Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 Wrap-up

2011 marked the celebration of 200 years since Jane Austen first became a published author with her wonderful novel, Sense and Sensibility. One of my favorite blogs, Austenprose, hosted a year long celebration in the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge.  I love Austen challenges and was happy to join.  I aimed for the "Disciple" level with 5-8 Sense and Sensibility inspired entries.  I landed squarely in this level after reviewing seven Sense and Sensibility items in 2011.  These items were as follows:

1.  I Have Found It
2.  Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, audiobook read by Juliet Stevenson
3.  Sense and Sensibility (2008)
4.  Sense and Sensibility (1995)
5.  The Sense and Sensibility Screenplays and Diaries by Emma Thompson
6.  From Prada to Nada (2011)
7.  Expectations of Happiness:  A Companion Volume to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility by Rebecca Ann Collins

Overall, I ended up watching many more of my items than reading.  I somewhat disappointed myself in this regard, but there is only so much time in the day!  It was fun to watch the different versions of Sense and Sensibility and compare (I had also watched the 1981 version in the fall of 2010 right before this challenge).  The 1995 version starring Emma Thompson is still my overall favorite version.  It was enhanced by reading the screenplay and diaries for the first time.

Expectations of Happiness was an excellent follow-up to Sense and Sensibility.  I need to check out more novels by Rebecca Ann Collins in future years.  While I love Pride and Prejudice, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of Mr. Darcy spin-offs.  It was nice to revisit other favorite characters with this Sense and Sensibility challenge.

With that being said, I can't wait until 2013, the two-hundred year anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice.  I can only hope that Austenprose will host another great challenge to celebrate.

The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries by Emma Thompson

Sense and Sensibility is one of my all-time favorite movies. I think it is the most perfect Austen adaptation that has been put to film. It was therefore with much interest that I read The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries.

The introduction is written by Lindsay Doran, the producer of the film. The introduction was very interesting and told a great story of how Ms. Doran came to love Jane Austen and Sense and Sensibility in particular. She really wanted to put it to film and had the genius idea of having Emma Thompson write the screenplay. While Emma Thompson thought other Austen novels such as Emma and Persuasion would perhaps make better movies, Lindsay Doran was set on Sense and Sensibility.

It took many years, but Thompson wrote a great script that perfectly captured Austen’s wit in a screenplay format. The screenplay reads just like the film with no surprises. Great pictures are shown throughout.

Thompson’s diary has the day-to-day adventure of putting together the film. The most surprising fact was that the studio wanted to put out a novelization of the movie . . . which seems ludicrous when you have Jane Austen’s original masterpiece. Emma Thompson agreed and luckily that travesty never happened. It’s also amusing reading about how the movie was put together. It’s always funny to me that movie scenes are filmed completely out of sequence. So much depended on the weather and although it looked romantic, sounded horrible for Kate Winslet.

The Appendix also included a prize-winning letter written by Imogen Stubbs in the character of Lucy (Steele) Ferrars to Elinor some years after Sense and Sensibility. It was quite hilarious. I wish she would write a S&S spin-off about the later-day adventures of Lucy.

Overall, The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries is a wonderful read for a lover of the movie and film.

This is my fifth item item in the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library (although I think I need to buy a copy for myself!)