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?
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