Downton Abbey: What Did You Think of Episode 1?

Readers, I loved it. An occasionally pat line of dialogue aside, I thought it was a splendid first episode and definitely made me eager for next Sunday night. I don't understand all this talk of "jobs" and "week-ends" however.

Leave your thoughts in the comments. They will not be entailed away to the nearest male heir, I assure you.

Here are some roundups from around the web.

Downton Abbey: My Top 5 Favorite Characters from Episode 1: "Masterpiece fans are hailing Downton Abbey as the greatest thing since Bleak House (high praise, indeed!) and Amy and I are in complete agreement so far. "--from Kim at Romancing the Tome.

Downton Abbey Poll: First Episode of this PBS Masterpiece Classic, From Jane Austen Today.

Oh, and be sure to check out The Daily Beast's roundup of the best Masterpiece shows, in honor of the venerable series' 40th anniversary.

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Downton Abbey Trailer

Masterpiece is sooooo back.

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Re-Liveblogging Northanger Abbey

This is what I blogged when it originally aired in '08. enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day

To my readers who love smouldering 19th-century heroes.



And romance in corsets and breeches:

YOU'RE WELCOME.

#Emma_PBS. Did You Loooove It By the End?

Dear readers, it's long over, and this is a much-belated post. But did the conclusion charm you as much as it charmed me? Were you humiliated and uncomfortable on Box Hill or did you wish Knightley had said "badly done, Emma," a little less yelling-ly? Were you totally enamored of the romantic conclusion, or did you miss seeing the scene in which Knightley and Emma sit together and read Frank Churchill's letter (so perfect, and kind of perfectly snarky for our internet age)? Were you deliriously happy that Emma got to see the sea at long last or did you worry along with Professor Dumbledore/Squire Hamley on downers Mr. Woodhouse? And did you agree with my mother when she emailed me with the following words of wisdom:

Thought Emma was FABULOUS... You could really feel the love between her and Knightley!!!!

I had my quibbles, but the whole thing won me over utterly. So much so that Simon and I bought the DVD, in fact, as a mutual Valentine's Day gift. Yay!

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Emma--Book and BBC

Emma by Jane Austen


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I re-read Emma for the third time alongside my soon to-be-cara sposo, Mr. VL, who is reading it for the first time. I have to say, now that I'm no longer a naive adolescent girl myself, I have even more appreciation for the way Austen captures the mindset of that particular epoch in one's development.

But this isn't a rapturous enough way to start--I'd always enjoyed the book, and admired its cleverness and wit, but this time I truly fell in love with it. It's as well-structured as Pride and Prejudice, with characters serving as symmetrical foils and doubles for each other, and it's a meditation on human folly, on our tendency to see others through the tinted glass of our own desires, proclivities and fears. Emma of course, is the worst example, guessing everything wrong down to her own heart's feelings, oblivious to everyone's real motives under the screen of the motives she would like them to have. But this tendency is true of every character, down to Emma's father, Mr. Woodhouse, who assumes all others have the same need for gruel and blazing fires in the summertime as he does. Even Mr. Knightley, who supposedly has perfect judgment and composure, chooses interesting moments to scold Emma--often related to his own masked feelings for her. In Austen's world we're all stumbling around in the blindfolds of our own perspective, our own human imperfection. There's an undertone of melancholy here, too, lurking in the corners of this comédie humaine. I actually burst into tears during a certain climactic scene in which someone is told she has borne something as no woman in England could--(of course it was 2 a.m. and I had the flu, but the emotions were genuine.)

I think it's a first-rate work of genius. Sometimes, dear readers, I'm inclined to say that there are two categories of fiction: 1-fiction 2-Austen. Jane Austen does everything your writing teachers and editors say don't do: she uses the passive voice, lots of linking verbs, adverbs, and general adjectives like "handsome" and "elegant" and "tasteful" and almost no physical or tangible descriptions of anyone or anything. And yet her world comes more alive than most contemporary writers who describe things with metaphors like the full belly of her grief scraping across her soul. Not that there's anything wrong with imagery. It's just that Jane does it all with such a light touch. Sigh.

View all my reviews >>


Now, for my thoughts on the BBC production.It's definitely growing on me--as other have noted, this production improves a lot after the first smirk and eye-roll filled hour and a half. I like that it brings out those darker, lonelier, more cramped edges of Highbury life. I find Johnny Lee Miller's Mr. Knightley absolutely charmant, and Garai's manic mannerisms have calmed down a bit. I think she gets certain aspects of the character, almost the opposite elements from the Paltrow portrayal--but neither actress can combine the naivete with the goodwill with the headstrong wit with the vulnerability lurking beneath it all--except, I maintain, Alicia Silverstone :)

Needless to say, I cannot wait til the conclusion, and I may have to re-watch the ballroom scene which is lovely--again, conventional Janeite wisdom has already come to this consensus, but I will add my voice to the chorus.

What do you all think so far? Is the miniseries improving for you also?

Ovation's Tall, Dark and Steamy Series

Until the end of the week, Ovation cable channel is showing a series of shows they dub "Tall, Dark and Steamy." Basically, it's just an endless loop of a bunch of B-list, romantic/sexy BBC adaptations, including:

• A "Madame Bovary" with EBC faves Hugh Bonneville, Hugh Dancy and GREG "Mr. Emma Thompson/Willougby" WISE (and yes we see his bare bottom).
• A hilariously ribald "Fanny Hill" with an Andrew Davies screenplay.
• "Wide Sargasso Sea," "Lost in Austen," "Cousin Bette," and "Dr. Zhivago."

Anyway, as Masterpiece is only once a week, those of you with cable should definitely get your mini-series fix on this week. Ovation is fast becoming my favorite go-to cable channel after HBO.

Wives and Daughters--Book and BBC

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reading this book is like finding an undiscovered treasure. It's a slow simmering concoction of 19th-century social observation, and has none of the gritty class and labor issues Gaskell was so passionate about in books like North and South and Mary Barton. But it also lacks those stories' high-Victorian melodrama and shows an artist truly reaching the height of her powers. Don't let the basic contours of the story fool you; as the excellent, excellent Penguin Classic introduction points out, there's a ton of profound struggle beneath W+D's surface, including a playful take on fairy tales, a hero who is based on Darwin and a Darwinian theme, and a serious interrogation of the gender roles its plot seems to support. The male heroes--Roger and Mr. Gibson--are supposed to be rational men of science, but they are both frequently undone by their own prejudices and irrationalities when it comes to the fairer sex. Molly and Cynthia each in their own way end up being far wiser, less sentimental and less easily alarmed then the men around them.

Simple as she is, Molly Gibson is a heroine for the ages--honest and faithful with a hot temper that keeps her from being a Mary Sue. Her stepmother Mrs. Clare Kirpatrick-Gibson is a stepmother par excellence, so busy trying to prove that she is NOT the archetypical wicked stepmum that she doesn't notice how miserable her clumsy machinations make her clan. Her creation definitely owes a debt to the redoubtable Mrs. Bennet, but she's an awful all her own. And Cynthia K, stepsister and friend, is an excellent ingenue, a careless flirt for whom Gaskell, and we, nonetheless retain some sympathy for.

The primary tragedy of the book is its unfinished ending, which leaves one quite breathless with unsatisfied anticipation.

As for the obligatory Davies-penned BBC miniseries, it's one of the greats, without a doubt. Definitely rent it if you haven't, and even Davies' typically unsultry conclusion can't stop you from loving every minute. The cast is a veritable hotbed of "Six Degrees of Austen Adaptations" British character actors. It includes Mr. Meagles from Little Dorrit as well as a number of Cranford's spinsters!

fanpop.com- Molly and Dr. G survey the rolling hills near Hollinford and Hamley Hall.

View all my reviews >>

A Cranford Christmas?

For whatever reason, my Jewy-atheist Christmas-scorning sensibilites stop dead when they cross the Atlantic. I have no problem with treacly Christmas sentimentality when it's delivered in a British accent: as a matter of fact, Scrooge with Alistair Sims is one of my favorite movies of all time (God do I love that movie!)

So it is with great joy that I bring you the news, via Jane Austen today and enchanted serenity of period films (two sites I must add to my blogroll, and hat tip to the latter for the Judi shot) that a Cranford Christmas special is on its way towards being filmed. Yes, there will be more Judi and Imelda, more wonderful ladies of a certain age, plus new romance, a touch of local intrigue, and the usual and delightful Victorian hand-wringing over "progress." Basically, it will be all kinds of awesomeness.

And it looks like Cranford Xmas will be delivered to the Brits just in time for Chanukah '09, and will hopefully make it over across the pond by Kwanzaa '10.

The Connection Between "Emma" and "Daniel Deronda"

The new Emma will star both Romola Garai (Gwendolyn/Emma) AND Jodhi May (Mirah/Ms. Taylor-Weston), reprising their on-screen pairing as rivals for our hero's love in Daniel Deronda. And this time, Ms. May will not be playing a tragic Jewess with a penchant for music and aristocrats. They will be fwiends :P

Mags also tells us that Natalie Portman is going to play Lizzy Bennet in R+P and Zombies. Rather than repeat myself endlessly, I will direct you to this post about my (and Charlotte Bronte's) feelings towards skinny magic/manic pixie dream girls who are cast to play enduring literary heroines.

Part 3 in an endless series of casting news from Austenblog.

Little Dorritt Episode Two (a live-guest-blog!)

Episode 2

Guest Blog Post by a TRUE egalitarian bookworm chick, Beth Dunn

Story of my life: I always love all the wrong people. All throughout the Harry Potter movie series, I was that creepy 30-something in the back row, moaning in erotic bliss whenever Snape oozed across the screen. Could have used an occasional shower, sure, but Christ that voice.

Trouble is, once I fall in love with one of your former characters, it is almost impossible to make me hate you even when you play a baddie. OK ESPECIALLY when you play a baddie. Because that just plays into my already well established ATTRACTION to baddies, and what you get is, well…

…me, sitting down to watch the second episode of Little Dorrit (which no I haven’t read or ever watched or anything before I am as untouched as Darcy’s precious little sister), and I am already rooting HARD for Dan Pegotty Flintwitch to pitch that cranky old lady down the stairs one of these dark, rainy nights. Just for not ever letting dreamy old Arthur ever touch her. I mean, honestly. When has young Clennam ever heard “don’t touch me” from a lady? C’MERE YOU.

And of course Andy Serkis Gollem Rigaud can roll his wicked old eyes at me anytime. LOVE him. Randy old bugger.

So yes, I suppose my other inclinations and affiliations are all as Mr. Dickens would have them be right now, as we begin episode two (which God knows was probably episode 317 back when he was serializing this stuff in teasing little thimble-sized doses in The Journals Of The Day). I’m quite in love with young Arthur Clennam, half in love with that puppy at the gate of the jail, and… I can’t stand Pet. So I’ve got that much right, at least.

But I am also secretly sort of in love with Miss Ward, who will no doubt reward me for my affection one of these days with unspeakable cruelty and wickedness.

I can only hope.

SO. Episode two. I am a big fan of the Live Blog format, so I have been typing all these prologue-y musings with the beginning of the episode on freeze frame – the new PBS intro music, really, accessorized with the lovely Colin Firth’s face beaming at me (quite insupportably) through gauzy red curtains. Let’s put him out of his adorableness and hit PLAY.

Ah! Puppy! Young John Chivery! And the elder Mr. Dorrit! Let us begin.

Have I mentioned yet that I covet those soft caps worn by doddering old gentlemen in these things? They look so COMFORTABLE. One can hardly get a good doddering on without one.

Ooh, Pet has an evil emo interloper suitor. He looks like that insufferable twit with the hair in his face from Mansfield Park. Well good. He can have her, silly little simpering thing with an overbite.

Here comes Puppy, literally cap in hand, to propose to Amy by the river.

(What was that old comic bit? Don’t go to the river!!!)

Aw crap, this proposal scene is going to hurt, isn’t it. John is such an adorable little thing, and so openhearted and kind and pure and OH GOD NO JOHN DON’T CRY.

Oh don’t cry. Oh how awful. Excuse me. I need to hit pause and sob alone for a few minutes. Crap crap crap crap crap.

Way to rip my heart out in the first bloody five minutes of the episode, assholes. Goddammit.

OK. Better stock up on tissues and settle down.

Meanwhile, back in the land of the Upper Class Twit, Young Clennam is inexplicably captivated by the kind of empty-headed blond girl-child apparently favored by gentlemen of his class. Look at him. He’s got actual stars in his eyes.

HEY ASSHOLE. Amy is over here breaking her best friend’s heart by the river, all so she can keep fingering your button. Show a little respect.

Tattycoram is the only one in the drawing room with any sense of decorum, and storms out of this putrid scene, apparently aghast at the awfulness of it all. Good instincts, kid. Very sound.

Father Dorrit is rather adorable, in his soft knit cap and his self-delusional grandstanding with his brother. But I do wish he would catch on and stop being so damn tactless with Chivery senior, while John is inside licking his wounds…

Oh god no more crying. William Dorrit’s little monologue of distress, after he sees Amy weeping with the sadness of it all, and then he realizes what a sad, selfish, tactless Dad he has been, is killing me. Crying Dads really get to me, too.

Why did I get assigned the Crying Episode? This is going to take me forever to get through, what with all the pausing and the weeping.

Thank god, now we can get back to some good old-fashioned evil-watching with Rigaud and Pegotty Flintwitch-the-Inexplicably-Other crossing paths. Hilarity can only ensue.

Oh lord, Flintwitch, don’t be drunkenly lured down dark alleys – NEAR THE RIVER NO LESS – by handsome, hairy Frenchmen who slip you roofies in your wine. RULES TO LIVE BY.

Stabby stabby stabby SPLASH. Happens every time. What an enthusiastic murderer Monsieur Rigaud is turning out to be.

What a MARVELOUS exchange between the little sharpie Fanny and the big sharpie, young Sparkler’s ma. Not much separates those two, when you get right down to it.

Oh God, Rigaud smells like my first boyfriend. YES I CAN SMELL HIM THROUGH THE TV SET. Like… unwashed denim and thrift shop leather jacket. Yum.

So Amy is going to work for shy, retiring little Flora, now. That ought to produce some heartfelt confidences.

Hey HEY and why not get started on that agenda right away?

Flora: “ILOVEARTHURCLENNAM ILOVEARTHURCLENNAM ILOVEARTHURLENNAM OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH YESIDOOOOO”

OOH Amy you industrious little fairy. Good job outta you, bearing up under that verbal flood.

AH YES and now the RIGHT man walks down the stairs by the river to talk to Little Dorrit. Well hello, Arthur. And what do you have to say for yourself?

Arthur: “I understand these matters of the heart, Amy… There’s someone I care about, very much. And I have held back from declaring my love.”

Amy: “…”

Arthur: “You don’t know her.”

OH SMACK. More crying by the river.

Arthur: “Are we still friends?”

Amy: “Yes, (SOB) we’re still friends.”

Yep. I’ve had that conversation.

Hey everybody, I know! Let’s all fight with our families and then go back to the river. And cry.

Swear to GOD Amy if you throw that button in the river I will smack you so hard

crap.

Nobody ever listens to me.

Mr. Pancks indulges in a nice bit of foreshadowing, grabbing Amy’s palm and going all gypsy on it. He is starting to really like his job, I think.

And Dickensian Italian Stereotype Mr. Cavaletto is clearly getting laid in his new digs with Mrs. Plawdish. Good for him. Good for Mrs. Plawdish. Oh wait, Mr. Plawdish is still alive. Whoops. My bad.

AAAHHHH ANDREW DAVIES I BLAME YOU for that awful shot of Mr. Doice with the steam coming out of his ears, followed by sad little spurts of water!!! You sir will have to answer for THAT in hell. (as for so much else…)

Now Clennam is making his sweet, ill-considered offer of marriage to Pet. And another proposal bites the dust. No crying in this one, though. Nope. Clennam thinks about it for a second, notices (finally) that Pet’s upper lip is always blue with frostbite from hanging a foot away from the rest of her face, and laughs with the sheer joy of escape. Dodged a bullet that time, m’boy.

He even goes so far as to wish the two lovers well. Yes, I’m sure you’ll both be very very happy, you frightful, insipid, worthless little twerps.

Good day!

Mr. Chivery and Mr. Dorrit make up and restore their friendship after Amy breaks John’s heart forever, and in return Mr. Chivery offers to mock Mr. Dorrit with a glimpse of the world he can never have again. And in a surprise move to none, Mr. Dorrit is completely institutionalized, and can’t even step outside.

Get busy living, or get busy dying. “IT’S HIM! With the CAKE!!!” Maggy knows what she likes in a man.

“Has Mr. Clennam behaved improperly towards you?”

“No, father, not at all.” THAT’S THE PROBLEM, FATHER

Aaaaaand Tattycoram is ready for her long-awaited psychotic break.

Good for her. Every teenager needs a good psychotic break now and again.

Let’s see just what sort of wickedness that Miss Wade is up to anyway.

…huh. Seems like a nice enough lady to me. I suppose I’ll find out more about her LATER.
I have to say that Mr. Pancks is rapidly becoming a crowd favorite.

He is clearly so VERY pleased with himself, so transparently not here to wish Mrs. Clennam her good health! Snort snort chuckle snort! (OH he has made me clap my hands in delight!) Uncle Ned is dead, is he? IS HE???

I smell Dickensian-deus-ex-machina!!! Wheee!

And we close with my great smelling ex-boyfriend Rigaud arriving on the very doorstep of the House of Clennam. Whomever will he penetrate murder next?

STAY TUNED

(And thank you for letting me guest-blog! What fun!)

[you're more than welcome--Fellow-ette]

Little Dorrit Episode 1

Little Dorrit: Episode 1

Guest post by two of my absolute favorite ladies in the blogosphere, Kim and Amy of Romancing the Tome.

Debt.

Can’t we all relate? It might technically be called a “prison,”but truth be told, the Marshalsea didn’t look half bad during last night’s U.S. premiere of Little Dorrit. So let’s pretend that the Dorrits’ digs didn’t exceed, in square footage, that of our own humble abodes for which we pay an arm and a leg. Let’s just pretend we wouldn’t kill for a fawning “doorman” like John Chivery to stroke our egos day-in and day-out. Instead, let’s reflect on a few of the things we learned from Installment #1 of the Charles Dickens classic:

•In the market for a new job? Take heed: If your prospective employer says, “I’m a terror when roused,” it might not be an ideal employment situation. Especially when the office resembles the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

•Travel in Victorian England was almost as inconvenient as it is today. Still, being quarantined in Marseilles beats getting stuck on the tarmac in a cramped, foul-smelling metal tube.

•When you feel tempted to bash in your sort-of sister’s skull with a lawn bowling ball or are otherwise reduced to a state of spastic rage, try counting to five-and-twenty. Or, seek solace and
counsel from a creepily sympathetic closet case.

•When you refer to your hot and gentlemanly son as a “vessel of sin,” you should understand that for some red-blooded female viewers, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Not in the least.

•Hospital food was once pretty decent, if Maggie is any arbiter. Also, when she was rolling around in Arthur’s bed eating cake, we have to admit were a little jealous. That’s our idea of a good time.

•Dads are soooooo embarrassing!

•Sometimes, a “gentleman” and a “scoundrel” are one and the same. Sadly, this is all too true.

•Amy Dorrit is not the sort of girl you could have a nice bitch fest or gossip session with, but let’s all breathe a big sigh of relief that actress Claire Foy managed to strain out some of the saccharine, at least. She’s a little unbearable in the book.

•When two clever ones tell you you’re getting married, it’s pointless to resist. Poor Affery!

•It’s okay to hate someone named “Pet,” because they probably really are kind of annoying.

• Lascivious Frenchmen? Not to be trusted — or slept with.

•The Circumlocution Office: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Was that Barney Frank and Harry Reid?

• Women in China are different “down there,” pigtails on women of a certain age are not becoming, and sometimes, misty-watercolored memories of the childhood sweetheart you were
cruelly separated from are best not revisited. Also, in interior design, a little bit of pink goes a long way.

•Stray buttons are sexy.

And finally, yes, we know the Marshalsea was really overflowing with wastewater and the smell of privies, but we are completely enraptured by this first episode in the series anyway and love the Gothic touches reminiscent of the Bleak House adaptation. As in the book, Little Dorrit has proved well worth the wait...

Thanks so much to Amy and Kim! I'll never forget that you guys linked to me when I was just starting this blog (and I begged you to.) Your wit is unparalleled. And next week, tune in to a review from the highly-esteemed BethDunn.

Little Dorrit Guest-Blogging Schedule

(http://www.vertex42.com/calendars/2009-calendar-clipart.html)

Alea Iacta Est! The die has been cast, the cast has been chosen, and we have, to quote Sylvia Plath, "boarded the train there's not getting off." In other words, I have my roster of guest-bloggers for the five weeks of Little Dorrit! The rules are simple: there are none. The guest-posts won't be formal, or necessarily a live-blog, or a comparison to the book, or arrive immediately after the installment airs, because that's not how Egalitarian Bookworm Chicks roll, okay? The posts will be witty, and incisive, show up within a few days of the installment and eagerly await your comments!

Installment 1, March 29: the formidable Kim and Amy

Installment 2, April 5th: the highly-esteemed BethDunn

Installment 3, April 12th: the irrepressible Catherine

Installment 4, April 19th: the keen Sarah O

Installment 5, April 26th: the delightful K

Thanks to all these awesome sisters-in-bloggage for agreeing to do this and I hope you will all visit their sites and read more of their brilliance.

I really appreciate the comments that have started flowing into the site and all the great discussions we've been having, so thanks to everyone who comments. If you are a regular reader and you want to guest-blog here or cross-post or otherwise sow the seats of social amiablity on the intertubes, just let me know!

Also, when the time comes, I think we should start a twitter hashtag for LD. How about, hmm, I dunno, #littledorrit ?

That's all for now, folks. I'm looking forward to this Masterpiece-free weekend so I can focus on the "Big Love" season finale.

Planning on Watching Little Dorrit? Want to Guest Blog an Episode?

Hey Dickens-lovers. I thought I'd invite four or five of you regular readers (you know who you are!) to guest blog an episode of the long month of Little Dorrit. If you're planning on watching the mini-series (starts March 29th, ends April 26th, every Sunday night + episodes online) let me know in comments or via email, I'll assign you a night to guest blog, and we'll work out the deets. Word! Here's hoping this works.

David Copperfield, The Review

So on Sunday night I tuned into David Copperfield (was it on in your parts? I heard from a Chicagoan tweet-buddy that it didn't air there). It was the classic opulent, true to the book, well-acted Masterpiece/BBC production. If I say that it was exactly how I expected it to be, that seems to be selling it short. But it's not. Cause for real, when you know it's a BBC job with Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellan Imelda Staunton and more, you know you're going to get the goods.

And get them we did. I was shocked (as I often am with the Beeb but shouldn't be), by how perfectly the settings always gel with my memories of reading the books. I found Betsey Trotwood's cottage on the cliff, young Mrs. Copperfield's house at the end of the lane, and the Peggoty's ship-cabin near the pier frighteningly close to how they appeared in my imagination (I felt the same way about Wuthering Heights and Tess).

The evil characters--Murdstone + his sister, Creakle, and the oh-so-'umble Uriah Heep--sent the requisite shivers down my spine. And as for the stars, McKellen was deliciously creepy and Radcliffe absolutely adorable, but Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins really delivered the winning performances of the night as a pair of quirky and odd but genuinely good caretakers for young Davy. I liked Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Micawber, especially her repetition of "I shall NEVER desert Mr. Micawber!" but my favorite scene by far was when Maggie Smith's Betsey Trotwood told off the evil Murdstone siblings and said "if you ever trample your donkey on my lawn again, I shall knock off your bonnet." SMACK!

So in conclusion, David Copperfield= awesome book and mini-series, and Maggie Smith= top EBC goddess for life. I anticipate part 2 most eagerly.

Good Dickensy News for Us Tri-Staters

David Copperfield is airing Sunday, March 9th and presumably, the following week. Here's their description:

Charles Dickens's beloved novel gets all-star treatment in this encore presentation of David Copperfield. The cast includes Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Bob Hoskins -- and an irresistible ten-year-old Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as the young boy making his way in the world. (Part 1 of 2)

Yes, this is the role that caught the eye of the HP casting folks. I would add that EBC fave and Potter veteran Imelda Staunton is also in this series. So what to expect? I checked out the reviews on Imdb. Even though a lot of the commenters are Radcliffe fangirls (I mean, who isn't?) the general consensus seems to be that it's a lovely and well-done adaptation and we're going to go bonkers for it.

I've blathered on about this before, but David Copperfield is by far my favorite Dickens book, the only Dickens I'd put in my top ten of all time, and it was also the author himself's favorite. Although it has much of Dickens' trademark quirkiness and darkness, it's also a complete character study with growth and redemption and a really interesting message about romantic love that's as close to feminist as the guy got ("Don't marry someone just because they are pretty and charming, look for a friend and partner" kinda thing).

So, in, sum, I am extremely eager for this film and I look forward to discussing it here!

Please, Sir, can I Have Some More Oliver Twist?

[+ a bonus Oscars wrap-up]

So now that the dust has settled, what did my fair readers think of the conclusion of Oliver Twist?  As documented, I thought the ending was very strong, particularly the Nancy and Rose stuff and I didn't mind the way Fagin's downfall was made way more sympathetic and the anti-semitism of the times was revealed.

Last week the response was fairly positive. Did it remain so or did the creative license at the end ruin it for folk? 

***

And if you didn't watch Oliver, what did you think of the Oscars? I thought they were fun at the beginning and end, but that hour in the middle with all the tech awards was a major dead zone. blah. And much as I adore Kate Winslet and she's a fave literary heroine onscreen (did you hear her shout out EBC faves Emma Thompson AND Peter Jackson?) I thought her speech was upstaged by Sean Penn's truly gracious and far-reaching words.

Quick Link: Salon on Oliver Twist

Heather Havrilevsky reviews Oliver Twist. I think that I agree with most of her points but I think it had a more intense effect on me. She's a little breezy and dismissive as is the Slate/Salon wont. Still, worth reading.

"Oliver Twist" (Masterpiece Classic) Review is up at PBS

My Oliver Twist review/bloggage is up at PBS' remotely connected blog. Please read and comment, there or here. And don't forget to tune in on Sunday Night. It's a really excellent production from the same director as Wuthering Heights (with some of the same cast members, too).

Here's a taste:

---

"I'm usually a proponent of true-to the book adaptations, but "Oliver Twist" has entered the popular consciousness to such an extent that it's appropriate for new versions to take liberties. After all, if we can easily imagine an onscreen "Oliver" where the characters burst into songs describing pickpocketing, prostitution, murder, and abuse, we can surely handle a few plot elisions and shifted emphases."

---

Odds n' Ends + Don't forget Sense and Sensibilty if you're bored with the grammys

Hope you all had a nice weekend and those in the Nor'east like me enjoyed the rare treat of sunshine and relative warmth.

1- I'll be re-liveblogging "Sense and Sensibility" later this evening for those who are sick of Miley Cyrus et all gyrating to their chart-topping songs in between long commercial breaks (personally, I'm watching the Grammys due to a professional obligation of someone in my household but it's cool cause I'm down with the pop culture yo).

2-Remember how last week I said that WGBH superheroine Rebecca Eaton was going to be answering your/our questions on PBS' "Engage" blog? Following my own advice, I went right over there and typed in a question. And guess what? The PBS Engage moderators put it right at the front of the queue!

In keeping with the Egalitarian Bookworm spirit, I asked was who was Eaton's favorite Masterpiece Theater hero, and she said Captain Wentworth, among others. (She mentioned both captain Wentworths, but I think we can all agree that she secretly loves Ciaran best.) Go check out her answers to the other four questions, and see more of her beloved heros, here.

3-On a related PBS bloggage note, I'm the PBS "remotely connected" guest-blogger for next week's "Oliver Twist!" So I've been watching it all weekend (it has the same director as "Wuthering Heights" and features Tom Hardy as the vile Bill Sikes). Despite the lack of rousing musical numbers, there's lots of interesting stuff to talk about.

4--And finally, on the list of must-read books front, Mags of Austenblogs generously pointed out some truly great book-lists for those of us who like such things to help inspire us to greater literary heights. Go check them out here!