Beautiful Blog Award

So I have again been nominated for an award! Shocking, these things are like dominoes. It seems if one comes your way, they all come your way. I am very pleased that Emma Jane sent the Beautiful Blog Award my way.
                                        
Without further ado, here are the questions and my answers.

 ~What is one of your favorite period drama lines that you find yourself quoting often?
Oh goodness. Well I think several in my head, but not out loud. No one seems to get them. And my sister always thinks I am odd when I do so. But I often find myself saying "Soary, Anne" to her in a Gilbert-like way. Just because that is so fun. :)

 ~What was the last book you read?
The Shadow Things by Jennifer Frietag. It is not really a book I usually read, so I was a bit wary at first. However, I really ended up liking it and finished it in about two days. (I could have finished it in one but sadly school got in the way...

 ~What is the best movie you've seen so far in 2014?
Um.... Frozen? I think I saw that in 2014. Or maybe it was late 2013. Oh well, it was recently and I liked it a lot. The music is fabulous.

                     

 ~Who is one of your least-favorite period drama couples?
Least favorite? Hmm... Mme. and M. Thenardier from Les Miserables are the first to come to mind.

 ~Who is the one period drama man you can most imagine yourself marrying? (This doesn't have to be your favorite literary/period drama hero, just the man you think you would be most suited to.)
Gilbert. Honestly, I think we would do very well together. I find his sense of humor funny, he is kind, intelligent, and he is an everyday type of guy who is perfectly imperfect to me.... yeah as you can see I have never really gotten over my first big literary crush. (And now I don't think I will.)

 ~ What is your favorite time period and culture to read about?
Edwardian? 1800-early 1900.

 ~Are you familiar with the Irish music group Celtic Woman? If so, who is your favorite of the singers?
I am familiar with them. I think some of their songs are lovely but I really don't listen to them all that much. So I can't say I have a favorite singer because I do not know their names.

 ~What is one of your all-time favorite book covers?
Oh my... well I really like my Sense and Sensibility cover and my An Old Fashioned Girl cover. So I'll cheat a little and post both of them. :)

     

Here is a little interesting tidbit on my Sense and Sensibility: It was the first Jane Austen book I ever owned and read, and I got it for free from my libraries summer reading challenge when I was 11 or 12.

 ~Is there a specific period drama/literary character whom you often find yourself quoting?
Anne of Green Gables, for sure. I just love those books/movies. And the quotes just fit so many occasions.

 ~Is there a specific period drama/literary character whom you find yourself acting a lot like sometimes? 
Hmm. I don't think I am a lot like Anne Shirley, I wish I were more like Elinor Dashwood or Elizabeth Bennet.... I should be honest with myself and say I am more of a Catherine Morland. (But hopefully not quite so silly.) Does this mean I get a Henry Tilney? :)

A Review of Northanger Abbey (2007)

I first watched Northanger Abbey sometime around winter break and really enjoyed it. You can watch the whole video on Youtube here. It wasn't a miniseries, and I don't think it was by BBC, but for all that it was a rather good film. It inspired me to read the book, and that's all one could ever hope for in a Jane Austen adaptation. The movie had some very nice points. I shall start with them, then go on to some of the, uh,  questionable changes.

First, the movie starts with a narrator saying the exact words that are in the beginning of NA. I was very excited, for the first chapter of NA is one of my favorites, several quotes, such as "but by the age of fifteen, appearances were mending; Catherine Morland was in training to be a heroine." or something along those lines. I love when she is reading in the fields, it creates such a lovely picture! The books she reads are awful, though! And her imagination!

Along the lines of imagination, I'd like to point out some unnecessary additions to dear NA. Catherine does imagine some rather wild things in the book, but none so... suggestive as a couple of the dreams in the movie. Also, the scene that was implied between Isabella and young Captain Tilney was shown, in a small degree in the movie. It was rather unfortunate, but I suppose they are trying to be "modern" and appeal to the audience. Rather ironic, as the popular "modern" novels Catherine was reading that Jane Austen poked fun at were the same way. 

For being only a movie, and not a mini-series, they did rather well. I didn't notice any major gaps in the story, and they got the point across and developed the characters rather well. Catherine was young and naive, exactly as I'd pictured her. Henry Tilney was hysterical.... and I won't say "nice," for if I did, I know Henry would tease me dreadfully. (But that is what I am thinking) ;)

Isabella and John Thorpe were certainly a pair. Isabella I never truly liked. I'd laugh sometimes at her, and think that some of the stuff she said would be rather wonderful if she'd actually meant it, which she most certainly did not. John was a blundering dandy, as usual, going on about his "d---ed horse and buggy" as he says, and who knows what else. No matter what he said, I do not believe I could be prevailed upon to drive with him anywhere, even if he does promise an old, haunted mansion.

The story was very witty and ironic, with Jane Austen's subtle humor laced in. "I'm not saying she was very silly, but one of us was very silly, and it wasn't ME." Haha, different movie, but very true. Catherine certainly was silly, believing and making up all those things about Northanger Abbey and the Tilney's. A very cringe-worthy moment was in Mrs. Tilney's room, where Henry caught silly Catherine snooping around. Oh, what an awful time of it she had, and that night, being sent away... what an awful man that Mr. Tilney is! 

The ending was very sweet, though I would have liked to have seen the wedding. The proposal was very heartfelt and I melted. I mean, it was actually a proposal scene, which does not happen often in Jane Austen stories. To sum it all up, this movie was very nice and family-friendly, except for some short semi-inappropriate scenes, and I would recommend it.

Period Drama Tag Answers

1. What period dramas have you watched in January?

I have watched North and South, Sense & Sensibility,  Cranford, and The Scarlet Pimpernel

2. Do you prefer period dramas peppered with humor or laced with dark emotions?
If I had to choose. I suppose humor. I love to watch Period Dramas that have both humor and dark emotions.

3. What was the first period drama miniseries (two episodes or longer) that you ever watched?

I think that would have to be the Anne of Green Gables movies. I just love those so much!

4. How many Jane Austen adaptations have you seen?

I believe I've seen 6: Mansfield Park ('98?,) Northanger Abbey '07, P&P '95 and '05, Sense and Sensibility '95, and Emma '09.

5. What period drama, that you haven't seen before, are you most looking forward to seeing in the future?

Bleak House, I think.