Here's hoping it works its soothing magic for you, too...

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Oct 11 2016

She's already famous

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And speaking of Jane Austen, we're finally getting a good look at the £10 notes featuring her likeness. I'm not sure about that color scheme (why so orange?), but...

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Oct 11 2016

Get famous

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According the Folio Society's blog, they recently announced the subject of their 2017 Book Illustration Competition: they are looking for someone to illustrate Jane Austen's Mansfield Park...

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Sep 26 2016

Emma: 200th Anniversary Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen

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Before we get started, I want to emphasize that this is a review of a particular edition—the Penguin Deluxe Classics 200th Anniversary Annotated version—of Jane Austen's novel Emma, rather than the novel itself. If you haven't already read Emma... well, you should! It's good...

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Sep 26 2016

Weekly Book Giveaway: Emma: 200th Anniversary Annotated Edition, by Jane Austen

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This week's Book Giveaway is Penguin's "Classics Deluxe" edition of Jane Austen's Emma. This is the 200th Anniversary annotated edition, and features explanatory notes by Juliette Wells. Our review will follow shortly...

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Jul 21 2016

Even more vital

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Last week, Pajiba put together a list of Jane Austen's heroes, ranked by level of swoon-worthiness. (Please note: these are the film versions of various characters, not the book versions.) Of course, I firmly believe that Edmund Bertram could be played by Sex Incarnate and he'd still be a judgmental, easily manipulated doofus, so I'm ignoring their #10, but...

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Jun 8 2016

Mediocrity in pretty dresses

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Over the weekend, my mom and I went to see Whit Stillman's Love and Friendship, which has been receiving glowing reviews. I enjoyed the acting, the sets, and the fact that one of Jane Austen's lesser-known works (the novella Lady Susan) was getting some attention, but I thought the movie itself was pretty bad, and I blame most of that on Mr. Stillman...

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May 16 2016

Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

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The back cover of Mary Robinette Kowal's novel Shades of Milk and Honey describes it as “precisely the sort of tale we would expect from Jane Austen”. That comment is... a little hyperbolic, to put it mildly, but Kowal's book has its own virtue...

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Apr 18 2016

Northanger Abbey, by Val McDermid

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Val McDermid's Northanger Abbey is the second installment in the Austen Project, HarperCollins's much-maligned attempt to produce modern re-workings of Jane Austen's six novels, each written by a popular current author. As I mentioned in my review of Alexander McCall Smith's take on Emma, this is an exceptionally tall order: while many aspects of Austen's books are timeless, not...

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Apr 18 2016

Weekly Book Giveaway: Northanger Abbey, by Val McDermid

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This week's Book Giveaway is Val McDermid's Northanger Abbey, a modern retelling of the Jane Austen novel of the same name. I'm only a few chapters in (a full review will follow later today), but thus far I don't actively long to push anyone down a well, so it's already a vast improvement over Alexander McCall Smith's Emma...

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Mar 14 2016

The Watsons, by Jane Austen and John Coates

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Sometime between 1803 and 1805, Jane Austen wrote the first five chapters of a novel called The Watsons. The story opens on a grim note: a young woman named Emma Watson returns to her family after spending many years in the care of a widowed and wealthy aunt. When her aunt makes a foolish second marriage, Emma is shipped off to her father's house, where she joins her three older sisters...

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