I'm ahead of schedule! This is not the sort of thing that usually happens to me. I think the key is picking short books. Although, actually, I have no idea how short Persuasion is, because I read the whole darn thing on my itouch. It seemed short. So first off, I am surprised by how tolerable reading an entire book on a tiny little electronic device is. I thought it would drive me crazy and send me to the library in short order, but no. It was fine! I don't see myself buying a Kindle or actually paying to download books any time in the near future, but for free stuff it was perfectly fine. Incidentally, for anyone who cares about such things, I used Stanza for downloading and reading, and have no complaints.
So the book itself? meh. Well, somewhat better than meh, but I was not overly enchanted. I was reading through the Jane Austen threads on the WTM boards and someone was talking about how she isn't really a Jane Austen fan, even though Pride and Prejudice is one of her favorite books. Maybe I'm like that. My opinion of Sense and Sensibility was pretty much the same as of Persuasion and I couldn't get into Northanger Abbey. But I first read Pride and Prejudice last winter, then bought the annotated version and read it again a month later. I loved it. I don't know why. The themes in Persuasion are certainly at least as interesting; the writing is at least as good. I guess I just didn't feel as attached to or invested in the characters. So it is, maybe, not so much that I'm meh about it, as that I was expecting more, based on my adoration of Pride and Prejudice.
Next up: I think I'm going with Michael Pollan's book about gardening, Second Nature, in hopes that it will inspire me and get me ready for spring. My Amazon wish list is growing by leaps and bounds. I added Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and Anne Tyler's newest. I love Anne Tyler, but I don't think she's been amazing since Accidental Tourist. But I do think she's been quite good quite often since then, and her books are sort of a comfort food kind of thing for me. And North Korea is just so fascinatingly creepy and awful. And should I read Stephen King's The Stand? I am not a fan of King, but I am a fan of Lost, so it sort of feels necessary. But I'm so, so, so not a fan of, like, grisly torture scenes and such. Does The Stand have that sort of thing? I can't read it if it does.
2 comments:
Gretchen, I didn't read _Persuasion_ until after I'd seen the movie with Ciaran Hinds (made several years ago), which is excellent. I then read the book, and thought it was fantastic, too! I think perhaps seeing the movie first (which I usually do not do on principle) made a difference. To me, Jane Austen really comes to life on screen, IF the production is quality (the most recent film adaptation of _Sense and Sensibility_, for example, versus the one with Emma Thompson, which pales in comparison). Consider renting the film of _Persuasion_ and see if it makes a difference to you. Watching Anne blossom from a gray shadow of a woman into a real flower is wonderful!
I actually watched the movie right after I read the book...it didn't really change my opinion, although I enjoyed it. Much like with the book; I enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I don't think there's any help for me ;)
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