Mansfield Park (Everything Austen Challenge)

Jane Austen's Mansfield Park from Masterpiece/BBC 2007.

As part of Everything Austen II, I decided to watch the 2007 MP again.  I reserved a copy through the library and watched it during an afternoon in August. 

Thoughts and ruminations:  Billie Piper (Fanny) is prettier than Sylvestra Le Touzel (Fanny in the 1983 BBC version), which I appreciated because I feel like Fanny always gets the short end of the stick.  She's the heroine that seems to fall by the wayside (along with Catherine Morland) and it always irks me a bit.  That said, Sylvestra Le Touzel gives Fanny a bit more depth than Billie Piper.  (Is it the eyebrows?  Anyone else have thoughts on that?)  While depth is good, Sylvestra gives us the quiet mouse performance.  I have always envisioned Fanny somewhere between the two.   In Billie Piper's performance, it feels like you can see her biting her tongue at times--like there's more she wants to say but can't because she shouldn't or because it would be out of character.  I liked Blake Riston as Edmund, but there is nothing new to note.   Is Edmund that easy to portray in a film, meaning that there is not much depth to his character and he is easy to sum up?  I'm struggling on this one.  I think it's time for another read of MP.

One bit they did get right in this film version is Edmund's like (lust? love?) of Mary Crawford.  This bit always makes my stomach turn--for someone so likeable and smart, Edmund's pretty clueless about her character.  Haley Atwell's does a delightful job as Mary--she is as slimy and cold as ever.  Well done.  And let me just say--Mrs. Bertram and Pug are at least tolerable in this version.  This version, however, did seem to chop the plot into bits and leave one hanging or just wondering some.  Suddenly our characters are working on a play, Mrs. Norris' exits without much fanfare (implied and perhaps not as direct as I'd like), Mr. Bertram is back with Tom.   MP is good because it takes its sweet time to get to where it's going and here it rushed into the ending and left us all happy in just a few short minutes.  A bit too Hollywoodized for my taste of Jane.

The Matters At Mansfield (Or, the Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris

So, having just finished Mansfield Park Revisited, I decided to stay on the MP kick and the the fourth Mr. & Mrs. Darcy mystery by Carrie Bebris--The Matters at Mansfield (Or, the Crawford Affair). Which was all fine and dandy until I was about a chapter in, hooked, and realized I've read books 1 and 2, but not 3. So apparently, I'm a bit behind as the characters are talking about things I didn't remember occurring. Oh well. My guess is that I wouldn't have remembered even if I had read book 3.

Plot description: Lady Catherine is set to marry off Anne de Burgh to a wealthy gentleman who has the personality of a pit bull. Unbeknown to anyone, Anne runs off with, yes Henry Crawford (who she met in Bath during the previous book's time while Lady Catherine was at Pemberley). Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam chase after Anne and Henry to Gretna Green to bring them back to her family, but along the way the weather holds them up in a small village--Mansfield. No one there is happy to see Mr. Crawford. And then Lady Catherine and Elizabeth arrive and so does Henry's other wife and then there's a murder. And it's all very Murder She Wrote-esque with D & E solving the crime with no help of today's forensic science wonders. :)

Overall, I was pretty entertained by this book. I vaguely remember the other two and know I liked the first one but wasn't thrilled with the second. Bebris gets Lady Catherine dead on--and D & E's sense of dread of Lady Catherine is priceless--both think they are going to die at the card table with her at several points. While not something Jane would have actually written, the witty sentiments expressed by the two could have come from Jane's pen. So, while a bit outlandish and silly, it was entertaining and anything that ends in a duel wins the excitement award.

3 Bonnets out of 5.

Mansfield Park Revisited (Everthing Austen Challenge 2)

Mansfield Park Revisited: A Jane Austen Entertainment by Joan Aiken.

This book was my second Everything Austen Challenge. Originally published in 1985 by Doubleday, this novel was republished last year by Sourcebooks Landmark. (Everyone's favorite JA sequel publishing house.) As a side note: Yes it's the Joan Aiken. Prolific writer, author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase etc. for kids...And as another side note: I swear I have read another of Joan's Austen books as there are several. But I've gone through all of the titles and can't figure it out. The only thing that I can figure is that Sourcebooks has used the phrase "A Jane Austen Entertainment" as the title of another of their books because I know that was in the title of a book I read at some point....Hmmm.

Back to the book--Here's a quick description:
It's set where the original MP ends, Fanny's dear sister, Susan comes to take her place as Lady Bertram's new companion. Sir Tom dies in Antigua, Edmund and Fanny must go there to settle some business affairs as the new Sir Tom must stay to manage the estate etc. Who should appear just after Edmund and Fanny depart, but Mary Ormiston, nee Crawford, who is deathly ill and just wants to come to Mansfield to get some fresh country air and hopes to see her good friends. Add a meddling Mrs. Yates (Julia Bertram), the devilish Henry Crawford and the quaint parson and his sister who take Edmund and Fanny's places and there you have it.

Even with the best intentions this book should not have taken as long to read as it did. It's a mere 201 pages and I swear it took me two weeks to read. (While I just read one book this weekend.) That being said and admitted, I think it speaks volumes as to how entertaining this "entertainment" truly was. Sigh. Joan Aiken you are usually great. But I have to argue the value of entertainment here. There was no Fanny. And while you did justice to Susan's character and got Lady Bertram spot on, I was disappointed. Mary Crawford is dying some mysterious illness and she is all sweet and sugary.

(Insert screech of tires here.) What? Hold the phone, please. Now, I fully admit it's been awhile since I read MP, but sweet and sugary? Syrupy, maybe, but only to where it would suit her purpose. I just couldn't buy into the fact that Miss Crawford was so nice (and dare I say, genuine?) to Susan. In fact, they became fast friends. While the rest of the story was a bit entertaining (Julia trying to marry Tom off to her sister-in-law and ensuing fiascoes that arise etc.), this one character flaw made it so I was irked the whole reading. Every time she appeared on page, I felt a little twitch start up. It just did not work for me. I guess I need to reread MP and see if my interpretation of Mary Crawford is the same as it once was or if I'm completely off on this one.

I hate to say it, but 1 Bonnet out of 5: Listening to Mr. Collins read Fordyce's Sermons is better.

Mansfield Park on PBS

I have had a chance to to the newest version of Mansfield Park (Masterpiece on PBS) twice this week. At first watch, I was a bit put off by it. It seemed that the story was just not done justice in its hour and a half time slot. The plot felt scattered and I was left trying to fill in some of the missing plot pieces. If I felt this confused and I know the story, those viewers that did not know the story must have been truly lost.

After watching it again this afternoon, this version left me with a better taste. It is a better version than the TV mini-series 1983 version. (Can anything be worse than Mrs. Bertram and Pug? There are such painful moments of complete silence in that version.) However, the 1999 Mansfield, while unfaithful to Austen's work, is the best version. It is entertaining and beautiful in its scenery. It combines some of Austen's life and the book and while this a bit silly, it is fun.

This new version makes me wonder if the screenwriter really read the book. There were bits left out and characters much changed. Henry and Mary Crawford were just as despicable as ever. They were a bit more presumptuous in their actions than I imagined. Billie Piper and Blake Ritson as Fanny and Edmond were reasonably good. They were good, and I think the fault lies in the writing not the acting. Was Fanny that playful in the book? (Although, one could argue that the 1999 version was similar.)

Overall, this version recieves 3 Bonnets. It is certainly a trip to Meryton, full of delight, but lacking in officers or those that make it memorable.

(As Masterpiece Classics continue on PBS, I will have to re-evaluate the Bonnets previously given in my rating system. It was pointed out to me that nothing but the '95 P&P could receive 5 Bonnets because of the Firth Factor. Also, some versions make others move in the Bonnet Continuum.)