The Jane Austen Prequels?

The miniseries Sanditon (Jane Austen's unfinished novel) seems like to meet the fate of the source material, as it finished on a rather non-Austen cliff hanger with little hope of a second season to smooth out the wrinkles, unless of course they are going for a 'Becoming Jane' feel and ending on such a wretched note because that's how real life turned out, but this is fiction and Jane Austen too, I hope someone reconsiders lest they never live down the irony!  But if you are tired of modern remakes and interpretations and disasters pertaining to all things Austen, why not indulge in Fanny Burney?  Yeah, I never heard of her either, but I saw a little article about her writings and thought I'd give her a try, apparent influence on Austen as she was.  It was a little eerie, reading Cecilia, I felt like I saw the ghost of a hundred different characters or plots of Austen fame all through the book.

Overall it was wonderfully written, but it was insanely long and tedious at times and I even wonder if the young Austen was poking fun at Burney with her quote, 'run mad as often as you like but do not faint' for some of the antics of the characters?  If you have exhausted all things Austen, and are a diehard fan, give Burney a try, but if you are a casual acquaintance, go watch the five hour mini-series of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth!  In Austen you find all of Burney's exquisite satirical wit and social commentary, but refined, sharpened, precise, finished, dare I say perfected?  The pupil has out shown the master!  There are several characters that could be left out entirely but are given pages and pages of conversation that is neither advancing the plot or amusing, rather it is tedious, not to mention you want to slap the main characters at various moments as well.  The romance minds one of either Persuasion or Mansfield Park or Jane Eyre with the long, painful, impossible, never-ending twists and turns but without characters half so interesting to walk that interminable road with.

Check out project Gutenberg for free copies of Burney's novels, they are certainly worth a try for the hardcore Austen enthusiast, but for anyone else, they might be the death of their interest in classic literature, perhaps death by classic literature?

Making the Myth Real

Here's an interesting little article, anything that quotes C.S. Lewis must be worth the read, right?  Then I realized that's why I write stories, well besides for the fact that I'm apparently wired to do nothing but.  I am fascinated with the idea of why stories haunt us, why was that the mechanism through which the Word made flesh decided to communicate to humanity?  Even in this age of disparate interests, Story is still at the heart of our entertainment, purpose, recreation, and culture.  Nobody would care about climate change if it was a mere conglomeration of statistics and measurements, rather we clothe it in epic splendor and proclaim it like the Prophets of old did the coming Messiah and suddenly it is as widespread and accepted as the Gospel in our grandparents' day.  There's a reason He speaks in parables!  The only question is, will we come to embrace the old, old story as more than an intriguing tale of ancient days?  There is a reason we were brought to Narnia, but will we be Susan or Lucy, very participants in the fairy tale of life but either blind to its reality or eager to see what lies beyond it?