My $12 worth of books

I was lucky enough to attend a library sale a couple of days ago (thank Erin!). Books were $6 a bag (savvy bookworms brought large cloth shopping bags, and carefully packed as many books into each bag as possible). Childrens' books were free. I went armed with about 10 bags (just in case), and enough cash to fill them all (just in case). After spending the whole morning rummaging, I came tottering out of the building, carrying two VERY heavy bags crammed with books - together with a smaller third bag and my hand bag. I didn't know I possessed such strength! My biceps are still sore now. For the sake of books, even the weakest bibliophile finds strength and determination they didn't know was in them. I suppose I could have just been sensible and carried them out to the car one bag at a time. . . hmmm. . . yes. Too late now.

Moving on: it is time to show off my spoils! As I mentioned, I bought just the two bags of books, plus a third bag of free children's books, bringing my total expenditure to $12.

The big hardcover books: The Complete Phantom of the Opera, Myths and Legends of Ireland, A History of Movie Musicals, The World of Rubens, and Alpine Interiors.

The Dickensian books - a biography, Bleak House, and Our Mutual Friend. I already had a couple of copies of OMF, but I bought the extra copy for sentimental reasons as much as anything - it is the exact same copy that I borrowed from the library when I read OMF for the very first time. Besides, it's nice to have multiple copies of favourite classics. Also, I like the cover (which you can't see very well, I snapped these pictures late this afternoon when the light wasn't good), of Keeley Hawes in the 1998 adaptation.

The L.M. Montgomery books. A beautiful, hardcover, illustrated copy of Anne of Green Gables, and an as-new hardcover copy of Anne of Avonlea.

The James Herriot books: James Herriot's Yorkshire, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Best of James Herriot.

The poetry books: Seven Centuries of Poetry in English, Romantic Period Verse, and Selected Poems by T.S. Eliot.

Miscellaneous children's books, including a copy of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

A couple of classics and a couple of children's books. Treasures of Snow, a book from the Chronicles of Prydain series (I still haven't read the first book in the series, but never mind. . .), Romeo and Juliet, and Animal Farm.

Miscellaneous others. The Book of Buildings: A Travellor's Guide, a biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett, Classic Knitted Cotton Edgings, a Francine Rivers book, and The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames - useful for researching one's family history, and for looking up the names of one's celebrity crushes and favourite fictional characters in order to research their family history. Not that I would ever do such a silly thing as that.

I also bought another 10 or so titles, mostly children's picture books - including a couple of Beatrix Potter volumes.

I exercised great self-restraint and didn't buy any National Geographics, much to my mother's relief. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more good books on offer - for every decent book, there seemed to be about 100 Jackie Collins or Dan Brown books. Still, that made finding the few gems even more exciting and worthwhile.

If you're still reading - thank you! Most of my family members, not being book-lovers, were not at all interested in my haul, so it's nice to share my excitement with others who are likely to sympathise with my delight in the treasures I found! :-)

Oliver Twist (1999)

As I've been working on my Period Drama Index, I usually write a brief review of each film or series. I try to keep each review to within a few sentences, but sometime they stretch into several paragraphs. . . such was the case here. I thought I might as well share it as a proper blog post, rather than let it hide away in my work-in-progress Index pages.

~Oliver Twist 1999~

Michael Kitchen as Mr. Brownlow with Sam Smith as Oliver

In my opinion, there has been no one truly definitive screen version of Oliver Twist, though there are several pretty good ones. The 1999 adaptation, a four-episode, six-hour miniseries, is the longest, most complete adaptation. It expands on the backstory of the novel in a major way. If you've ever been confused by any plot points of the story, this series should clear a lot of things up for you! The first episode - or two, I can't quite remember - deal solely with Oliver's origins, and where and how Monks comes into the picture.

It is a very adventurous adaptation, but in some aspects I felt it missed the mark. The portrayal of the Artful Dodger/Jack Dawkins was off. The backstory part of the series dragged on for too long - 30 minutes or so would have sufficed. And I had mixed feelings about how the characters of Monks and his mother were written. Here, Monks himself is a victim, while his mother is the true villain. It's an interesting interpretation, but I prefer my Monks to be more threatening and ambiguous - that is, after all, the point of his character.

On the other hand, this adaptation has the best, the scariest Bill Sikes ever (played by Andy Serkis, who definitely has a gift for playing creepy Dickensian - oh, and Tolkienesque - villains); and probably the most moving and disturbing murder scene of any Oliver Twist adaptation.

One other point of interest is the proliferation of talented actresses who starred in this series at an early stage in their careers: Isla Fisher as Nancy's friend Bet, 19-year-old Sophia Miles as Oliver's mother, and a 14-year-old Keira Knightley as Rose.

This Oliver Twist is definitely not for little ones, but for older fans of the book, or anyone looking for a good Victorian-era period drama, it is definitely worth a look. Stars Sam Smith, Michael Kitchen, Robert Lindsay, David Ross, Julie Walters, Marc Warren, Lindsay Duncan, Emiliy Woolf, Andy Serkis, Keira Knightley, and Alun Armstrong.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars. Recommended for teenagers and up, and there are a few uncomfortable scenes that you may want to skip.

Charity's Place | Amazon | IMDb | Youtube

Photos - unfortunately most of these are very small, though there are a couple of bigger ones:

Little Dorrit quotes

I thought I'd share a few wonderful quotes (well, I like them!) that I've found as I've been reading Little Dorrit. . .

~~~~~

[Flintwinch speaking to Mrs. Clennam] "The peculiarity of my temper is, ma'am, that I won't be swallowed up alive." (Chap. XV)

~~~~~

It is not easy to walk alone in the country without musing on something. (Chap. XVI)

~~~~~

Mr Henry Gowan, inheriting from his father, the Commissioner, that very questionable help in life, a very small independence, had been difficult to settle; the rather, as public appointments chanced to be scarce, and his genius, during his earlier manhood, was of that exclusively agricultural character which applies itself to the cultivation of wild oats. (Chap. XVII)

Who says Dickens isn't funny? He had a wicked sense of humour.

~~~~~

[At Pet Meagles' and Henry Gowan's wedding] Then Lord Decimus, who was a wonder on his own Parliamentary pedestal, turned out to be the windiest creature here: proposing happiness to the bride and bridegroom in a series of platitudes that would have made the hair of any sincere disciple and believer stand on end; and trotting, with the complacency of an idiotic elephant, among howling labyrinths of sentences which he seemed to take for high roads, and never so much as wanted to get out of. (Chap. XXXIV)

I love Dickens! The complacency of an idiotic elephant. . . kind of like myself just after I get out of bed in the morning. :P

~All pictures from Sharona Lee

LITTLE DORRIT ON TV IN AUS!!!!

Finally!!! (Do excuse my extravagant use of exclamation marks. . . Miss Matty would be shocked! ;-)

The BBC's Little Dorrit will be ON TV in Australia THIS SUNDAY NIGHT (June 27th) - ABC1 at 8:35pm - and for the following three Sunday nights. Don't miss it! It's my second-favourite Dickens adaptation of all time - in other words, it is very, very, good! I wouldn't recommend it for young viewers, however - teens and up would be the appropriate audience. For a Christian review of Little Dorrit, head on over to Charity's Place.

Edit: Little Dorrit got rave reviews from Fairfax Media's "The Guide", lauded as one of the "shows of the year", and "a masterpiece"! I'll second that! ;-) 

Little Dorrit outtakes

Just had to share this with you. . . 



Plus a rather lovely Little Dorrit fanvid here.

A Damsel's Daybook X

A Damsel's Daybook

Outside my window. . . a typical hot, humid, summer morning. At least there is some cloud cover, so the sun is not so brutal as it sometimes is.

I am thinking about. . . Oliver Twist! I have finally reached the climax of the book. . . Bill Sykes is now dead, Monks is caught, and Fagin is about to be hanged. . . what a dark, violent book! As with all Dickens, however, there is always a glimmer of light in the midst of the darkness.

From the kitchen. . . nothing right now.

I am creating. . . a weird, totally useless crocheted thingummy out of  hideously-coloured cotton. Because I felt like crocheting something. . . 

I am reading. . . just finishing Oliver Twist, then I have 5 days in which to re-read Jane Eyre before book club on Saturday. AAAHHH!!

I am hearing. . . siblings playing outside, sparrows chirping their little heads off, cicadas ZZIZIZZZZing.

I am hoping. . . as I said above, to read Jane Eyre in 5 days.

I am planning. . . nothing. . .

I am wearing. . . one of my new tiered skirts, and a brown top. . .

Around the house. . . typical [home]school day - schoolwork, playing, talking. . .

My wish of the week. . . that I would grow as a person. How much can your character 'grow' in one week? One millimetre? How do you measure character, anyway?

Andrew Davies: BBC costume drama going "Downmarket"?

Yet another adaptation of David Copperfield? *Yawns* (A very cute, very young Daniel Radcliffe in the BBC's 1999 adaptation)

Thanks to Charleybrown, for the link!

Have a look at this article from the Telegraph.

Andrew Davies, television's master of literary adaptations and the writer behind the BBC's award-winning Bleak House, Little Dorrit and Pride and Prejudice, said the corporation is interested only in the "popular warhorses" of literary fiction. 

His planned adaptations of Dombey and Son, one of Charles Dickens' lesser-read stories, and of the Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope, were both scrapped. Instead, the BBC has asked for a re-tread of David Copperfield, which has had numerous television outings. 

(Click here to read the full article and interview with Andrew Davies.)

Auntie Beeb - what are you thinking? Tired rehashes of popular Austen and Dickens novels instead of fresh adaptations of forgotten gems? As much as I love both Austen and Dickens, the last thing we need is another TV version of David Copperfield.

Daniela-Denby-Ashe in North and South

Look at the success of the BBC's Elizabeth Gaskell adaptations - North and South, Wives and Daughters, and Cranford. The immense popularity of these series has spawned a Gaskell revival of sorts, with Mrs. Gaskell's books finally getting the readership they deserve. Or Lark Rise to Candleford, based on a series of books by Flora Thompson that few people had heard of only 3 years ago. Now, the BBC's Lark Rise is into it's third series, and going strong.

BBC, if you're going to restrict future costume dramas to popular classics that have already been adapted for television umpteen times, please, just don't bother. 

Now - on a more constructive note, here are 10 forgotten classics that I would LOVE to see the BBC take on:

1. Evelina by Fanny Burney (BBC, if you don't want to do any more 19th century "bonnet dramas", how about adapting some pre-bonnet-era classics?)

2. Cecilia by Fanny Burney

3. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell

4. Villette by Charlotte Bronte (this would be difficult to adapt, but incredible to watch if it was done right!)

5. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

6. Belinda by Maria Edgeworth

7. Any L.M. Montgomery book, but I'd love it if they did an adaptation of The Blue Castle (perhaps a co-production with a Canadian TV network?).

8. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Okay, okay, I said I didn't want any more Austen adaptations. But this is the one exception. Mansfield Park is, in my opinion, Jane Austen's best novel, and yet there is still no satisfactory film version. Yes, it would be difficult to translate to screen, but if anyone were to be up to the challenge, it would be the BBC - right? Or so I thought. . . :-( 

9. Any one of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays. The BBC made a brief return to Shakespeare in 2005 with four Shakespeare stories set in the modern-day world (ShakespeaRetold), but I'd like to see some Shakespeare in it's original setting. It doesn't have to be big-budget, just well acted, with a good script! Duh! Exotic locations aren't necessary, either. Do one of the Histories that are set in England.

10. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. One of my favourite books as a little girl. Make it into a two-part Christmas special, or something like that. The 1995 version changed the book, the characters, the ending. . . it even changed the setting from late-19th-century England to WWI-era America. The 1986 version was better, but it's getting a bit dated.

Okay, strictly speaking, these aren't "literary adaptations", but I think they'd be worth making all the same:

*A biopic of Fanny Burney

*A biopic of the Brontes

~~~~~

What are some of your favourite books that you would *love* to see made into a movie or TV series?

Little Dorrit wins 3 Emmy Awards!

*Massive round of applause on behalf of costume drama enthusiasts everywhere*

Here are the three categories it won:

Outstanding Miniseries

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special

Unfortunately, neither Tom Courtenay nor Andy Serkis won the award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie". Nevermind - Little Dorrit won all of the other awards it was nominated for. (Yay!! :-D )

Click here to view the full list of nominees and winners.

Voluntary readers of Dickens: an endangered species?

Matthew MacFadyen as Arthur Clennam (Little Dorrit)

I've been flipping through a book I found at the library today - The Friendly Dickens, a sort of "Dickens for Dummies". In putting this book together, the author interviewed numerous critics, actors, and Dickens aficionados. Something that seemed to be coming through in some of the interviews, and even some of the author's own comments, was the belief that ardent fans of Dickens' novels are becoming a rare breed. The consensus seemed to be that the majority of devoted readers of Dickens are 50+, and that unless children and young adults are made to read Dickens in school, "they'll probably never read him at all" (see p. 369).

Claire Foy as Amy Dorrit (Little Dorrit)

Is this true to your own experience? Is this what you have observed? I don't have a lot of friends my own age who I know in person - the majority of my friends are online friends! And since internet users tend to congregate into different groups depending on their interests, most of my online friends are bookworms like myself - many of them are also Dickens fans. - Therefore, even though it may seem to me that a lot of younger people are still reading and enjoying Dickens today, this probably isn't an accurate reflection of the rest of society. . .

This scene always makes me cry. :-( (Bleak House)

It deeply saddens me to think that most of my generation may never read any Dickens or any of the other great novelists of the 19th century for their own pleasure. Just the thought of it makes me want to go out and "preach the gospel" of Dickens, trying to get as many people as possible to read his books! 

Do young adults feel that Dickens is irrelevant? Boring? Too long-winded? Honestly, I don't think children and teenagers have any trouble getting through long books if they have the inclination - just look at the Harry Potter books, for instance!

Bleak House 2005

Do bear in mind that the book I mentioned was published in 1998 - just before the recent slew of Dickens adaptations began, starting with Our Mutual Friend, and culminating in the BBC's two immensely popular series, Bleak House and Little Dorrit. Hopefully, all of these new Dickens adaptations will encourage people who normally wouldn't bother with Dickens to give his books a try. (I know this has certainly been the case with me!)

Darcymania. . . 

One only has to look at the 1995 adapation of Pride and Prejudice and the Austen revival that followed to see how just one really good TV or movie adaptation can have a domino effect on popular culture, bringing the works of a particular author into the spotlight. Do you think Bleak House has done this for Dickens? Are people (particular young adults and teens) finally starting to realise that Dickens' stories and characters are still very relevant (not to mention entertaining!) for us today? 

Bleak House

Bleak House, Bleak House. . . where to begin?

I finished watching it a couple of days ago. I watched pretty much all of the second half of the series in one sitting. . . it's that hard to stop once you get pulled into this drama.

With scores of characters and inumerable plot twists and turns, it would be pointless to try to give a plot synopsis here. Besides, I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you if you haven't already seen Bleak House.

Mr. Smallbone (Phil Davis)

Adapted by Andrew Davies from yet another Dickens masterpiece, this marathon 8 1/2 hour, 15 part BBC series was hugely popular when it first aired in the UK in 2005. It garnered critical acclaim and high viewing figures in the UK, America, and here in Australia, too.

I'll try to outline some of my thoughts on the series:

*The cast is excellent. My favourites are Charles Dance as the villainous Mr. Tulkinghorn, and Phil Davis as "Shake-me-up-Judy" Mr. Smallweed, but every single member of the cast was absolutely outstanding. 

Mr. Tulkinghorn (Charles Dance

*I found the camerawork a bit intrusive. It's bold, it's different, but it will cause the production to look dated in x years from now. The "whish-bang-CRASH" in between scenes got old pretty quickly. 

*First-rate production values, as you would expect from a big-budget BBC period drama. Good costumes, good sets. . . there are countless details to pick up in nearly every frame. I think it's definitely a series that will reward a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) viewing. There's also a nice score by John Lunn (who also composed the score for Lorna Doone, one of my favourite movie soundtracks).

Esther Summerson (Anna Maxwell Martin)

*I'm not always a big fan of Andrew Davies' adaptations, but I have to admit, he's a done a great job here. Each episode is well-balanced and fast-paced. And the story is not too hard to follow - you do have to pay attention, but it's not like Little Dorrit, where the finale left a lot of people (me included) scratching our heads.

I have to be honest - I don't like this series as much as Our Mutual Friend. Watching (and reading) OMF, I completely fell in love with the story and all of the characters. The storyline (I should say storylines, for there are many. . . ) of Bleak House are brilliantly conceived, but not as much to much my taste as Our Mutual Friend. Romance and biting social satire are what I love in my Victorian novels. The latter qualities are present in Bleak House, but not in such abundance as they are in Our Mutual Friend. And I thought the cast for Bleak House, good as it was, didn't have quite as much charisma as the cast from OMF.

Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson)

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Bleak House, and it didn't take long for me to be completely drawn into the story. I would highly recommend this for any fan of any of the following: Dickens, BBC period dramas, or good TV drama in general.

Be warned: much of this series is quite dark in tone and subject matter. There are one or two scenes that are a bit gruesome, though nothing to warrant anything more than a PG rating. Just remember, this isn't Pride and Prejudice!

4.5 out of 5 stars. Oh, I feel so hard-hearted giving it only 4.5. . . alright, make that 5 out of 5!

+A brief overview of the DVD bonus features: I was a little disappointed here, to be honest. I bought the "special edition", I expected a bit more in the way of bonus material. There are three 15-minute interview with Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, and Denis Lawson. There is commentary available on several of the episodes, and there's a photo gallery. That's it.

Links:

• IMdB page
• Wikipedia
• Amazon.co.uk
• Charity's Place review
• High resolution pics at the BBC's website
• Masterpiece Theater (includes interview with Andrew Davies)

Current Mood: Sleepy