Wherever You Are...

I hope you are enjoying the season.  Up here in Upstate New York, winter has arrived.  It is 10 degrees Fahrenheit and, if I must say, pretty darn nippy.   But, contrary to popular belief about the blizzards of Buffalo, it really is truly beautiful, and hardly ever life threatening (unlike those tornadoes, mudslides, earthquakes etc. etc. found in other parts of the world).

Skating on Park Lake (Delaware Park), c. 1910.
Image from Private Collection

The snow was falling pretty heavily today.  Not the kind that sticks to the road creating treacherous driving, but the white, fluffy stuff that just blows across the road and just looks so pretty.  I had a miraculous moment this morning.  What I can only describe as a "stag" crossed a suburban main road today directly in front of my car as I was driving.  He was the biggest, most astounding deer I have ever seen!  Just his antlers seemed as big as my car.  Then, in a flash, he was gone.  

I am sending these lyrics out to you in honor of winter moments like this, whether you are lucky enough to be basking in the sun, or have the great pleasure of a white winter wonderland.  By the way, you can listen to this song as well, if you just scroll down to the bottom of my blog and find it at the beginning of my playlist.  Happy Holidays and a Wonderful Winter to you All!

Snow by Loreena McKennitt


White are the far-off plains, and white
The fading forests grow;
The wind dies out along the height
And denser still the snow,
A gathering weight on roof and tree
Falls down scarce audibly.


The road before me smooths and fills
Apace, and all about
The fences dwindle, and the hills
Are blotted slowly out;
The naked trees loom spectrally
Into the dim white sky.


The meadows and far-sheeted streams
Lie still without a sound;
Like some soft minister of dreams
The snow-fall hoods me round;
In wood and water, earth and air,
A silence everywhere.


Save when at lonely intervals

Some farmer's sleigh, urged on,
With rustling runner and sharp bells,
Swings by me and is gone;
Or from the empty waste I hear
A sound remote and clear;


The barking of a dog, or call
To cattle, sharply pealed,
Borne, echoing from some wayside stall
Or barnyard far afield;


Then all is silent and the snow falls
Settling soft and slow
The evening deepens and the grey
Folds closer earth and sky
The world seems shrouded, far away.


Its noises sleep, and I as secret as
Yon buried stream plod dumbly on and dream

At Home with the Georgians

Finally, I believe I have returned from my very extended hiatus.  I did not plan to be gone this long, but a brief illness had me unable to write, let alone think, for a little while, and of course, the holidays are in full swing and it is quite difficult to find the time to sit down at my laptop for longer than it takes to go through all my e-mails (which are a lot and mostly Christmas advertising).  I wanted to come back with a bang, though, and I think I have found it!:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/wh6lz/

Click on the above link to view the new BBC series "At Home with the Georgians"  hosted by Amanda Vickery.  It is so spot on with my own research interests and is quite an enjoyable look at life, married and unmarried, during the Georgian period.  We even get a privileged glimpse of Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen's home for many years and where she wrote most of her novels.


If, like me, you are not from the UK, you need to download Expat Shield in order to view this series.  It will then think you are indeed an "expatriot", so you then, as a qualified Brit, would be allowed to view the show :).  Happy viewing, and enjoy!
http://www.expatshield.com.

Brief Interruption...

I know, I know...I'm on break and not supposed to post, but I wanted to announce a giveaway on Stephanie's Written Word blog.  She is giving away three copies of The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.  I am pretty excited about this book, since I loved her other book, The House at Riverton.  Check out Stephanie's great review, also.

Good luck!  Since there are three copies, I hope you win too! ;)

This Blog is Now Officially on Mini-Break

I have to write this post because, if I do not, I'll keep just keep on posting when I should, instead, be working on my application to graduate school.   For those of you who are interested, I am applying to an MA in Humanities program with a concentration in English and Art History.  My tentative topic is:  Jane Austen, Social and Gender History, and the Home.  I am completely fascinated by the whole idea of marriage and the transfer of property in Jane Austen, and how the two intersect i.e. the woman being transferred as a sort of property in marriage.  I would also like to contrast this with the attitude of Austen's female characters towards the home, in general, and what home itself means to them.  Wish me luck, and I'll be back when I am finally done! ( p.s. I will still be commenting and checking my dashboard, so I won't be completely absent, just so you know. :) )

Culture Clash: In Pictures

Italian "Camping" in style

Tristan adapted quite well to Italy- he's been speaking Italian since we returned home in July

A Child's Mask from Venice

Gentleman in traditional garb- Graz, Austria

Iced Coffee and "Macher" torte in Graz

A Whole Plate full of Meat!!  Now how do I eat this?!  My gall bladder is screaming right now...

Must Americans make a sandwich out of everything?

Rabbits in your own backyard?  Visiting family in Hungary

Thermal spa in Hungary, or floating in a pond full of weeds!

Palenka! goes down pretty easily...

Hector, the family dog in Hungary-he was even part of the wedding procession until he got kicked out of church!  Poor Hector...

Cool!  Basketball in a Hungarian back yard

View from a Rest stop- Austria

Camping on Lake Garda

Pool at Camping with Afternoon Activity-locked in a see-through ball!

Ahhh!  Una Siesta...

Finally a decent cappuccino!  Lake Como

Risotto with shrimp and saffron- Bellagio

Jumping in Lake Garda with my Danish friends at camping.

 Last day of the trip and oh so sad!

Viva Italia!

Buona Notte!

Feast Your Eyes on Graz, Austria

Everything Austen II Challenge Wrap-Up

Today, I'd like to wrap up the Everything Austen II challenge, so I can get on with the mini-break I will be taking, over the next week, or two.  I'll be leaving my blog for a little while to tie up some loose ends at home and prepare my application to graduate school.  I wanted to complete this challenge to the best of my ability at this point, and here are my results:

1. Lost in Austen mini-series-FINITO! 4 stars-see my review from Monday.
2. Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict-Laurie Viera Rigler-FINITO! 3 1/2 stars-see my review from Monday.
3. Pride and Prejudice-a re-reading and re-viewing of 1995 film-I will be reviewing below. 5 stars, of course!
4. Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattillo FINITO! 2 1/2 stars
5. Attend my first JASNA regional meeting in Rochester, NY (I wish I could have gone to Portland this year, but I didn't want to miss Halloween with my son!!) FINITO! 4 1/2 stars
6. Finish reading Becoming Austen by Jon Spence-not very motivated at this point to finish, and not sure I will!


This has been a great challenge, all-in-all.  It has definitely forced me, a person with not much patience for long term projects, to complete most, but, unfortunately, not all, my self-imposed tasks.  For those of you who have read my review of Lost in Austen and Rude Awakenings, you know that I enjoyed both takes on the same theme:  the interchange through some kind of time travel between the Regency era with our Modern one.  I have read Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart by Beth Pattilo, but this didn't give me too much of an impression, so I won't review this one.  It is more of a fun novel for leisurely reading, and I find these days, that I really prefer something more intellectually stimulating.  Maybe at another point in my life, I will enjoy it more.

I did attend my first JASNA regional meeting in Rochester, NY this past month, and I was wowed!  Not only by the fact that there is a such a place to celebrate Jane, but by the fact that there are people out there with such an incredible knowledge of Jane Austen, almost bordering on encyclopedic! One particular attendee claims to have all of her writing memorized, and she took the opportunity on many occasions to "show her stuff".  What a resource she was!   Everyone was fully attentive, and the discussion was quite thorough and intense.  We discussed the issue of money in Austen's novels, which is one of the most interesting aspects of her novels, in my opinion.   I am so glad I made the hour-long drive to attend and spend a couple hours immersed in Jane's writing.


So, there are two items left on my list.  Becoming Jane by John Spence is still in the works, but, to be honest, I haven't touched it in a while.  It is a slow moving , rather dry biography, and right now, I have so many other books keeping my attention.  I do have until the end of the year, right?  Well, one can only hope.


The last item then on my list is the combined reading and watching of Pride and Prejudice-both the original novel and the 1995 film, written by Andrew Davies.  I have actually read the novel twice:  once in the form of her traditional novel format and the other an annotated edition by David  M. Shapard.  I loved both re-reading the novel (I had read it a few times previously) and reading an annotated edition.  I love Shapard's analysis of this novel, and it would be the book I give to someone who wants to read Austen, but never has before. I love some of his comments, and here is a good example:

Shapard gives us this note about Mr. Collin's proposal to Elizabeth:
pg. 199
            "It is significant that, amidst his lengthy explanations as to why he has decided to marry, Mr. Collins has said almost nothing in praise of Elizabeth herself; clearly she has little to do with his decision.  All this makes his next sentence, speaking of his violent affection for her, especially ludicrous."


Yes, "especially ludicrous" would be a good term to use for Mr. Collins.  He is always ludicrous and exasperating, and his proposal is him at his most foolish.  He is such a buffoon!  
I highly recommend Shapard's edition to anyone, whether you know Austen by heart, or have never heard of her before. 


So, lastly, we come to the film, the most celebrated of all the P&P adaptations:  the 1995 BBC film with a screenplay by the great Andrew Davies.  I think the majority of us will concur that this is the definitive adaptation, and it would be extremely difficult to improve upon.  I think one of the few criticisms I have heard about this film is the excessive masculine references added by Davies.  Yes, of course, these parts were not in the novel.  We see little of the male perspective in Austen's novels.  In my opinion, a film does not need to follow the novel word-for-word.  That is why it is called an adaptation for the screen.  The novel must be adapted to fit the viewing audience, and I think seeing things from a male perspective is a wonderful addition, especially Darcy's personal perspective, which I highly enjoyed!  


Another aspect I enjoyed about this particular film is the purely evil Mr. Wickham, played by Adrian Lukis. He is definitely the best Wickham I have seen:  so slimy, duplicitous, a true cad, and a very bad human being.  I feel sorry for the actor because he probably cannot get past this casting.  We will always know him as that awful Mr. Wickham. 


Mr. Bingley is also wonderfully cast.  He is so incredibly positive and friendly, and I think this is who Austen had in mind.  Lastly, and most importantly, the casting of Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Darcy and Elizabeth is iconic, and cannot be touched, by anyone, anywhere.  The romance, the chemistry cannot be topped.  It is amazing to me that they are not married in real life, but I guess that is the true power of acting.


I do love the visual quality of this film, from the costumes to the landscapes and buildings chosen, especially Pemberley, but as far as the set design, I would give Joe Wright's film higher regards.  Wright's film is just amazingly rich and beautiful and the colors are exquisite.  The music as well, in this film, is perfect and cannot be improved upon.


But, having said this, when it comes to a Jane Austen film, especially P&P, what really matters are the characters and how they deliver her witty lines, how they interact with each other and bring her story to life.  So, I think that the 1995 film is the best and takes top honors, and prove me wrong, but it will always be the best ever made.


So, this is my wrap-up.  I may have to add to it, but right now this is what I have to say.  Happy Reading, Crafting, Viewing etc. Everyone!