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Category: Reading

Posts in which we talk about reading habits and preferences

Another Important Survey

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Look at them up there, glaring! The Miss Bingleys definitely want to duke it out. They’re both fierce and cruel. They’ve both been educated by the best instructors. Who do YOU think would win in a fight? Would one win at boxing, and the other at wrestling, or would one wipe the floor with the other in any form of combat?

Or how about the Lady Catherines??? Which one of these would beat the other at mudwrestling? At boxing? At sumo wrestling?


Would they pull hair and bite??? Would they gouge each others’ eyes out?

Who would you wager your hard-earned money on?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — Holt Medallion Finalist!

Posted in Frivolity, Jane Austen, Reading, TV and Film | Tagged | 13 Replies

Pride Interrupted

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Last week, my father (who also doubles as my Regency research partner) was in Brooklyn for a visit. Friday night, he poked around my DVD collection and found the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice; he had just visited my aunt, his sister, and seen the 2005 version, and wanted to compare with the one he’d heard was truer to the text (my dad wrote a paper on Emma in college, so he’s up on Austen).
It was 8:30 by the time we sat down to watch, and I warned him this version was at least five hours long, and I knew neither of us would be up that late. We stopped watching at the end of the first DVD (of the two-disc set), right when Elizabeth refuses Darcy’s first offer of marriage.
Whew. It was really, really hard to stop watching right there, right at the emotional black moment of the film. But how perfect its placement was–right as you’re realizing Darcy has feelings for Elizabeth (courtesy of Colin Firth’s guardedly melting glances), and Elizabeth is piqued by Darcy, although not yet willing to admit it, even to herself, he proposes in his characteristic blunt Darcy way.
The scene closes with her telling him that he would be the last man on earth she would ever contemplate marrying, and he tells her he understands perfectly, and will never bother her again. They separate, leaving behind our palpitating hearts.
Austen’s build-up to that moment is magnificent, as is her gradual threading together of our hero and heroine’s lives. It’s hard to believe, only one DVD disc later, that Elizabeth and Darcy will ever get to a place where they can be together.

Pride & Prejudice is one of the best examples of the Big Misunderstanding ever–yes, Elizabeth could have asked Darcy about Wickham, but there are ever so many reasons why she would not; and he could have discerned her embarrassment about her family, and possibly discussed it with her without blurting it out so baldly, but there are ever so many reasons why he would not.

Do you agree with my analysis of P&P as having a Big Misunderstanding?
What examples of a GOOD use of a Big Misunderstanding can you think of? Do you mind them in your novels? Can you envision any situation with a Big Mis that would make as much sense as the ones in P&P? And don’t you feel sorry for my dad, who had to return to Cape Cod without seeing the second half?

Megan
www.meganframpton.com

Posted in Jane Austen, Reading, TV and Film | Tagged , | 13 Replies

Faking it

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The boddynge flourettes bloshes atte the lyghte;
The mees be sprenged wyth the yellowe hue;
Ynn daiseyd mantels ys the mountayne dyghte;
The nesh yonge coweslepe bendethe wyth the dewe;
The trees enlefed, yntoe Heavenne straughte,
Whenn gentle wyndes doe blowe to whestlyng dynne ys broughte.

Thomas Chatterton, the anguished teenage poet, was one of the great fakers of the Romantic period–his short-lived and unsuccessful career, which started with him faking medieval poetry, ended with his suicide in an attic at the tender age of eighteen.

And plagiarization is something fiction writers are too often accused of…after all, all regencies are about fresh-faced ingenues and rakes, right?…aren’t they? Even though academic story analyses have proposed that all story-telling is derivative, and derive from a handful of basic plots, it’s something we are accused of far too often.

As a living example of how different writers can take a simple plot premise and work it into something different, visit Diana Peterfreund’s Great Blog Voice Experiment. Diana invited twelve writers for their contribution, and each is different and interesting. Why? It’s a question of individual imagination and individual voice–whatever voice is. It’s one of those difficult-to-define elements that distinguishes a writer’s work, and I hold the theory that the stronger the voice, the more extreme the reader’s reaction.

Can you define voice? Which writers have a strong voice, and what do you like/dislike about their work?

Janet

Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged | 5 Replies

Dreadfully Important Survey

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Dreadfully Important Survey here. Much more important than that census nonsense. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.

And the pictures here of handsome men are entirely relevant, and not there for any superficial, oh-aren’t-they-cute sort of reason.

1. If Horatio Hornblower (as played by Ioan Gruffudd) had a fistfight with Jack Aubrey (as played by Russell Crowe), who would win? And how much would you pay to watch them fight? How much more would you pay if they fought without their shirts on?

2. How about Jack Aubrey versus Captain Wentworth (as played by Ciaran Hinds)? Or would you be too afraid that Anne (as played by Amanda Root) would beat you to death with her umbrella for watching?

3. How about Wentworth versus Hornblower?

4. If the three captains actually fought, would that be like Regency mudwrestling?

5. Would Richard Sharpe (as played by Sean Bean) be able to wipe the floor with any of them?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Cara

Posted in Frivolity, Reading, Regency, TV and Film | Tagged | 11 Replies

Historical Series

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So I have mentioned my day job, which is being the Community Manager at HeroesandHeartbreakers.com. One of my primary responsibilities is to assign blog topics, and to see what’s working and what’s not, and follow up in response.

One of the things I knew prior to starting the job–duh!–is that paranormal romance is the most popular genre. Not only that, once we started gathering a relatively large community, I saw that PNR posts inspire the most passion.
So why is that? It’s not like historical fans aren’t passionate, nor that they don’t visit the site and read the posts. They just don’t get all hot under the collar (and other places…) the way PNR fans do.
One of the reasons why, I think, is that although historicals are released in series, they don’t have ongoing cliffhangers. Or if they do, it’s not the Fate of the World that is in balance, but perhaps discovering who a spy is, or who stole the jewels, or who someone’s parents are, or whatever. Not earth-shattering stuff.
I also think that historicals, once the HEA is achieved, don’t have many places to go; in PNRs, there is always a world to save, or demons to kill, or vampires to stake. A couple can BE a couple in subsequent books and still be interesting. How interesting would it be to see Lord and Lady Whomever live their lives, have great sex, and be all spoony about each other?
I have to admit, as someone who gets bored once the couple is happily together–even at the end of the book–it wouldn’t be interesting at all.
There are historical mysteries featuring ongoing couples, but their working relationship is more important than their romance, at least in the ones I’ve read. They’re not as passionate anymore because they have to concentrate on solving the mystery.
So–any thoughts about how a historical series could spur on the kind of passionate response a PNR series has?
Posted in Reading, Writing | Tagged , | 5 Replies