Mr Collins

"Mr Collins is introduced to us as a 'tall, heavy-looking young man of five-and-twenty'. Adaptors miss something by getting his age wrong. His solemnity and sententiousness are much better coming from someone so 'young'. Middle-aged is what he would like to sound, rather than what he is."

Mullan, John (2012). What Matters in Jane Austen? Twenty crucial puzzles solved. London: Bloomsbury. P.12.

Lizzie Bennet Diaries / Pride and Prejudice character occupations

Character	Lizzie Bennet Diaries	Pride and Prejudice
Lizzie Bennet	Graduate student (mass communications), video blogger	Gentlewoman
Jane Bennet	Merchandise coordinator	Gentlewoman
Bing Lee (Bingley)	Medical student	Gentleman
Catherine De Bourgh	Venture capitalist	Noble woman
George Wickham	Swim coach	Solider
Charlotte Lu(cas)	Graduate student (video production), video blog editor	Gentlewoman / clergyman’s wife*
Mr Collins	Entrepreneur, web video creator	Clergyman
Kitty Bennet	Lydia’s cat	Gentlewoman
Lydia Bennet	University (college) student (?)	Gentlewoman
Georgiana (Gigi) Darcy	University (college) student (English literature)	Gentlewoman

*Being a clergyman’s wife would involve a lot of work, particularly looking after the poorer members of the parish.

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries - Character name comparisons

Lizzie Bennet Diaries	Pride and Prejudice
Lizzie Bennet, Elizabeth	Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Lizzy, Eliza
Jane Bennet	Miss (Jane) Bennet*
Lydia Britney Bennet	Miss Lydia Bennet
Mary Bennet (cousin)	Miss Mary Bennet
Kitty Bennet (the cat)	Miss Katherine Bennet, Kitty
Charlotte Lu	Miss (Charlotte) Lucas
Bing Lee	Mr (Charles) Bingley
Caroline Lee	Miss (Caroline) Bingley
William Darcy	Mr (Fitzwilliam) Darcy
Mrs Bennet, Mom	Mrs Bennet, mama
Mr Bennet, Dad	Mr Bennet, papa
Rick Collins, “Mr Collins”, Ricky	Mr (William) Collins
George Wickham	George Wickham
Gigi Darcy	Miss (Georgiana) Darcy
Catherine De Bourgh	Lady Catherine De Bourgh
Emily Lu	Lady Lucas

* The eldest unmarried woman in the family was referred to as Miss Surname. The younger women were referred to as Miss FirstName Surname.

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James

This is an exceptional first novel from Syrie James. It is based on the concept of (as the title states); the lost memoirs of Jane Austen, written by Miss Austen herself and told in the first person. Syrie pretends to be an editor who is merely presenting the memoirs to the public.

It bought to mind the Becoming Jane movie, which I found ridiculous and had it been a book I would have thrown it across the room (despite my great respect for books), that was based on Miss Austen’s well known flirtation with Tom Lefroy in her twenties. Though I adore Anne Hathaway and thought she made an excellent Jane Austen it didn’t ring true, it was far too dramatic. The movie and this book have several things in common, the major morals (if they could be called such) of each story being the same; follow your heart, marry for love but consider money – morals which agree with all of Austen’s own published works. The Philosophers Beard (an online blog) argues that all of Austen’s novel are ‘deeply serious morality plays underneath the veneer of romantic comedy’ and it is this which not only made them initially sell but continue to sell 200 years later.

The memoir story is weaved so well amongst the known facts of Miss Austen’s life that it is hard to separate the two. There are many descriptions, dialogue and characters which bring vividly to mind most often Sense and Sensibility but also Pride and Prejudice and to a lesser extent Persuasion. The characters are more real, more personal than in any of Miss Austen’s own work. As her novels were of her time, this novel is of our time. There is more dialogue and personal descriptions that appear in her work. She let the reader decide how the character would look and speak so much more than modern writers. In the memoir the supposed author can not be so distant as she is from her other characters as she is writing about herself and her intimate acquaintance.

I loved how genuine this book felt. I am always eager to learn more about Jane Austen so I may have enjoyed it more than the average reader. I would be interested to know how it stands up to someone who has no knowledge of her or her works.

Filled to the Rafters

I read a review of this show before watching it. The review mentioned the two leads were born in New Zealand and revealed the entire storyline without critiquing the show. I was eagerly anticipating the show as it reminded me of my own life - close knit family who can't seem to leave home for good.

With many story lines needing fleshing out in a 40 minute programme the producers decided to do a half-arsed job on all of them. Because of this it was hard to connect with the characters, the actors seemed to be having the same trouble. The beautiful Rebecca Gibney (who looks far too young to have grown up children) could not cry convincingly when her characters children left home. Nor can she and her onscreen husband produce any chemistry as they move about each other woodenly.

The most emotive storyline was Ted (played by Australian Michael Caton - trust me, you'll recognise him), the grandfather, missing his deceased wife. The emotion he created in one scene was more significant than the rest of the show put together. It was conversely difficult to feel horrified at the abuse the only female child was subjected to at the hands of her partner. This may be because the actress was too damn pretty to be a real person or because her character had no personality for the entire two minutes she was on screen. Speaking of attractiveness, apparently the nurse-roommate of the youngest Rafter is 'hot' - instead she is primped and fake. More time was devoted to the "boys" getting ready for her arrival than the more important abuse storyline perhaps in a misguided attempt to create some light relief.

Australian reviews indicate that the show will be narrated by a different character each time which may provide some balance that the show badly needs. Instead of packing the house so quickly and skimming over the details the show could have followed each characters journey back home in a separate episode. But in efforts to catch people the shows creators have left watchers bewildered, unimpressed and unattached.

Angels

Whilst giving one of my sisters a massage I watched the end of an episode of Dr Who entitlted Blink. The actress who played Kitty Bennett in the 2005 Pride and Prejudice and Isabella Thorpe in the 2008 Northanger Abbey was the main character. The concept was that statues of Angels are beings who are only able to move if no living thing is looking at them. If you blink they move and they are very fast, so don't blink.

What I'm reading

I haven't been to the library in a while (though thankfully I only have one book waiting to return so hopefully there won't be any fines) so I am reading from my bookshelf.

My current read is Wolf Speaker by Tamora Pierce. This is a young adult book, second in a quartet (thankfully I own the set).

I love Tamora Pierce and have read everything she's published. She writes fantasy (though I dislike this term), about a different place and time where there is magic, referred to as the gift and people live more 'rustically.' There are no guns or electricity, there is monarchy, lords and ladies, Gods and Goddesses who meddle in mortal lives.

Having said all that makes the book sound terribly medieval but it's not. Pierce writes with humour, warmth and reality. The series follows Daine who when we meet her seems to be just a normal girl, wishing she were something else. Daine learns she has magic with animals and finds a home after her first is destroyed. There is war and monsters but it's the human element, including the humanised animals, that make the story.