Doctors Austen week, 2013 BBC series (Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge: October)

Wow, this was confusing!  First I read that there’s a whole week of Austen-related specials on Doctors.  I watch two of them (Austenland: Part 1 and 2) and judge by the preview of the supposed third episode (Charlotte’s Web) that it has nothing to do with Austen and that in fact it was just a two-part special.  Before I get round to reviewing it, we find a letter in the following week’s Radio Times discussing the Austen-inspired episodes on “14-18 October” and realise that I need to watch the rest after all.  In fact, it turns out that there are six in all – seven, if you count the episode in which the main, stand-alone story hasn’t anything to do with Austen (that I could spot) but the ongoing story arc does – spilling over into the start of the following week.

Doctors

For a summary of the series as a whole, see my previous post.

The background to the specials is that there is to be a Jane Austen exhibition held somewhere in the locality, which one of the regular cast is encouraging others to attend.  Also ongoing seems to be a sponsored read they are taking part in to raise money for charity.  Some of the characters who have never read any Austen are being sponsored to get through one book, but must pay the money themselves if they fail in the attempt.

Plot summaries and comments

Austenland: Part 1 and 2

The two Austenland episodes (nothing to do with Shannon Hale’s novel of the same title) seemed distinct from the rest of the series, except for a few references to the sponsored read and a shot of the poster advertising the launch of the exhibition.  The story concerned a girl in her late teens or early twenties who had been the victim of a mugging some time before and was now selectively mute, choosing to carry around a computer tablet on which to write any communication.  She was shown with her head in an Austen novel from the outset.  I felt that the design of her costume was very clever as she looked quite Regency in style whilst wearing modern day clothing – a long dress with a high waist and a cropped denim jacket with a very Spencer jacket look to it.  Unfortunately this was about the only thing I did like, and to be honest if I hadn’t decided to review the episodes (and that I wouldn’t have time left this month to listen to the audio version of Longbourn) I’d have stopped watching after the first one.  The girl, whose name is Lizzie, visits the the GP for a reason that now escapes me, although it can’t be connected to her trauma problem as the doctor quizzes her about why she hasn’t been attending her counselling appointments.  The girl becomes even less communicative but it’s clear she doesn’t want to belong to our world, but to retreat into the society of Austen’s novels.  She falls suddenly unconscious and begins to dream a strange version of Pride and Prejudice in which she is Lizzy Bennet and other characters from the book are played by characters she has met around the surgery.  She has clearly developed a crush on one of the doctors and casts him in the role of Darcy, whilst a practice nurse plays Lydia (the only other sister present) and a receptionist plays Mrs Bennet.  Before long Mr Collins appears on the scene (played by one of the nicest doctors – I felt a bit sorry that he had to have such a ghastly part but he did it very well!), along with – inexplicably – Frank Churchill and General Tilney.  Despite her confusion over where these characters have come from, she’s enjoying herself and goes out, only to find herself at the picnic scene from Emma.  Mr Woodhouse and Miss Bates are there, and Lizzie insults Miss Bates in the way Emma does.  Embarrassed, she leaves the party and finds Mr Darcy, who scolds her.  She returns to the house and discovers she’s now at Northanger and must endure a terrifying night during a storm.  From then on things deteriorate further – she’s discomfited by Mr Collins’ lecherous looks as he proposes and won’t take no for an answer, she’s alarmed by the violence Darcy shows when he rescues Lydia from a gypsy and she’s horrified when she discovers Darcy and Caroline Bingley in a passionate embrace in the gardens.  Everything is going wrong, and she’s confused because it’s a world of her own creation.  The doctor finally succeeds in wakening her and she is now able to speak.  She agrees to return to her appointments to help herself reintegrate into real life, but by the time she has got through the very busy reception area she’s obviously having second thoughts and as she leaves she spots a man who’ll make a perfect Captain Wentworth…

I really wasn’t sure what to make of those two episodes.  There didn’t seem to be any clear message in them and it looked rather like the cast had all had the chance to pick an Austen character they wanted to be and a story had been woven around that.  I thought they all did very well in their characters but the whole thing didn’t hang together very well, the doctors were unable to help the patient and the status quo was restored by the end of the episodes.

Charlotte’s Web

The other episodes focused on one book each.  Charlotte’s Web was a modern take on the story of Charlotte Lucas.  I think I found this the most interesting.  It investigated the idea of marrying for money and security, but the main difference was that the modern-day Charlotte seemed to be doing this out of laziness and a disinclination to work, rather than the need for protection that a Regency woman would have had.  However, it examined the effects on her other relationships, including with a close male friend who obviously has feelings for her, and raised the question over whether, like Austen’s Charlotte, she would sacrifice as much as she gained in the marriage.

Northanger Bungalow(!)

This covered the story of Catriona Morbrook, a teenager living with her recently separated mother, and obsessed with horror films and zombies.  She becomes convinced that the previous occupant of her home had murdered his wife.  Whilst searching the loft for evidence she believes she sees her own mother who has now become a zombie.  It turns out to be a type of epilepsy, but whilst it was a good way of updating the story, I was unimpressed with the hallucinations and the very casual treatment of apparent mental illness (similar to the Austenland episodes).

Gemma

This episode was a reworking of Emma in which a young girl from a council estate becomes frustrated that she can’t be as in control of her friends’ lives and events around her as she would like.  It turns out that this is her reaction to the discovery that she has rheumatoid arthritis and her fear that this will stop her dancing, which she wants to pursue as a career.  I quite liked this story apart from its rather laboured use of signs such as “Hartfield Estate” and “Randalls Park”, in case we couldn’t work out the connection!

Remission

This was the story of a man who’s celebrating his five years clear of cancer.  As he arrives at the health centre to invite the staff to his party he bumps into his former boyfriend, who disappeared overseas during his illness with little explanation.  The staff work together to uncover the cause of the split (the mother of the recovered cancer patient who had in fact given the impression in an email that her son was dead!) and reunite the pair.  Although this was a little predictable at times, it was probably the best updating of one of the stories and I also liked the title, which was enough to give a clue to the source novel but also describe the focus of the medical storyline.

Background story

Running throughout the latter four episodes, and continuing into the subsequent, non-Austen, episodes, was the ongoing story of a mother and daughter who were opening a beauty salon locally.  It quickly became clear that this was a Pride and Prejudice idea, the twist being that the mother was both Mrs Bennet and Jane.  They turn up at the health centre to register and Gloria, the mother, quickly becomes convinced that Kevin, a young GP, will be the perfect partner for her daughter Sigourney.  Sigourney, however, is unconvinced that she’s in need of a man and has a low opinion of the medical profession.  Gloria falls for an older doctor, Heston, who’s quite flattered by her attentions, but Kevin convinces him Gloria’s a gold-digger and he’d be better off steering clear.  At the launch of the Jane Austen exhibition Kevin becomes keener on Sigourney and “rescues” her from the attentions of her landlord who’s also the security guard at the health centre (in fact, this was one of the most poorly attended launches I’ve ever seen, since everbody there, but for Gloria and Sigourney, was a staff member of the health centre!)  Next day, Barry the security guard turns up at the salon to mend a leak and takes the opportunity to impart some information about Kevin’s past (it’s all true – I knew just enough about the history of the programme to know that! – but slanted to make Kevin look bad).  Kevin turns up later and tries to ask Sigourney out, but she throws it all in his face, along with the accusation that he split up Heston and her mum.  Before he can leave, the leak – which Barry had repaired badly so he’d have to come back again – bursts and Kevin comes to the rescue.  He defends himself against Barry’s rumours and then storms off.  Later, however, he encourages Heston to think again about Gloria and finally Sigourney turns up in the health centre car park and kisses Kevin.

Conclusions

My thoughts on the short series are that the on-going story was well thought through, although I’d imagine the more familiar you are with the series and the characters, the more you would get out of it.  There was another storyline in which Emma, a doctor, and Howard, the practice manager, were seen separately on several occasions reading Persuasion for the sponsored read, usually with the other’s voice heard as a voice-over reading the passage from the book.  I assume they have had a previous relationship a long time ago but I don’t know this as the last time I watched it, Emma had not yet arrived.  If I were a regular viewer, no doubt those scenes would be more meaningful to me.

I didn’t feel that the individual stories worked very well, however.  Because there was no time to develop the guest characters, a very broad-brush approach had to be used in order to establish their personality as well as make the link between the episode and the source book.  This led to the issues I’ve already highlighted surrounding mental illness, along with the fact that everything felt rushed and forced.  And why no Mansfield Park or Sense and Sensibility episode?

Overall I was disappointed; when I was still a regular viewer I saw a short series of Shakespeare-themed episodes which were much better constructed.  The stories were developed over several days, making them more believable and involving, and nobody had to dress up in period costume! In addition, much of the action took place on location in Stratford-on-Avon itself, which made it seem more of a special event.  A shame the Austen season didn’t achieve as much.

My November review will definitely be of Jo Baker’s Longbourn (audiobook).

Thankful for…

• An enjoyable (if brief) trip to Kent to visit friends and relatives
• Surviving the storm whilst we were there, with no damage to property or person
• Ann Voskamp’s recent series on Missing Jesus, which I’ve found encouraging reading
• The chance to spend time with my parents, who arrive today
• The decisions over the Bookworm’s high school applications finally completed

The Castle of Otranto

I don’t normally review my reading group books on here because all the talking about them at the group seems like enough analysis.  However, as it’s likely I won’t be able to make the next meeting (put back to January because of some people’s work constraints towards Christmas, and also as it’s a download, I thought I would say a few things about it.

There was a bit of confusion at reading group over this book and its connection to Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.  What happened was, back in January I made it a resolution to read some gothic literature, because I often get asked if I have when I mention my fondness for Northanger, and actually the closest thing I’ve read to gothic fiction is Wuthering Heights (and does Twilight count?…).  Having just read Northanger again for the Jane Austen challenge (that does not seem like a year ago!) it seemed an appropriate time to try.  Initially I intended to read The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, as this is the one most frequently mentioned in Northanger, but then decided to begin with Otranto as being the first of the genre.  By the time we decided, in September, to read it as a group, I had forgotten all of this rationale and when someone asked if Otranto is the one mentioned in Northanger I said it was.  I realised my mistake later but that was the thought process behind it anyway – it is linked, but only by genre (I’m sure Catherine, will all her fondness for all things gothic, would already have read Otranto before coming to Bath and meeting Isabella, anyway!).

My first response, on starting the audiobook, was to laugh, because it begins by playing part of Mussorgsky’s Night on Bare Mountain.  As a child I was given a cassette of The Valley of Adventure by Enid Blyton (we still have it and it’s one of the girls’ favourites), which begins the same way.  The reader, Peter Joyce, does well to make his voice clear and easily understood, whilst conveying an expression of doom and slight terror in his tone.

I wasn’t very sure what to expect of the story – the way Catherine and Isabella discuss the genre in Northanger Abbey it seems quite frightening and horrifying, and according to the notes on the back of the book one of Walpole’s friends told him his family were afraid to go to bed at night, after reading it.  But then again, that was a long time ago and none of those people, real or imaginary, could be used to the kind of horrors – again, real or imaginary – we’re exposed to via the modern media.  I’m not a horror person at all and will not be persuaded to read or watch anything that could be categorised that way, but I like a good thriller so I’m well used to reading about murder and the like.  Otranto  seemed to me part way between thriller and old fashioned romance, with a bit of fantasy thrown in (headless walking giant suit of armour, anyone?).  I enjoyed listening to it and in fact it seemed to me that it was possibly better that way, being all about the story – the expression of the reader’s voice added so much to the telling.  I was slightly disappointed by the ending, which seemed a little hurried and also rather directionless, but I enjoyed all the revelations of identity and the twists and turns in plot, as well as the vivid characterisation – Manfred, despite being an absolute monster, was definitely my favourite.

I will definitely go on to read more gothic, starting with The Mysteries of Udolpho, but that will be next year now so it will have to be my resolution once again!

Northanger Abbey

I ended my last post by saying that Pride and Prejudice is not my favourite of Austen’s novels.  Well (as I may have mentioned before), this is, and always will be, as far as I can imagine!

My fourth Austen novel for the challenge, on this occasion I used the audio book version from Penguin classics, read by Jill Balcon.  The terms of the challenge allow all formats of book, so this adds a bit of variety to the list, although the main reason for using the CD on this occasion was that I had a migraine this afternoon and wanted something to listen to as I lay in the dark.  Happily I’m recovered now and able to write this up.

The audio version is abridged, but I have read the original so many times that I was able to spot practically which speeches had been omitted let alone which parts of the story.  A lot of Jane Austen’s throwaway comedy lines have been left out (e.g. the reference to Catherine’s father’s name being Richard as if it were something to be ashamed of – apparently Austen’s family had an in-joke about the name Richard; also Henry’s imagined entry in Catherine’s journal about their first meeting, which always amuses me and backs up the later, muslin-related conversation) which is a shame, although I can see they are not entirely necessary to the plot and can be dispensed with for the sake of time.

Another omission is the information surrounding Eleanor’s marriage at the end of the book which is the means by which Henry’s and Catherine’s own becomes possible.  The book explains that Eleanor’s husband has been known to her, and loved by her, a good while but that his “inferiority of situation” has prevented their relationship progressing and that when he unexpectedly receives both title and fortune he becomes an acceptable husband for her.  All of this is missed out in the audio version which I felt misrepresented her character somewhat, given that the whole story takes place within the space of a year, in making her sound as if she is marrying a man she hardly knows for his money, which is a theme generally frowned on in Northanger Abbey – demonstrated by the portrayal of Isabella Thorpe as no better than a mercenary slut.

Probably the main omission, however, and the one which sat least comfortably, in my opinion, was the confusion surrounding Catherine’s assumed promise to marry John Thorpe.  The conversation they have when Thorpe is on the point of leaving Bath was included, but the aftermath – his letter to Isabella claiming that he had as good as proposed to Catherine and that she had given him every encouragement, and Catherine’s strong assurances that she hadn’t understood it that way at all and had no intention of accepting a proposal – are completely missed out, meaning that at the end of the book, when Henry explains that it was John Thorpe who misinformed General Tilney about the Morlands’ financial situation and who then disabused him of the notion later, Thorpe’s reason for changing his story makes no sense.  The original text gives him several motives, namely that he is “irritated by Catherine’s refusal”, disappointed in being unable to reconcile Isabella and James and having taken the decision to end his friendship with James because it no longer serves his purpose.  The audio version mentions only his irritation at being refused by Catherine, which in fact is the only thing that has not happened in the course of the narrative as set out in the recording!  Knowing the original as well as I do, I of course understood exactly what Thorpe was hinting at during his conversation with Catherine so I can’t really say whether his proposal, and her subsequent refusal, could be inferred by a newcomer to the story, but I wouldn’t have thought it would be that clear.

My reasons for loving Northanger Abbey so much would form a long list, but I thought I would list the chief ones here:

Unlike most of Austen’s other novels, this one engages the reader’s attention in quite an unlikely way, by describing why in fact Catherine Morland is an inappropriate and unlikely heroine.  I have to confess that all the other major novels have a few opening chapters which, for me, are just scene-setters to be got through before the “real” story starts, but Austen’s parody of the Gothic genre loved so much by Catherine includes making fun of the descriptions and behaviour of the characters and from the outset she makes this story a kind of “anti-Gothic” in the most entertaining way possible.

The whole Gothic parody idea is hilarious.  I have never read anything significant from the Gothic genre (I think the nearest I’ve got is Wuthering Heights which all my critical books described as gothic in places but I don’t think it’s that similar!) but I’m making it my New Year’s resolution to read at least The Castle of Otranto (the one that started it all, if I’m not mistaken), if not some of “Mrs” Ann Radcliffe’s, because I’d love to see first hand where it all comes from.  I don’t think it’s a barrier to understanding Jane Austen’s satire in this novel though, partly because most of the satire is aimed at the girls who read them (and the men who claim not to) which is a universal theme, and partly because Austen spells out so clearly (although subtly) what she is commenting on whenever she makes a satirical point.

Catherine Morland is a very believable heroine – I have come across many teenage girls who, like her, let their naïvety lead them to believe that life is, or should be, the way it is in films/TV shows/books and allow their vivid imagination to get them into all kinds of trouble.  This means that Northanger Abbey is perhaps easier to relate to than some of the others, in that the heroine is more similar to someone we know (although maybe not for teenage girls – I don’t think I’d have recognised myself in Catherine when I was 17, although now I can’t fail to notice the similarities between her and my teenage self!).  There is an excellent updating of this novel – Summer of Secrets by Rosie Rushton* – in which the heroine is addicted to celebrity gossip magazines which in turn inform her own, wildly off the mark, conclusions.

Henry Tilney is a wonderful hero!  I love the fact that he is perfect for Catherine in so many ways which are only briefly alluded to in the text (she is “almost pretty”, he is “not quite handsome” but “very near it”; he loves novels, whereas John Thorpe considers himself above such things; etc) and he behaves in such a teasing, relaxed way with Catherine that when he is serious, his earnestness and his sincerity can’t possibly go unnoticed.   When he realises, on finding her “exploring” his mother’s room, that she has let her novel-fed imagination get the better of her, his rebuke is so gentle, yet she and the reader both feel it really strongly.

I could wax lyrical on this book for hours, but I’ll stop now.  After all, I have 2 weeks to read at least 2 more novels, and I’d really like to fit in all of them if I can!

*Rosie Rushton has now written updated versions, aimed at the YA market, of all of Austen’s major novels, with the notable exception of Mansfield Park. From what I have read, she doesn’t intend to do that one, which supports my view that it’s vastly inferior to the other 5! I have read the ones based on Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey and Emma and would love to read the other two some time.

 

A challenge

I’m undertaking a Jane Austen reading challenge issued by a blogger called Haley.  It’s for 2010 so I’m starting a little bit late but I hope to be able to do it as I’ve already made some progress.

To take the challenge you sign up to one of 3 categories:  Newbie,  Lover and Fanatic and for each category you agree to read a certain number of Austen novels plus a selection of re-writes, prequels, sequels or spoofs.  Always one for a challenge, I have chosen the Fanatic category which requires me to read 6+ books by Jane Austen and 5+ non-Austen.

My plan is as follows:

Austen novels

1. Lady Susan
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Northanger Abbey
5. The Watsons
6. Persuasion
7. Emma
8. Sanditon
9. Mansfield Park

Rationale: Beginning to read in order of composition (rather than of publication).  After The Watsons I plan to read Persuasion as of the remaining novels it’s the one I read longest ago.  I can’t stand Mansfield Park – I try and read it every few years in the hope of learning to love it but so far I haven’t – I read it last year so am putting it last as if  I don’t have time to read them all, that’s the one that’s being missed out!  The last 3 on the list will be read if I have time – as I’m quite so late to the party and have other reading commitments (children’s book reviews and reading group obligations) I may well not!

Non-Austen

1. Mr Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
2. Mr Knightley’s Diary by Amanda Grange
3. Captain Wentworth’s Diary by Amanda Grange
4. Prawn and Prejudice @ Salcombe by Belinda Roberts
5. Being Elizabeth Bennet by Emma Campbell Webster*
6. The League of Austen’s Extraordinary Gentlemen by Austenblog

Hopefully this will work out: the non-Austen has largely been covered already and I will record my thoughts in due course.

*  I believe this was published as Lost in Austen in America