Everything Austen — Entries 3, 4, & 5

While I havent been writing much, I have been busy reading.  I have completed three more items for the Everything Austen Challenge.  Of course, none of these items were on my original list.  I keep finding other things that catch my interest.

Movie

First, I rewatched Sense & Sensibility, the Emma Thompson version.  I really enjoyed rewatching this one.  It brought back the book to me very well.  I thought the acting was really good, even some of the secondary characters.  Mrs. Jennings was cast perfectly!  She definitely added some humor to the story.    I did have trouble with the brother’s wife, is that Fannie (I’m so bad with names, even in books!)?  She was soo awful.  But, I guess she was supposed to be, right?  While it’s been a very long time since I read the book, I think this movie did a good job relating the story well.

Austen sequel

Thanks to a review I read over at Fuzzy Cricket, I found out there is a sequel to Sense & Sensibility, called The Third Sister, by Julia Barret. This novel focused  on Margaret.  I found the author’s take on Margaret very interesting.  I liked how much Margaret had been affected by Marianne’s affair with Willoughby.  I never thought about Margaret much while reading the original, but it was fun to see her perspective of events now that she was 17 and faced with courtship.  Her story is almost the opposite of Marrianne’s past courtship.  This  plot line is  somewhat predictable, but I enjoyed it.

In addition to learning more about Margaret, the author does provide glimpses into Elinor and Marianne’s lives as wives and mistresses of their own homes.   I loved how Marianne matured and finally realized what a wonderful man Colonel Brandon was.  I think she finally falls in love.  Elinor continues to be strong.  I was a little surprised that Edward was portrayed as a little “weak” when it came to is mother.  After standing up to her so well in Sense & Sensibility, I thought he would not have been so anxious about his mother.

Austen

Next up on my Everything Austen challenge is Amanda’s Grange novel, Mr. Knightly’s Diary. I didn’t realize there was more than just Mr. Darcy’s Diary, but I ran across Mr. Knightly at the library.  And, when I looked up Amand Grange, I found she’s written a diary for most of Austen’s main men.  I want to check out one by Colonel Brandon!

While I liked revisiting Emma, I’m not sure the author hit the mark with Mr. Knightly’s Diary.  As I was reading this one, I remembering having some complaints, which I didn’t have while reading Mr. Darcy’s Diary. I think part of my issue was that I did not find Mr. Knightly endearing from his own perspective while I liked Mr. Darcy even better after reading his diary.   Amanda Grange did keep the diary idea realistic by including mundane days as well as days of interest.   While I did enjoy reading this book, as I always do with an “Austen” book, I don’t think it was one of the better ones out there.  That doesn’t mean I won’t be checking out some more of Grange’s work.  I definitely will.