With... Adam Sargant
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It's our last episode of series 1!!! Expect ghost, ghouls and lots of
laughs as we round off the series with Adam Sargant, AKA Haunted Haworth.
We'll be...
4 months ago
I'd like to go back to theatre for a bit, maybe more TV," she said.So, film producers out there, now you know.
"Period drama is something I'd really love to do; a Bronte, a Dickens or an Austen or something like that. And who wouldn't want to be in a film?"
It was New Yorker critic Anthony Lane who noticed that Wright’s debut movie, an ambitious take on Pride and Prejudice , felt less like Jane Austen than Charlotte Brontë—the irony was replaced with swooning. Atonement follows the same pattern, taking the incidents of McEwan’s book and staking them to rapturous images of a weeping woman straining for her beloved’s hand, or a man chasing hopelessly after a bus. It’s not an insult to say that both of Wright’s films feel like quality adaptations of Harlequin novels—or at least I don’t intend it as one. But it does suggest that he might have better success with pulpier sources. (Aaron Mesh)Firstly, it wasn't the 'swooning' that brought about the comparisons to the Brontës, mainly because there aren't that many 'swoons' in the Brontë novels. And secondly, it's either the Brontës or Harlequin novels because, you know, they're worlds apart.
Wuthering Heights‘ infamy is for its drama and its tragic love story. On these counts, the film succeeds. But it’s an unmotivated, loose script with a rambling tale and impotent casting that degrade this otherwise mildly satisfying hanky-fest. (Elspeth Haughton)The Age reviews the book Rhett Butler's People, which is a sequel of Gone with the Wind. The reviewer examines sequels which are not part of a series, but - for lack of a better word - a kind of fan-fiction springing from a previous original work.
The sequel industry rarely does justice to readers: it is so easy for sequels to get bogged down in soap-style plotting that ends up being dull, dull, dull. Emma Aiken's leaden Pemberley with its cod-Regency pastichery (Georgette Heyer alone could do it and wisely made up her own stories), all those Flowers in the Attic knock-offs, and such idiocies as Mrs Rochester, the sequel (heaven help us) to Jane Eyre.Actually, the article is a very interesting read on the subject of sequels/prequels.
It's difficult enough to write historical novels without having to extrapolate from others' ideas. Even an intelligent work such as Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea prequel has problems. It's impossible to read as a stand-alone: its divergences from Jane Eyre become irritations just as its congruences with the original make you simply want to go back to Charlotte Bronte. (Juliette Hughes)
Greer has a penchant for embedding literary references in his story. [...] For example, he writes, “Reader, she married me” and “the creature had to stay in the attic” as homages to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. (Chiron)And Professor Meyer writes about a poem by Emily Dickinson supposedly about Charlotte Brontë. Not the well-known one starting All overgrown by cunning moss, but the one starting Title divine--is mine! K. Hoting, the blogger, says:
She makes mention of Charlotte Bronte, as the note in the anthology alerts us, perhaps as a homage to her writing and as a woman author. Royalty amongst her peers.K. Hoting is interested in hearing people's opinions on this, so if you have any ideas, do leave a comment. As far as we're concerned, we've tried our modest Emily Dickinson corner and have found nothing on the matter. (Incidentally, if you like Emily Dickinson, you might like to visit this website as well).
Empress of Calvary -
Royal, all but the Crown -
The following line "Bethrothed, without the Swoon" has me a bit confused. Is she referring to Charlotte marrying not for love? Or in conjunction with her following line, "God gives us Women", she is actually referring to women's union with God as alluded to in her first line.
I agree, most sequels, prequels, and parallel-a-quels can never ever compare to the original novel. However, if one writes one of these and posts it on the Internet as a private entertainment for family and friends who live far away, or for the few who stumble across it, then this hack writer sees no harm done, as long the character is respected and does nothing "out of character." Sometimes, one writes a parallel-a-quel as an exercise to get the feel of the original author's style (I compare it to an art student painting a copy of a masterpiece in order to learn what makes great art), although it is, of course, impossible to duplicate, either in style or in quality. My admiration of the Bronte Sisters grows by the second every time I put pen to paper.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice comment. The Brontës' style is undefinably unique. It's immensely difficult for a new text to sound like one of THEIR texts.
ReplyDeleteAnd each reader imagines the character in question differently so it's pretty hard too for a sequel, prequel, etc. to be to everyone's taste. Just like film adaptations, everyone would have done something different had they been in command.