For others, it represents boredom, interminable miniseries (in which nothing blows up and everyone constantly has long and unintelligible conversations)

Heeeeeeeey!! Well, I know who that was meant for

Amy, because you are my friend, and I owe you twice now, I will say this and this only. I have seen Emma, as well as Clueless which is based upon it, in a roundabouts way. I have also seen Sense and Sensibility. Twice. Sort of. It's the one with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman in a non-villain role (I half expected him to say "Give me my detonators, Cowboy" ). I got it for Wifester for last Christmas and she loves it. To me it is like nails on a chalkboard, but because I love Wifester I will sit down and watch it with her despite the lack of A-10 Thunderbolts the movie so desperately needs (who can deny this? ).

Also she has watched Becoming Jane, which technically is not a Jane Austen work, but rather a Jane Austen biopic. But since we're on the subject of Jane Austen I thought it might be applicable here. Also I have seen Jane Austen's Mafia!, but this is a spoof that has nothing to do with Jane Austen and generally speaking had only a few funny moments despite having Jay Mohr in it.

*chuckles at SL's post. *
I want to read all of her books but so far I've only read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I'm rereading Sense and Sensibility now. I find it harder to get into than Pride and Prejudice.

She is humorous, but she knows how to be serious. She is entertaining; she is also compassionate. She never crosses into the realm of bitter satire; her sarcasm is playful rather than pushy. Her sharp wit flavors a warm humor and sensitivity. And people think her books are boring!

I love how you put that. There is a lot of humor.

I love the version of P&P you posted a picture of. It is one of the best adaptations of a book out there. I recently saw the bonus material on the DVD. The people who made it talked about the book with such respect and admiration. They repeatedly mentioned looking back at the text. Someone talked about all the action in it. If only people like that made a certain book series into movies ...

A brief look at Sense and Sensibility had other writers authored it. Close your eyes and imagine.....

Tom Clancy's Sense & Sensibility - The SS Willoughby is the ship that young Marianne Dashwood wishes to command for a secret mission, but due to budget cuts will ownership pass to Captain Elinor Dashwood of the nuclear attack sub SS Ferrars? It's romance on the high seas (or below it) filled with heroism, tragedy, and cruise missile attacks on Soviet bomber bases.

Robert Heinlein's Sense and Sensibility - Corporal Elinor Dashwood has just graduated Mobile Infantry school and is ready to take some action to the Bugs in her heavily armed robotic power armor. But when younger sisters Marianne and Margaret join the squad will they bring sibling rivalry to new levels of hostility aboard the USS Colonel Brandon? Rated R for extreme graphic scenes of war and unrequited love between Private Marianne Dashwood and Captain Willoughby, who returns her dogtags to her and announces he's moving to another ship before they drop on the Bug's home planet.

Edgar Allen Poe's Sense and Sensibility - A dark secret lives in the heart of Edward Ferrars, and a forbidden love from starstruck Elinor Dashwood springs from her need of some form of inheritance. Plus Mr. Ferrars looks amazingly like Hugh Grant. Will Elinor calm the ascending monster within Ferrars before it is too late? Or will Marianne become the next victim of the supernatural fang beast known as the Jackal, a creature that roams the Southwest of England...and what is that ticking coming from the back of Ferrar's closet?

Stephanie Meyer's Sense and Sensibility - When young Marianne Dashwood moves to a new town she feels like a bit of an outcast. She wears gothy clothes and has the personality of an avocado. But when new student John Willoughby, pasty and wearing heavy mascara, starts acting weird around her in Norland High School, strange things start to go bump in the night. Features an appearance by older, cynical sister Elinor Dashwood, who does double duty as the town sheriff, and Ed Ferrars, a member of the local tribe of yahoos that likes to howl at the moon. Will Marianne survive high school with all her red blood cells intact or will desolation hit her with crippling strength?

H.P. Lovecraft's Sense and Sensibility - Castle Norland high on the Dover coast has beared witness to unspeakable horrors for the past 7 centuries. When the Dashwood sisters move in the change of scenery provides just what they think they need. Until young Margaret disappears into the catacombs beneath Castle Norland one night. When Elinor investigates her sister's untimely vanishing she discovers a cult of sinister strangers that reside in the lower depths of the castle. And a malevolent beast who calls Marianne's name at 2:04 every night drives her to the very brink of madness....armed only with his wits will overeager suitor Colonel Brandon be able to descend into the pits of Norland Castle and save the woman he loves? Or be swept away by the tides of darkness running through the roots of her home...

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything while reading your post, Shadowlander! Very clever, humorous stuff.

A serious post? Very well, I'll try...

Real-life friends introduced to Austen's works quite a few years ago. I happened to see the BBC version of P&P - the one wisewoman mentions above - but it seemed rather long and plodding. Hey, I hadn't read the book yet. I did appreciate it more after doing so.

I do like the Emma Thompson version of S&S - though when I watch it now I can't help thinking that Col. Brandon sounds an awful lot like Marvin the Paranoid Android or Severus Snape.

And then there's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I read a bit of...

Seriously, I find Austen's work interesting because of the way it shows the social conventions of the day. They seem stiff and rigid by today's very casual standards, yet there was little ambiguity in how people were expected to behave in various social situations; they always knew what was expected and how to act. But there was just enough uncertainty to come into play to advance the story.

I grew up watching Austen (mainly, the '95 P&P and S&S), but I actually didn't read any until after I joined NW. I was trying to read some more classics at that time and once it was discovered that I'd never read any Austen, a few NWebbers (most notably, ww) told me to go read them. I picked up P&P and loved it, and I haven't looked back since (though, I still haven't read S&S...).
As for why I like Austen, can I just ditto ww's reasons?

Novels: Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Emma, Mansfield Park, and Persuasion.

Adaptations: Pride and Prejudice (1940, 1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Northanger Abbey (2007), Mansfield Park (2007), Emma (1996 - Gwyneth Paltrow), and Persuasion (1995, 2007). Also, I've seen Bride and Prejudice and the Wishbone episodes featuring P&P and NA.

SL, your resettings of S&S are hilarious. Though, I did notice that, sadly, Colonel Brandon seems to be missing from most of them...

Speaking of which, it's not nearly as exciting as SL's detour, but apparently there's recently been a speculation that Jane Austen may've suffered from and possibly died from arsenic poisoning. Another article, with a bit more on that and also the idea that Jane Austen would've loved social media is here. I'm rather dubious of it all, but it's just interesting to see the idea.

Attempted to read Pride and Prejudice. Did not get past page one. Consistent for me over the last few years.

When I see or hear her mentioned it makes me think of the English countryside we visited in 2009 near Winchester. Pretty. Great pub in Sparsholt too, The Plough Inn. Great ... Jane Austen makes me hungry.

I recently read Pride and Predjudice, because I had see the 2005 film adaption and LOVED it. I always thought that Jane Austen stuff would be really annoying and bore me to death, but it wasn’t like that at all. However, I normally like books with more action and adventure, and emotional involvment, especially if they're going to be so long!

About the 2005 movie, I think that the actors where perfect, it was exceptionally well done, and it perfectly captured the book, even with it’s few small differences. I might even go so far as to say it was better than the book if I didnt' think I would be shunned by the scholarly comunity!

I've also seen the movies Becoming Jane (2007), Sense and Sensibility (BBC), and part of Emma (BBC). In becoming Jane I was like, "hey this is just like what happened in one of her stories!" So I think it's interesting she drew a lot from her own life As for other authors... I know Sarah MacArthure has a Christian devotional book called "Dating Mr. Darcy" that looks good ^_^ She's an awesome author.

(P.S. A little advertising: I did a review of this on my blog (where I am perhaps overly opinionated) http://scatteredsunshinelee.blogspot.com/l )

Narniaweb told me about Jane Austen's books, too. That paragraph where you described why you like Jane Austen's books, because of their serious yet witty flavor, pretty much sums up my sentiments towards her writing very well.

I've read:
Pride and Prejudice (before seeing any movie versions, oddly) I picked thsi up whe n Iwas younger, tried to read it, and couldn't. I picked it up later and was engrossed in the story and the people. I love Jane Austen's keen observations and recordings of such different, varied people and their personalities! I'll definitely be reading P&P again.
Northanger Abbey. I don't know why I chose this one. I believe I actually read this one before P&P... *can't remember* but I really liked the cover, so I picked it up. Naturally, I really liked it. The main character, Catherine, is so girlish and so relatable. I really liked her. Tinley and Miss Tinely were awesome characters, too. The story was so low-key and interesting... I really enjoyed it.

I've seen:
Pride and Prejudice (1995) I loved the casting in this one, except for Jane, Elizabeth's friend (what's her name??) and Bingley. But otherwise, Jennifer Ehle is the ideal Elizabeth. Not so perfect, but beautiful. I love the cinematography of this one, but I do love the dresses and music of the 2005 version. This one was very faithful to the book and really delightful to watch, but I won't say I don't wish the dresses could be a little different. But otherwise, definitely my favourite version of P&P. I liked how Elizabeth and Darcy were both portrayed at fault, and I did like the more emotional envolvement of the characters portrayed.
Pride and Prejudice (2005) I loved Rosamund Pike as Jane and the other guy (sorry, don't know the actor!!) as Bingley, and the actress who played Elizabeth's friend. However, I felt some emotionalness amiss and also, I must admit that the watching Kiera Knightley is not my cup of tea, so... But like I said above, the dresses, cinematography, and soundtrack ae lovely.
Sense and Sensibility (the older one, with Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant) This one was witty, I found myself laughing so many times (when the overprotective sister pinched the other gal's nose. rofl) I also watched this one with a group of girls who did not normally watch period films, so their comments made it additionally amusing. The acting was good. I loved the girl who played the youngest, and the scenery was very beautiful, too.
Sense and Sensibilty (the newer one) I enjoyed this one too, but I liked the casting of Willoughby better in the older one. Marianne, too, but she was't awful. I LOVED the casting of Elinor, she was so Elinorish and perfect for the role! Her portrayal helped me appreciate and like Elinor (who is possibly my favourite Austen heroine) more. It was allright. Sense and Sensibility is not my favourite story, but I could enjoy both versions. I really liked the scenery of this one and the details of furniture... but I would NOT watch it again because of ughughugh the confounded beginning, which I thankfully did not watch because my mom immediately forwarded. That pretty much kind of ruined the film.
We tried to watch Persuasion last week, but could not really pay attention and relate to the story.

On a whole, I do enjoy Jane Austen's beautiful work, but like I've said before, I am not immediately sold for her work because I'm definitely more inclined to other things; things that kind of uniquely link your heart to the character and story. So, I wouldn't read an Austen when I'm more in the mood for a Montgomery, but as with all books, I definitely enjoy Jane Austen's work when I'm in the mood for them.

I love Jane Austen. Her prose and sentence structure is lovely. And her characters are so... true to life. She really knows how to capture people, with all their quirks and oddities.

I was introduced to Jane Austen... I'm sorry to say it... by the 2005 movie. I know, I know. Usually I read the book before I watch an adaptation. But this time, I couldn't help it. I was spending some time with my mom, and she started watching it. So I did too. And I loved it. I hadn't heard of Jane Austen before then; but after I fell in love with the movie, I went out to buy the book as well.

Pride and Prejudice was the first adult classic I've ever read. (Before I had just read books like Black Beauty or Little House on the Prairie.) And it was absolutely amazing. I soon bought up all her other works as well, including lesser works (Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon) and the Letters of Jane Austen. I also found a more difficult to procure volume of works she did when she was a teenager that were never published before.

I have not yet read all of her novels, though I hope to soon. So far I've read Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

As I said, I loved Pride and Prejudice. But I find it hard to separate it from the movie, since I watched the movie first. So that makes it difficult to say how much I like it in comparison with the other novels.

I read Persuasion after that, and found it a bit boring. I didn't care much for Anne, and thought it too slow too often.

Emma is my second favorite of her novels. I absolutely adore all the characters; and found Emma to be an interesting heroine, since she she was a bit manipulative and cunning instead of the typical pure-motived heroine cliche. Frank Churchill is one of my favorite literary characters. And there were plenty of unusual plot twists to keep me interested.

My absolute favorite of Ms. Austen's was Northanger Abbey. The tone felt more humorous and satiric than the other books (which I liked) and the poor, pitiful heroine and her obsessive behavior over gothic novels made me smile. Henry Tilney is my favorite Austen hero ever. With his sense of humor, openness, good sense, and compassionate nature, he made his way closer to my heart than the other Austen heroes (who, in my opinion, tend to be more dry, judgmental, and moody for the most part). And the growth the main character goes through in the book helped me grow myself, as I too (like her) was going through a bit of an obsessive stage in my life during that time.

I have yet to read Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, or the lesser works. I don't know much about Mansfield Park, but I did read about one-fourth of Sense and Sensibility a few years back. I stopped because I didn't care for it much. But all my friends keep recommending S&S to me and saying it's their favorite... I think I'll give it another try. Perhaps it gets better later, or perhaps my taste has changed since then. A lot of people seem to really like Colonel Brandon. I'm curious as to why, and that's giving me motivation to read it. I didn't see much appeal to him in the small bit I read. But maybe something interesting happens with him later...

As for movies, I haven't seen too many yet. As I said, I saw the Keira Knightley P&P and loved it. One of my favorite movies. I saw the adaptation of Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow, and thought it a bit odd. I also saw a miniseries version of P&P which was pretty good. It wasn't that really famous one with Colin Firth, though. It was a different one. It was by BBC. I had never heard of it before, but just found it at my library. I own another version of Emma made by A&E, an old adaptation of Persuasion, and the S&S adaptation with Kate Winslet, but I haven't watched them yet. They're still on my shelf, waiting to be watched.

~Riella

A lot of people seem to really like Colonel Brandon. I'm curious as to why

*coughAlanRickmancough*

I've read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Emma. Of those... I saw the 2009 Masterpiece version of Emma before I read the book, but all the rest I was a good little book reader and read the book before I saw a movie adaption.

The first time I read it, I enjoyed Sense and Sensibility much more than Pride and Prejudice which I found not nearly as funny as I'd expected, difficult to read (well, it was a particularly nasty e-text, full of typos...) and rather bland. I've come to appreciate it more, especially seeing how it influenced various other stories I enjoy, but I still don't quite see the fascination with it. On the other hand, I don't think I've read S&S since, so based on re-reads, I'd rank my favourites as P&P, Persuasion, S&S, Northanger Abbey, Emma.

Movies: Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Pride and Prejudice (1980)
Sense and Sensibility (1981)
Northanger Abbey (1987)
Emma (2009)
Persuasion (1995)

Lovely opening post, ww!

I think NarniaWeb had a part in causing me to read JA, too, although I had already been intrigued by the 1995 Emma Thompson adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which I had watched and loved.

Since then I've read all of her major novels, plus some of the unfinished works and juvenilia (Lady Susan, The Watsons, Sanditon). I love them all, but I think Persuasion is my favorite, closely followed by P&P. I took a course entitled Jane Austen and the Popular Imagination the spring before last, in which I reread the six major novels, as well as some subsequent works of fiction that owed to her influence, and watched some Austen-related films. I've seen a good deal of Austen movies and television pieces, bothon my own and as part of that class; I guess I'd better list them here.

(in chronological order)
Pride and Prejudice (1940)
Pride and Prejudice (1980)
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
Persuasion (1995)
Clueless (modernization of Emma, 1995)
Wishbone: "Furst Impressions" (adaptation of P&P, 1995)
Emma (Beckinsale, 1996)
Emma (Paltrow, 1996)
Wishbone: "Pup Fiction" (adaptation of NA, 1998)
Mansfield Park (1999)
I Have Found It (Indian adaptation of S&S, 2000)
Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003)
Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Persuasion (2007)
Mansfield Park (2007)
Northanger Abbey (2007)
Becoming Jane (2007)
Miss Austen Regrets (2008)
Emma (2009)

(By the way, seems the old Wishbone episodes are on YouTube now. I ought to watch those at some point. )

It's probably good that I'm busy with college these days and won't have much time to add more to the discussion, because I'm very much liable to get into heated debates over adaptations of Jane Austen novels. I must comment on one thing before I finish this up though....

In becoming Jane I was like, "hey this is just like what happened in one of her stories!" So I think it's interesting she drew a lot from her own life

Please remember that that movie is a fictional interpretation of Austen's life, and not a particularly accurate one at that. Doubtless Austen drew some from her own life (most authors do), but nothing from her letters or the Austen family documents suggests that it was to such a great extent as the writers of Becoming Jane would have us believe. This is not a case of Austen's art imitating Austen's life, but of the screenwriter's imitating Austen's art in order to re-imagine Austen's life. Clear as mud?

I know others (including NarniaWebbers) who enjoy that film. I can't, but it's fine that you do, as long as you don't assume it's factual.

For the record, the main reasons I can't enjoy Becoming Jane are:
1.

2. The whole romance between Austen and LeFroy is questionable to begin with; scholars cannot agree what the nature of their relationship was, precisely. We know they were in society together for a few short months, that they danced at balls, and probably flirted. But that may be all it was -- a flirtation. The fact that Cassandra Austen burned a good deal of Jane's letters after she died doesn't prove anything as far as I am concerned; they MIGHT have included more info re: her acquaintance with LeFroy, but there's no way to know now. I'm not fond of making arguments based simply upon the absence of documentation, and it strikes me as odd to make a biopic focusing on a romance that may never have happened.
3. What MOST bothers me about the film, aside from point #1, is the concept that our heroine "needed" to be in love, and specifically to have known Tom LeFroy, in order to "become" Jane Austen, the great authoress. This is a slight to Austen's genius, and more than a bit misogynistic -- apparently women can't be great at anything if they don't have a man to inspire them. *rolls eyes* Not only is it offensive: it's bogus. Austen had already written Lady Susan, Northanger Abbey, and the first draft of Pride and Prejudice (despite what the film shows) before she met Tom LeFroy, so I'd say she was doing pretty well on her own.
4. Finally, all the duplication of character types and situations from Austen's novels, particularly Pride and Prejudice. This strikes me as a lame and unoriginal way of writing a biographical film. But hey, what do I know?

Whoa. Sorry. Guess I had that rant in me and had to get it out. Can you tell I really don't like Becoming Jane?

Nice to see you around, Lysander. *waves solemnly and recalls the discussions once shared a very long time ago on Persuasion*

I was first introduced to Jane Austen at such a tender age. Such a tender age that I thought that the first thing through which I was introduced to her (the 1995 Emma Thompson S&S) was horribly droll. A year or two later I saw the Paltrow version of Emma, which I likewise thought droll. In 2006, I saw the '05 P&P, which was not droll. It was almost right after seeing the '05 P&P that I first read Pride and Prejudice, and I recall that I liked it very much, although I was still young (only thirteen or so) to properly enjoy the beauty, the depths, and Miss Austen's writing style. All this would I come to appreciate later on, largely after reading much more of her works. I have since read them all, and own almost all of them, except for one of her minor works. I has also seen those previously labelled "droll" films again, and like them very much, especially the '95 S&S, which I thought captured the characters very well.

My favourite of Miss Austen's work is without a doubt Persuasion. I love especially the book, but the '95 BBC film version is quite excellent as well. I also greatly enjoy the mini-series version of P&P from the 1980s, almost moreso than the 1995 version (shall the scholarly community reject me for saying that?), although of course I do quite enjoy the '95 one, and like it better each time I see it. I still kind of like the 2005 film, but I haven't seen it in many a year, and I'm sure I would view it with an eye more attentive to where they changed it from the book: not just the occurrences and events that are different, but also the spirit and feeling of the book as well.

Speaking of adaptations, there is a modern day set version of Pride & Prejudice that is coming out soon, and I am actually keenly looking forward to seeing it. It looks to be low budget, but from the sounds of it, the cast and crew, at least the important ones of them, love Austen very much, and want to be faithful to her beloved story. When I saw the trailer for it, there was something that bugged me about it as not quite right, and then it hit me like a load of bricks, and now I'm actually looking forward to it because of what didn't feel right. Simply put, it is this: it sounds very much like the scriptwriters kept the style in which people spoke when P&P was originally written, despite the fact that this new script is set in the modern day. It sounds lovely to hear "modern day" people speak such beautiful lines, and in such a manner as well. It's kind of hard to explain properly, so my most profuse and humble apologies if I sound quite odd. Anyway, let us hope the film comes out on DVD soon.

Fanny, pretty sure you're the only one who's seen the 70s Persuasion miniseries, so we can hardly reject you over it! I have seen clips and wasn't too fond of the casting of Anne -- to tall, too blond, too forthcoming. But I'm sure it includes more from the book than the other versions, and I do plan on watching it at some point.

Fanny, pretty sure you're the only one who's seen the 70s Persuasion miniseries, so we can hardly reject you over it! I have seen clips and wasn't too fond of the casting of Anne -- to tall, too blond, too forthcoming. But I'm sure it includes more from the book than the other versions, and I do plan on watching it at some point.

I am touched. I think I was referring to the '80s Pride and Prejudice though. But as you mention the Persuasion series, I would have to say that while I did not hate it, it certainly wasn't a favourite. I would like to watch it again- alas our library got rid of the old Austen ones they had some time ago- but for some reason that was one series I just didn't like.