Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey on PBS

Yes! That is the answer to your question, "Did she remember to watch it? Will she EVER post about it?"

I watched it with my two sister in laws Stephanie and Erica, and tried desperately to explain all the "who's that?" and "is HE the one she likes?" to Aaron and BIL Josh when they came in after half an hour. Josh actually stuck it out, to his credit.
I liked it! The movie might actually have improved upon the book, in that it condensed a lot of the socializing in Bath (a city, folks...) except that it makes it appear that Catherine falls for Henry after about a week, instead of two months. Also, the director added all the scenes of Catherine's Gothic fantasies - a tad bit overly-sexual, I thought, but probably not too inaccurate!

This review from the Boston Globe says it could have been longer and explored more of how John Thorpe affects her, and more of her growth of character. Sounds good. I could always use more scenes between the two lovers, but those are just "I wish...".

What did you think? Remember, next Sunday is Mansfield Park. Which I haven't read. Oh dear.

1 comment:

Noel said...

Just for the record, any man who turned into PBS half an hour after Masterpiece Theatre was probably doing the right thing by watching the Packers and Giants in overtime. Be thankful we live in the age of the multiple television household ;-)