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3.11 AVERAGE
3.11 AVERAGE
medium-paced
I love modern retellings of Austen novels, but this just doesn’t cut it. This is just too similar! It is not a retelling, more just the exact same story modernised - add in some mobile phones, Ellinor working and a gay brother and hey presto the story is modernised. The characters are the same, the setting is the same and it doesn’t work in my opinion. First the Edvard part, that doesn’t seem plausable. Why doesn’t he have a job or an education? Then the Brandon/Marianne story - that is just icky thinking abou the age gap. And it is emphasized, focusing on how old he is. Would have been better had he only been portrayed as the less exciting alternative rather than the old. And I especially found the setting of the story boring, it is exactly the same. At least in the Pk&P retelling they changed the city and even country. That is also the case with all the retellings I have read. The story about a wealthy landowner kicking out his sisters who then need help getting housing belongs in the 1800s, not the 2000s.
I understand why they didn’t continue the series, but had hoped for a Persuasion retelling.
I understand why they didn’t continue the series, but had hoped for a Persuasion retelling.
Szerettem volna, ha még jobban elrugaszkodik az eredetitől. Igazából izgultam, meri-e egyáltalán. Szerettem volna, ha a szereplők is kicsit mások, a cselekmény is jobban különbözik. Lehetett volna benne több Edward…
Ami igazán jól sikerült, az Sir John megformálása. Egyértelmű, hogy JT őt szerette a legjobban…
Ami igazán jól sikerült, az Sir John megformálása. Egyértelmű, hogy JT őt szerette a legjobban…
This was enjoyable, and I kept picturing the characters with the actors who played them in the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet movie adaptation. (RIP, Alan Rickman. I also remembered that 3/4 of the leads are also in Love Actually. And that Emma and Alan were both in the Harry Potter movies.) I kept wanting to pump my fist for Elinor - her whole family is so flighty, which I think the author got right! However, I couldn't get with how dang GOSSIPY everyone was, even though it makes the plot hang together. That said, I think this is light and good, and the story is certainly a classic for a reason.
I suppose I have to start by admitting that the original S&S is not in my top favorite Austen books. Marianne makes me batty, and Edward's spinelessness is vastly unappealing. While I get why there's an Austen Project, I don't really get what point this book serves. It is too faithful to the source material, and yet at the same time seems to be trying to hard to force the modernism with dialogue and technology. You can't have both, you know? Even though I know it's common for Regency, I was always a bit creeped out by Brandon and Marianne's May/December relationship--it's worse here because middle-aged men being interested in teenage girls is much less culturally acceptable than it was 200 years ago. Based on the situation (his love interest's daughter being old enough to get into trouble) we're talking about a 20-year age gap, and it's not like Marianne is particularly mature to justify it. Ugh. While we're at it, all this instant marriage and unemployed women waiting on men to save them thing also seems a huge throwback in modern times. That's not to say the book is bad; it's very readable. The characters are engaging, and the retelling of an old story is still interesting, but I just can't say I loved it.
Now excuse me while I type up this review on my iPad, tweet it to my friends, and then go marry a guy I went on two dates with.
Now excuse me while I type up this review on my iPad, tweet it to my friends, and then go marry a guy I went on two dates with.
This was my least favorite of the three, and also the third I read, which I think played a factor in my dislike. I really enjoy this Austen novel, and I didn't like the way the author changed elements to modernize it. Unlike the other two novels where I thought the changes were clever, these were absurd. I also felt like the writing dragged even at the end, and the conclusion was not satisfying. Aside from a few clever comment splattered through, it was wholly disappointing.
So dull and uninventive and written by someone who wanted to reference social media but clearly had very little idea what any of it meant. No strong sense of time or place.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this shortly after finishing the original by Jane Austen. It's basically a scene-for-scene retelling of the story, but in a modern setting and with a few bonus scenes at the end. I was curious to see how Trollope would translate some of the more outdated elements (e.g. the nature of Willoughby's crimes, attending balls and other old-fashioned social gatherings), and she does a clever job of it.
As for translating the characters themselves, I found the side characters a bit more one-dimensional than in the original, but it's also entirely possible that the complexity of Austen's writing (at least to my modern brain) gave them more depth than was actually there. I liked Marianne's diagnoses of depression and asthma, without which it would be hard for a modern audience to swallow some of the story's plot points. (These days, what young adult would end up in the ICU after catching a cold in the rain?)
Lastly, I thought Trollope capture Elinor extremely well. She's perhaps a bit more confrontational than Austen's Elinor, but it rang true to the character and made for some very satisfying moments.
As for translating the characters themselves, I found the side characters a bit more one-dimensional than in the original, but it's also entirely possible that the complexity of Austen's writing (at least to my modern brain) gave them more depth than was actually there. I liked Marianne's diagnoses of depression and asthma, without which it would be hard for a modern audience to swallow some of the story's plot points. (These days, what young adult would end up in the ICU after catching a cold in the rain?)
Lastly, I thought Trollope capture Elinor extremely well. She's perhaps a bit more confrontational than Austen's Elinor, but it rang true to the character and made for some very satisfying moments.
This is the first book in The Austen Project series and the second one that I have read. I really enjoyed this modern adaption, there was no annoying "young person language", like 'totes' or 'amaze-balls' unless used by incredibly annoying character, which just added to their annoyingness, and the modern characters stayed true to the original regency versions of themselves.
Elinor was wonderful and inspirational, seriously, that girl knows how to get stuff done, as she says in Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", 'I will be mistress of myself', and yes, yes she was.
Marianne was just as she ought to be, direct and frivolous, unknowingly selfish and incredibly in over her head.
Margret, or 'Mags' as she was known as in this, was as lovable as ever, and 'Belle' or Mrs. Dashwood, was just as incompetent as Elinor was proficient.
As for the men, I must say, as much as I love Colonel Brandon, his character in this was slightly overwhelming, and Edward was, well, underwhelming.
I don't have a lot to say on John Willoughby aka 'Wills', as his character was so minor, (apart from the constant crying and mentioning of his name on Marianne's part) he's hardly worth talking about.
I loved Sir John Middleton and Mrs. Jennings, as crazy as they are, everything they did was out of the goodness of their hearts and without their offering of the cottage, we wouldn't have this story!
All in all, there wasn't a lot I disliked about this novel and I hope this has encouraged you enough to read it without giving away too many spoilers. (Although, it's almost a given that you've either read the original or watched one version or another if you're reading this review!)
Elinor was wonderful and inspirational, seriously, that girl knows how to get stuff done, as she says in Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", 'I will be mistress of myself', and yes, yes she was.
Marianne was just as she ought to be, direct and frivolous, unknowingly selfish and incredibly in over her head.
Margret, or 'Mags' as she was known as in this, was as lovable as ever, and 'Belle' or Mrs. Dashwood, was just as incompetent as Elinor was proficient.
As for the men, I must say, as much as I love Colonel Brandon, his character in this was slightly overwhelming, and Edward was, well, underwhelming.
I don't have a lot to say on John Willoughby aka 'Wills', as his character was so minor, (apart from the constant crying and mentioning of his name on Marianne's part) he's hardly worth talking about.
I loved Sir John Middleton and Mrs. Jennings, as crazy as they are, everything they did was out of the goodness of their hearts and without their offering of the cottage, we wouldn't have this story!
All in all, there wasn't a lot I disliked about this novel and I hope this has encouraged you enough to read it without giving away too many spoilers. (Although, it's almost a given that you've either read the original or watched one version or another if you're reading this review!)
This is the third book from the Austen Project, the retelling by modern authors of the six books of the Austen oeuvre, that I have read, having previously read Emma by Alexander McCall Smith and Eligible, the retelling of Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld. It was actually the first book in the project that was published.
I have enjoyed all three books, but I have to say I think this is my favorite so far. I realize that is a bit of an unpopular view, as I've read several reviews panning the book. Well, sorry to be a contrarian but I loved it!
I have not read any of Joanna Trollope's work previously, although I have read and enjoyed the work of her famous antecedent. She is a fifth generation relative of the honored Anthony and she has some of the same ability to tell a rousing tale of family and community life and relationships with all their tangled web of interconnections.
Of course, in this instance, the plot was already laid out for her as it has existed on the page for some two hundred years, but I thought she did an excellent job of translating the various Dashwoods, Ferrarses, Jenningses, Middletons, etc. into the twenty-first century, setting them down with all the modern conveniences but with their essential characters still intact just as Jane Austen first imagined them.
Elinor Dashwood is still all sense, affectionate but composed in her demeanor, and Marianne Dashwood is still all sensibility or emotion. Colonel Brandon is still kind, honorable, and gracious, and Edward Ferrars is friendly and honorable, if weak. The Middletons are still loud and boisterous but essentially good-hearted and John Willoughby ("Wills" in Trollope's telling) is still a bounder.
Trollope seemed to have a keen understanding of Sense and Sensibility and its large cast of characters and she appeared to be having fun with it and that ultimately helped to make it a fun read for me, almost ideal accompaniment for a summer vacation.
Trollope did make some minor changes to interpretations of the characters. For example, she gave a bit more ink to Charlotte and Tommy Palmer and I found that I quite liked them - not that I disliked them in Austen's book, but they were just given a bit more prominence here. The same was true of the youngest Dashwood sister, Margaret, who is portrayed as a typically fractious, but rather sweet teenager, with all the baggage that that stage of life implies.
I think that even a reader who was not particularly familiar with the original Sense and Sensibility could enjoy this book. It works as a stand-alone. After all, human nature and human foibles remain essentially intact and unchanged in the twenty-first century from what they were in the nineteenth. In that sense, Jane Austen's tale remains as fresh and relevant as ever.
I have enjoyed all three books, but I have to say I think this is my favorite so far. I realize that is a bit of an unpopular view, as I've read several reviews panning the book. Well, sorry to be a contrarian but I loved it!
I have not read any of Joanna Trollope's work previously, although I have read and enjoyed the work of her famous antecedent. She is a fifth generation relative of the honored Anthony and she has some of the same ability to tell a rousing tale of family and community life and relationships with all their tangled web of interconnections.
Of course, in this instance, the plot was already laid out for her as it has existed on the page for some two hundred years, but I thought she did an excellent job of translating the various Dashwoods, Ferrarses, Jenningses, Middletons, etc. into the twenty-first century, setting them down with all the modern conveniences but with their essential characters still intact just as Jane Austen first imagined them.
Elinor Dashwood is still all sense, affectionate but composed in her demeanor, and Marianne Dashwood is still all sensibility or emotion. Colonel Brandon is still kind, honorable, and gracious, and Edward Ferrars is friendly and honorable, if weak. The Middletons are still loud and boisterous but essentially good-hearted and John Willoughby ("Wills" in Trollope's telling) is still a bounder.
Trollope seemed to have a keen understanding of Sense and Sensibility and its large cast of characters and she appeared to be having fun with it and that ultimately helped to make it a fun read for me, almost ideal accompaniment for a summer vacation.
Trollope did make some minor changes to interpretations of the characters. For example, she gave a bit more ink to Charlotte and Tommy Palmer and I found that I quite liked them - not that I disliked them in Austen's book, but they were just given a bit more prominence here. The same was true of the youngest Dashwood sister, Margaret, who is portrayed as a typically fractious, but rather sweet teenager, with all the baggage that that stage of life implies.
I think that even a reader who was not particularly familiar with the original Sense and Sensibility could enjoy this book. It works as a stand-alone. After all, human nature and human foibles remain essentially intact and unchanged in the twenty-first century from what they were in the nineteenth. In that sense, Jane Austen's tale remains as fresh and relevant as ever.
I like the idea of the Austen Project - popular modern-day authors rewriting Austen's novels to take place in present day. In execution, though, it doesn't really work. This book was just okay, and if it hadn't been a rewrite of Sense and Sensibility it would have been just mediocre chick lit at best.