You can access the text and download it here, thanks to Project Gutenberg.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Meeting Wrap Up and Update: July
We held our July meeting this past Tuesday and had a fantastic turnout with some new faces. Thanks to everyone who attended and helped spread the word of our little group and welcome to our new members!We held a great discussion on Persuasion and elected Mansfield Park to be our August book up for discussion, which will be led by Toby. (Thanks, Toby!)
Many thanks to all who participated. Flyers for August's meeting will be e-mailed shortly. Please feel free to forward them on and post them around town.
The August meeting will be Tuesday August 18, 2009 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Title Wave Books.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Meeting Update
Just a reminder:
We are meeting as a group on Tuesday July 21, 2009 at 6 p.m. at Title Wave Books. Contact us via e-mail if you have any questions. See you there!
We are meeting as a group on Tuesday July 21, 2009 at 6 p.m. at Title Wave Books. Contact us via e-mail if you have any questions. See you there!
PBS Interview with Persuasion's Sally Hawkins
In honor of our chapter's upcoming Persusasion discussion, we'll be posting material related to the novel.
It's the lunch rush in London, and Sally Hawkins is navigating her way through the crowded (and slow) Tube to get to a quiet place for our interview. She phones along the way, train stops blaring from the loudspeaker overhead, to update her progress and apologize for the inconvenience. You can't help but draw comparisons between Hawkins and Anne Elliot, the character she not only plays but inhabits in Persuasion — gracious, kind, and generous.
Hawkins finally makes her way to a coffee shop, and nestles into a corner to talk on the phone for the interview. In the background, the sounds of a wailing baby, clanging dishes, and a bustling lunch crowd nearly overtake the conversation. In a way, it is an apt metaphor for Hawkin's career of late — chaotic. Immediately before filming Persuasion, Hawkins completed a picture with Woody Allen that also stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, and left the set to again work with director Mike Leigh.
Somehow, the London native is entirely at ease, finding some still center in the middle of both the coffee shop and her career. In her first Masterpiece interview, Hawkins talks about growing up in a world rich with stories, immersing herself into Jane Austen, and her big fall in Bath.
What was it like having Persuasion sandwiched in between your films with Woody Allen and Mike Leigh?
Hawkins: It was great to do something completely different from Woody or Mike, and to put on a bonnet and go running through the streets of Bath. I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active...and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up. I work on a more instinctive level and it was good to completely throw myself into something else.
You come from a family of storytellers — parents who are both children's book authors. Did growing up in an environment rich with stories affect your interest in and approach to acting?
Hawkins: It really did. Stories were integral to our upbringing — making up stories and seeing my parents create something from nothing with such strong characters on the page. My Dad acts out a character's part before he draws it, and both my parents kind of test dialogue and text and act it out together to see if it works and fits, and if the rhythm is right. It really did spark something in me and especially that creativity, the ability to step into someone's shoes like that. I owe them everything for that. They make it up and I get it given to me on a page.
When were you first introduced to Austen's work, and what was it like revisiting it for your role in Persuasion?
Hawkins: I had been introduced to Austen in school and liked her work. In later years, I was put off by the Jane hype. When I was offered Persuasion and got the book and reread it, I realized there was no way I could discount her. Her work is just phenomenal, and I devoured Persuasion. I hadn't remembered how rich it was, and it is such a beautiful book. What is also so poignant about it is that she wrote it at the end of her life. She was so ill and actually died with this illness. I find it so poignant. It is such a book about hope and second changes. It mirrors Jane's own life — I feel like it is how she would have loved her own life to turn out.
One element that is so distinct about the adaptation is that the camera gets harrowingly close to your face. This creates such intimacy and intensity for the audience, but what was the experience like as an actor?
Hawkins: I have never done that kind of thing before and it was great to try. It was quite unnerving, and also very freeing. It was an opportunity to speak to the audience and to communicate with them and let them in. I have no idea what it would look like, whether we would pull it off, or whether it would end up ostracizing the audience. It is quite powerful and very direct, and I loved the fact that it is unconventional and unexpected. Adrian [Shergold, the director] wasn't interested in doing anything in a predictable way — it was really courageous.
For the role, you absorbed yourself in Jane's letters and life. What was this immersive experience like and how did it inform your portrayal of Anne Elliot?
Hawkins: I love doing that although I know that many actors don't, and don't feel it necessary. I find it an excuse to read and throw myself into a world I didn't know much about before. I didn't know much about Jane Austen's life, and the more I read, the more I fell in love with her.
Research creates such a richness and life behind words that would otherwise be just words on a page. It gives me something to hold onto, several hooks really. Once I have done the authentic research — the life and society of that time — I feel I can create my own world and start to get creative. It then starts to be really fun for me because I can really create and imagine what Anne Elliot might have had for breakfast, what kind of foods she would have liked, her favorite colors, where she would have liked to walk. Filming in Bath meant I could do that walk myself almost in character; walking down streets she would have walked down.
Rebecca Eaton, Executive Producer of Masterpiece, has said that the actors in these Austen adaptations had to unlearn a modern way of communicating and assume an innocence to make these films believable. Was this true with your on-camera work with Wentworth?
Hawkins: Definitely....it was unlearning and then it was adding layers as well. You just want the characters to say what they mean but so much is what is going on in their heads. In that time, it was all about codes and behavior and the etiquette of the day. I found it very modern as well — we still speak in code even now.
You are often noted for your love of comedy. What did you find that was funny about this project, the filming, etc.
Hawkins: I do love comedy, and there were many laughs outside that that kept me going. There was one time where I was on the Royal Crescent, the famous Royal Crescent [a street in Bath, England, with a row of 30 houses in the shape of a crescent], and we are doing the climactic scene where Anne runs into Wentworth. It was quite an important moment, and quite hyped up. We were there all day, it was raining, we were trying to catch the light, and a little crowd of tourists and Austen fans had gathered. There was also a crew of documentary filmmakers who were filming throughout our time in Bath and had come with us. They were filming when I was running down the street and I went into it too much, and I completely tripped and fell head-over-heels on my face. It was the most embarrassing thing. My skirt went over my head and it was not very Jane Austen. I think I did get a clap from the crowd afterwards. The documentary people caught it on camera and told me they wouldn't put it in the documentary, but of course there it is.
Anne says in the film — "The one claim I shall make for my own sex is that we love longest, when all hope is gone." Do you agree?
Hawkins: I don't know, I think that everyone is different. I think that it depends on where you are in life and in your own head. I've witnessed men grieving for a long time going through their own torments, and I think everyone has their own personal unrequited love story to tell. I don't know — maybe women do feel it deeper and it lasts longer, but I will have to ask more men.
Original interview can be found here.
It's the lunch rush in London, and Sally Hawkins is navigating her way through the crowded (and slow) Tube to get to a quiet place for our interview. She phones along the way, train stops blaring from the loudspeaker overhead, to update her progress and apologize for the inconvenience. You can't help but draw comparisons between Hawkins and Anne Elliot, the character she not only plays but inhabits in Persuasion — gracious, kind, and generous.Hawkins finally makes her way to a coffee shop, and nestles into a corner to talk on the phone for the interview. In the background, the sounds of a wailing baby, clanging dishes, and a bustling lunch crowd nearly overtake the conversation. In a way, it is an apt metaphor for Hawkin's career of late — chaotic. Immediately before filming Persuasion, Hawkins completed a picture with Woody Allen that also stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell, and left the set to again work with director Mike Leigh.
Somehow, the London native is entirely at ease, finding some still center in the middle of both the coffee shop and her career. In her first Masterpiece interview, Hawkins talks about growing up in a world rich with stories, immersing herself into Jane Austen, and her big fall in Bath.
What was it like having Persuasion sandwiched in between your films with Woody Allen and Mike Leigh?
Hawkins: It was great to do something completely different from Woody or Mike, and to put on a bonnet and go running through the streets of Bath. I love working and I love doing lots of things and a variety of things. It keeps your mind active...and you don't end up worrying about just the one thing. When I chew things over or analyze too much, that is when I can trip myself up. I work on a more instinctive level and it was good to completely throw myself into something else.
You come from a family of storytellers — parents who are both children's book authors. Did growing up in an environment rich with stories affect your interest in and approach to acting?
Hawkins: It really did. Stories were integral to our upbringing — making up stories and seeing my parents create something from nothing with such strong characters on the page. My Dad acts out a character's part before he draws it, and both my parents kind of test dialogue and text and act it out together to see if it works and fits, and if the rhythm is right. It really did spark something in me and especially that creativity, the ability to step into someone's shoes like that. I owe them everything for that. They make it up and I get it given to me on a page.
When were you first introduced to Austen's work, and what was it like revisiting it for your role in Persuasion?
Hawkins: I had been introduced to Austen in school and liked her work. In later years, I was put off by the Jane hype. When I was offered Persuasion and got the book and reread it, I realized there was no way I could discount her. Her work is just phenomenal, and I devoured Persuasion. I hadn't remembered how rich it was, and it is such a beautiful book. What is also so poignant about it is that she wrote it at the end of her life. She was so ill and actually died with this illness. I find it so poignant. It is such a book about hope and second changes. It mirrors Jane's own life — I feel like it is how she would have loved her own life to turn out.
One element that is so distinct about the adaptation is that the camera gets harrowingly close to your face. This creates such intimacy and intensity for the audience, but what was the experience like as an actor?
Hawkins: I have never done that kind of thing before and it was great to try. It was quite unnerving, and also very freeing. It was an opportunity to speak to the audience and to communicate with them and let them in. I have no idea what it would look like, whether we would pull it off, or whether it would end up ostracizing the audience. It is quite powerful and very direct, and I loved the fact that it is unconventional and unexpected. Adrian [Shergold, the director] wasn't interested in doing anything in a predictable way — it was really courageous.
For the role, you absorbed yourself in Jane's letters and life. What was this immersive experience like and how did it inform your portrayal of Anne Elliot?
Hawkins: I love doing that although I know that many actors don't, and don't feel it necessary. I find it an excuse to read and throw myself into a world I didn't know much about before. I didn't know much about Jane Austen's life, and the more I read, the more I fell in love with her.
Research creates such a richness and life behind words that would otherwise be just words on a page. It gives me something to hold onto, several hooks really. Once I have done the authentic research — the life and society of that time — I feel I can create my own world and start to get creative. It then starts to be really fun for me because I can really create and imagine what Anne Elliot might have had for breakfast, what kind of foods she would have liked, her favorite colors, where she would have liked to walk. Filming in Bath meant I could do that walk myself almost in character; walking down streets she would have walked down.
Rebecca Eaton, Executive Producer of Masterpiece, has said that the actors in these Austen adaptations had to unlearn a modern way of communicating and assume an innocence to make these films believable. Was this true with your on-camera work with Wentworth?
Hawkins: Definitely....it was unlearning and then it was adding layers as well. You just want the characters to say what they mean but so much is what is going on in their heads. In that time, it was all about codes and behavior and the etiquette of the day. I found it very modern as well — we still speak in code even now.
You are often noted for your love of comedy. What did you find that was funny about this project, the filming, etc.
Hawkins: I do love comedy, and there were many laughs outside that that kept me going. There was one time where I was on the Royal Crescent, the famous Royal Crescent [a street in Bath, England, with a row of 30 houses in the shape of a crescent], and we are doing the climactic scene where Anne runs into Wentworth. It was quite an important moment, and quite hyped up. We were there all day, it was raining, we were trying to catch the light, and a little crowd of tourists and Austen fans had gathered. There was also a crew of documentary filmmakers who were filming throughout our time in Bath and had come with us. They were filming when I was running down the street and I went into it too much, and I completely tripped and fell head-over-heels on my face. It was the most embarrassing thing. My skirt went over my head and it was not very Jane Austen. I think I did get a clap from the crowd afterwards. The documentary people caught it on camera and told me they wouldn't put it in the documentary, but of course there it is.
Anne says in the film — "The one claim I shall make for my own sex is that we love longest, when all hope is gone." Do you agree?
Hawkins: I don't know, I think that everyone is different. I think that it depends on where you are in life and in your own head. I've witnessed men grieving for a long time going through their own torments, and I think everyone has their own personal unrequited love story to tell. I don't know — maybe women do feel it deeper and it lasts longer, but I will have to ask more men.
Original interview can be found here.
Lizzy Bennett...Comicbook Heroine?
Find the original Examiner article here.
Marvel has taken Pride and Prejudice and made a pretty good comic book
Marvel Comics’ adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic doesn’t detour off a mediocre route. The novel, since published in 1813, has inspired four silver screen films and five separate television broadcasts as well as multiple theatrical adaptations. Each one has maintained sincerity to Jane Austen’s story but attempted an innovative effort towards visualization. Since released on April 1 the four issues responsibly adhere to the book’s favored plot. Apart from maintaining the classic’s margins, the literary-warden duties peak the innovative viewpoint for the entire reading experience.
Jane Austen offered, from chapter to chapter, the personalities of her characters to render a mi.jpg)
x toned composition. Marvel’s Pride & Prejudice translates a monotone rendition. The inane nature of Mrs. Bennett becomes tediously typical. Mr. Bennett’s sarcasm loses poignancy and agreeability. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Hurst join all four daughters, excluding Lydia, as connotations of flat, archetypical personas.
Marvel Comics deserves a nod for undertaking the adaptation. “Pride and Prejudice” was caught in print between post-Colonial and pre-Victorian eras.
Austen’s writing style is not extremely ‘ye’ but certainly ‘olde’. Credit is demanded for translation from a follow-up novel of Austen’s caliber to a different literary medium.
Pride & Prejudice will be released as a five-issue series. Issue #4 is due to be released on Aug. 12. Current releases can be found in comic stores around the DC Metro area.
Marvel has taken Pride and Prejudice and made a pretty good comic bookMarvel Comics’ adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic doesn’t detour off a mediocre route. The novel, since published in 1813, has inspired four silver screen films and five separate television broadcasts as well as multiple theatrical adaptations. Each one has maintained sincerity to Jane Austen’s story but attempted an innovative effort towards visualization. Since released on April 1 the four issues responsibly adhere to the book’s favored plot. Apart from maintaining the classic’s margins, the literary-warden duties peak the innovative viewpoint for the entire reading experience.
Jane Austen offered, from chapter to chapter, the personalities of her characters to render a mi
.jpg)
x toned composition. Marvel’s Pride & Prejudice translates a monotone rendition. The inane nature of Mrs. Bennett becomes tediously typical. Mr. Bennett’s sarcasm loses poignancy and agreeability. Mr. Bingley and Mr. Hurst join all four daughters, excluding Lydia, as connotations of flat, archetypical personas.Marvel Comics deserves a nod for undertaking the adaptation. “Pride and Prejudice” was caught in print between post-Colonial and pre-Victorian eras.
Austen’s writing style is not extremely ‘ye’ but certainly ‘olde’. Credit is demanded for translation from a follow-up novel of Austen’s caliber to a different literary medium.Pride & Prejudice will be released as a five-issue series. Issue #4 is due to be released on Aug. 12. Current releases can be found in comic stores around the DC Metro area.
Friday, July 10, 2009
BBC's "Emma" trailer available
The BBC's much-anticipated release of "Emma" this fall is creating a lot of buzz. Read that buzz here. A trailer has just been released and you can watch it here. Enjoy!Here's the official description:
Emma is a fresh and witty serial adaptation of Jane Austen's comic masterpiece by award-winning writer Sandy Welch (Jane Eyre, North And South, Our Mutual Friend).
Romola Garai (Atonement, Vanity Fair), plays the "handsome, clever and rich" Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who dominates her small provincial world of Highbury. Misguidedly believing that she is a skilled matchmaker, Emma repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends and acquaintances, often with regrettable consequences.
The cast includes Jonny Lee Miller (Endgame, Melinda And Melinda), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, Cranford), Tamsin Greig (The Diary Of Anne Frank, Green Wing), Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet) and Jodhi May (Einstein And Eddington, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard).
A Bafta-winning writer, Sandy Welch unfolds Austen's compassionate and humorous story of self-deceit and self-discovery in four hour-long episodes, providing a rich insight into one of the author's most complex characters.
LH2/BR3
BBC Productions
A new chapter for Austen
An Article from "Portsmouth Today." See the original here.
Published Date:
10 July 2009
By Jodie Jeynes
A house move may not sound like the stuff of bicentenary celebrations, but for the village of Chawton, near Alton, this week marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of a very special resident.
Jane Austen moved to a cottage on her brother Edward's estate in the Hampshire village in 1809 and spent the last eight years of her life there.
Today the cottage is Jane Austen's House Museum – an important site for the history of English literature.
In this house Jane revised her novels Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility & Northanger Abbey also wrote Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion.
The Museum tells the story of Jane Austen and her family and retains the charm of a village home.
On Sunday the museum held a special event to officially open its £670,000 redevelopment.
The project aims to make the story of Jane's life more accessible to the 1,000s of visitors from all over the world who flock to the house each year.
It includes a new learning centre complete with hands-on activities, the opening of the Austens' old kitchen, returning the drawing room to its original use, a new and large shop in the Granary, an audiovisual presentation on Jane's life and an exhibition exploring the film and television adaptations of Jane Austen's books.
Throughout the day there will be activities for all the family including music and dancing with Madding Crowd, a traditional English village band and demonstrations on the use of herbs in Jane Austen's time in the newly opened kitchen.
The museum is open daily from 10am until 5pm, until the end of August when the times change.
Admission costs £7 for adults and £6 for senior citizens and students. Children aged eight to 16 pay £2 and those younger than that get in for free.
for more information visit www. jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk or call (01420) 083262
10 July 2009
By Jodie Jeynes
A house move may not sound like the stuff of bicentenary celebrations, but for the village of Chawton, near Alton, this week marks the 200th anniversary of the arrival of a very special resident.Jane Austen moved to a cottage on her brother Edward's estate in the Hampshire village in 1809 and spent the last eight years of her life there.
Today the cottage is Jane Austen's House Museum – an important site for the history of English literature.
In this house Jane revised her novels Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility & Northanger Abbey also wrote Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion.
The Museum tells the story of Jane Austen and her family and retains the charm of a village home.
On Sunday the museum held a special event to officially open its £670,000 redevelopment.
The project aims to make the story of Jane's life more accessible to the 1,000s of visitors from all over the world who flock to the house each year.
It includes a new learning centre complete with hands-on activities, the opening of the Austens' old kitchen, returning the drawing room to its original use, a new and large shop in the Granary, an audiovisual presentation on Jane's life and an exhibition exploring the film and television adaptations of Jane Austen's books.
Throughout the day there will be activities for all the family including music and dancing with Madding Crowd, a traditional English village band and demonstrations on the use of herbs in Jane Austen's time in the newly opened kitchen.
The museum is open daily from 10am until 5pm, until the end of August when the times change.
Admission costs £7 for adults and £6 for senior citizens and students. Children aged eight to 16 pay £2 and those younger than that get in for free.
for more information visit www. jane-austens-house-museum.org.uk or call (01420) 083262
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Meeting Wrap up and Update
Tuesday's meeting went well! It was great to see such great participation, and the future looks bright for us Janeites with a meeting attendance of seven folks!The next meeting, it was decided, will take place on Tuesday July 21 at 6 p.m. at Title Wave books. The group decided to begin our meetings with book discussions led by a different member each month. July's book will be Persuasion, led by Megan.
We'll also decide on a regular meeting schedule at this meeting. If you'd like more information, please drop us a line at jasna.alaska@gmail.com.
Stay tuned for more exciting Jane Austen in Alaska news.
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