Austenland, or How I rediscover & fell in love with J J Feild
So let's start this blog shall we ? :) It's funny how sometimes you discover a new book or a new movie by accident. In general I find ideas online by reading blogs, while looking at Pinterest or just via amazon...
Austenland was a bit different : I was online and find an article saying that Stephenie Meyer was ungrateful for the success that Twilight brought her...I was surprised (and don't like to trust everything I read) and went on her website to see if there was something about this "buzz". There was indeed an explanation and after reading it, I looked at her news, wondering if she was planning to release new books this year. And that's how I heard about Austenland : I saw that she produced this movie. Being a big Jane Austen fan, I immedialty looked online to see what this movie was.
(For those of you who don't know the movie : look here for the trailer & story) I looked at the trailer, and thought "mmm ok it would be a very light girly movie to watch alone while eating today" and bought it on Itunes. I didn't even look at the cast actually. I recognized Keri Russell but I don't really know her : I never watched Felicity and the only movie I saw her in was Waitress, years ago, which I didn't like (because of the ending) So I started watching Austenland with no big expectations...But it was a very good surprise !
It shows the main character, Jane, obsessed with Jane Austen & especially Mr Darcy. Unable to keep a real man in her life she goes to Austenland where she will be able to live "a true Jane Austen experience" with costumes, gentlemen and even a ball ! Who doesn't dream of living a ball like all our favorite Jane Austen heroines ? I know I will surely love to be able to dress like that for a day or two and then have fun at a ball, like Elizabeth Bennet !
Well first I had a good laugh when I saw James Callis (in the picture above) dressed like that ! I didn't know he was in the movie and had to rewind to make sure it was him (aka the very detestable Gaius Baltar in Battlestar Gallactica !) Actually I think I recognized his voice before I realized it was him.
And then...Henry Nobley arrived in the story and I probably started drooling a bit ... well a lot to be honest :)
(and the other actor on the left is also quite gorgeous...As it turns out we see both of them a lot in the movie I was very happy )
I spent the entire movie thinking "waouh the actor who plays Nobley would be great in a Jane Austen adaptation"...and was not sure why I was thinking that. Until I realised that I already knew JJ Feild from Northanger Abbey ! So of course, as I was dying to see more of him in costume, I watched Northanger Abbey again the next day...and fell in love one more time with Mr Tilney. Hopeless romantic..
I won't spoil the story but I ended up not liking this movie, but really loving it ! The ending was very well done I thought and I wanted to watch it again the next day (obsessed me ? Mmmm maybe a bit !) Since I watched it last week I'm stuck and only want to read / watch romantic stories... I'm sure I'm not the only one like this : there are times when I only want to read science fiction, fast paced novels that will keep me awake at night because I have to know what's going to happen in the next chapter... It was the case in december & january when I couldn't put The 3 Maze runner down, or last year when i discovered Divergent.
Read past bedtime... when you have young kids who wake you up early, no matter how tired you are :
Sometimes I only want to read historical novels like The 3 musketeers (altough I have to say it's been a while since I've been in the mood for those kind of books) And sometimes I need a good murder mystery book, whether it's a classic Hercule Poirot or a more modern Camilla Lackberg. And there are times like now when I just want love, I want to read books that will give me butterflies in my stomach and make me smile like I'm still 15. It can be classics novels (Persuasion gave me those butterflies when I read Captain Wentworth's letter) or modern.
So last week, as I was in the mood for more love stories I discovered on Pinterest that Austenland was actually a book first ! I always try to read the book before I see a movie, but of course I make exceptions (even though it's hard not to have the movie in your head all the time when you read it after)
I was not sure if I would like the book as much as the movie. After all how many movies are really truthfull to the book ? It can be so different. But as I was dying to read more about Mr Nobley, I took the sample on amazon for my kindle...and ended up reading the book in 3 days ! I just finished it yesterday (and I stayed up way too late for that...but that felt so good :) and I loved it as much a the movie. I don't think I have underlined a book that much before ! Of course there are some differences between the book & the movie but it is mainly very truthfull. I think I'll be reading it again...this year ! I saw that there's also Midnight in Austenland from the same author, but it's not a sequel. I'll probably read it too later to see what it's worth. Have some of you seen the movie or read the book ? what did you think of it ? PS : Sorry again for my English...I'm French, but trying my best :)
