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Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope

So I didn’t read this book as I was on holiday when meeting was on and despite being given the book for free I never got round to picking it up. I'm stuck in the middle of Huckleberry Finn and wasn’t really inspired to leave it for a book my mum gave up on less than half way through. It’s part of a project known as the Austen Project designed to update the works of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice and Emma are receiving similar reworkings and are scheduled for release later on in the year.

My mums biggest problem with the book was the fact it was modern – asthma, Range Rovers and IPhones all of which are so NOT Austen. I get her point but really that is the whole point of the re-workings to make them modern. If you can’t get past that point then really the book is always going to fail.

To be honest it does sound like the type of book I normally avoid, not the fact that it’s a reworking but the fact that really if you take Austen away and stick it in the real world it’s kind of a bit too chick lit for me but that is me being very prejudiced and please don’t be put off by that I haven’t even touched the first page! I do think I will give it a crack at some point as I don’t like to not read the book clubs books. I have added it to the pile under my bed!

It wasn’t just my mum though the group were equally unimpressed with this version and rated it a 4.5. That’s quite a low score and I will try to find out more reasoning behind it during next meeting. I suspect the biggest reason will be ‘it’s just not Austen’ and whereas PD James remained faithful to the setting/characters in Death Comes to Pemberley which we all found acceptable perhaps introducing Elinor and Marianne to twitter is a step too far for Austen lovers.

Comments really appreciated this month due to my lack of reading book/attending meeting

Question of the month is Which book should never be reworked?

Comments

  1. alittlebitofeverything7 October 2014 at 20:23

    Better late than never...

    I think your mum’s comments were the general feel of the group, too. Some thought it was ok, some didn’t like it, and the lovely MrsM found it “unreadable” (however it was later ascertained that she had been trying to read Jane Austen’s version, and to find that unreadable is another matter entirely). It wasn’t particularly that “it’s just not Austen,” but that it was just a bit clunky and disjointed, and some of us found that the descriptions of Marianne swooning, etc. were mebbys a bit to-much-Austen for a modern book.

    I thought that some of the modernisations were quite subtle and clever – I actually loved the images of the Range Rovers and sloane rangers, but I felt that some of the references to Facebook and YouTube were a bit elbowed in. And I actually cringed every time I read “totes amaze balls.” Aargh! I found myself the butt of the joke though, when I said that I didn’t think that there was enough description of the clothing and surroundings, and sometimes it was all I could do to imagine the characters in their Austen-esque gowns and ringlets, logging onto Twitter on their iPhones!

    Overall I thought it was ok – a canny little read – if a bit chick-litty or like something you would write for a school project. I thought it was very true to the original storyline to the extent that I’m sure Joanna Trollop must be able to recite the original from memory. Now I’m intrigued to read some of the others from the project to see if they’re done to better effect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cramlington Book Club24 October 2014 at 09:59

    Thank you for the comment. I'm pleased I didn't read I don't think I could have stomached 'totes amaze balls' more than once! Off to buy Northanger Abbey by Val Mcdermid today. It's come recommended so very excited.

    ReplyDelete

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