Jane Austen

[BaconAndAvocado]

Currently listening to a Radio 4 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and loving it.
I’ve read and enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Emma.

What are the others like?

I loathed the Kiera Knightly one and love Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie. Funny.
I find KK annoying in anything but I also didn’t like the staging and Donald Sutherland was very unconvincing as Mr Bennett, his accent was terrible ! The sisters were all annoying too. Teenage daughters and I all hated that film.
A tv series at least has the time to really do the novel justice.
I watched the Elizabeth Garvie one when it came out. I was at school and don’t remember it very well, I must re-watch it.

Donald S's teeth should have been listed as a character in their own right tbf.

Persuasion is absolutely my favourite.

Followed by Pride and Prejudice.

Then Emma, and Sense and Sensibility (although the Emma Thompson film of this is maybe my favourite Austen film, despite her being far too old for the character).

Then Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.

Hahah yes. The teeth ! They seemed to be struggling to stay in his mouth.

I wasn’t a big fan of the KK version but she didn’t piss me off like Ehle - who was simpery, po, petulant and stroppy - nothing like Lizzie’s personality in the book. She would have made a good Miss Bingley.

The Garvie version was made in 1981 so the style is a bit more stagey, but even so the performances are a million times better.

'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' is a daft sort of film, but some of the casting seems closer to what Austen wrote than many serious adaptations. Matt Smith as Mr Collins being lanky and awkward rather than short, Sally Phillips playing Mrs Bennet as a sexy character so you can see why Mr B. would have had his head turned by her.

I like the 1981 P and P too and agree with the pp that Rintoul nails Darcy.

I think I like Persuasion best, followed by Emma. I find all of her novels pretty dark and although I've read them all more than once, I always find a hidden layer at each rereading.

Please read Bitch in a Bonnet, as suggested by a pp. Helena Kelly's Secret Radical is worth a read too, for a subversive take on Austen.

The film of P&P and Zombies is dreadful, but I rather enjoyed the book.

😂Meaow!
Must watch that version now just to catch a glimpse of them, although Kiera Knightley irrationally annoys me with her whispery pouting..and the guy who plays Darcy is not dishy at all.

Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice are my favourite books in that order.

I love the tv adaptations of all three of those from the 90's, they are like comfort blankets.

I'm so glad to see other David Rintoul and Elizabeth Garvie P&P fans. It really is the absolute finest version.

For books I would say Persuasion and Sense and Sensibility are my personal faves followed by P&P.

Bitch in a Bonnet is a great recommendation from a previous poster. Just in case you harboured any romantic ideas about Austen!

I really like the 1999 film version of Mansfield Park - Fanny is much less priggish.

It's also the one time the anti-hero is one I could be tempted to run away with (Alessandro Nivola as Henry Crawford).

I remember being gripped by the David Rintoul/Elizabeth Garvie version. I was studying P&P for O Level English Literature. It was perfect timing 😁

I love the 1990s version of Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. It's perfect. Can't fault it.

Lady Susan never seems to get mentioned much, it's wonderful, the titular character is such a deliciously wicked, scheming creature.

I adore Lady Susan, that's definitely my favorite Jane Austen

I think Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice are a tie for me.

I find Persuasion so moving and I love the wit of P&P.

Just remembering the laddish lads in Northanger Abbey talking about horses just the way some men talk about cars now.....

P&P for me, but I can’t reread for long cos I get too stressed about the ending.

No one else has ever produced sentences like JA. Her biog by Clare Tomalin is another short masterpiece.

’you pierce my soul’
my favourite ever line. Amanda Root & Hinds Persuasion is just perfection.

I agree with Rintoul & Gravie - they got the essence of the characters.

Screenwise, I agree the 1980s P&P with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul is seriously underrated. It's a shame that it's more difficult to get hold of than the other versions. I know that the 1995 Persuasion has a lot of admirers but my favourite adaptation is actually the 1970s one available on YouTube. The hairstyles and makeup are awful but I love the writing. It draws so heavily on the original text that I feel like I'm watching the characters the way that Austen intended.

Book wise, I like Mansfield Park and think there hasn't been a good adaptation of it, but that's a very niche opinion! The characters are so convincingly drawn they leap off the page - it really showcases Austen's talent but it isn't a typical romance and arguably covers darker themes than some of her other books. It really depends what you're looking for - if you're looking for a light, entertaining read I would give it a miss in favour of Persuasion/Northanger Abbey.

Persuasion is by far my favourite.

Then P & P

I quite like Mansfield Park. I can overlook Fanny being such a doormat. There was a film adaptation that really brought out the slavery in the West Indies element, which is only very lightly hinted at in the book.

S&S is ok. I don't like Northanger Abbey. I just don't like the mock-gothic style at all. I really can't stand the character of Emma in Emma, so I only re-read it irregularly, when I've steeled myself to her awfulness. Plus the age gap between her and Mr Knightley and youth are problematic (IMO a 16 year age gap might be ok if you're 70 and 86, it's really not when you're 21 and 37 and the older partner has been involved in the upbringing of the younger).

I love Anne Elliot's family. They're all so bloody awful.

Did anyone else watch the Netflix adaptation of Persuasion? Genuinely one of the worst things I've ever seen. And I've seen some godawful shit!

With Dakota Johnson? I saw the first 15 minutes and turned it off. And I really don't have particularly high standards for tv!

I didn't watch it, but I saw it got absolutely slated by every critic and Austen fan everywhere. I saw the reviews before hearing of the programme's existence independently so I didn't bother even trying to watch it.

Can I just point out that Rosamund Pike was a perfect Jane in the JK P&P, so beautiful. I also enjoyed Brenda Blethyn's sympathetic portrayal of Mrs Bennett, although I think she was about a decade too old to play her.