To read & to be read - Part 1

Ok - I am going to break my own unwritten rule and publish more than one post on the same day...

If you read my earlier post today, you'll know I saw, like a ton, of movies this weekend and it got me thinking. A lot. Mostly due to 3 movies in that list (one unnamed yet of course) and here we go...

*WARNING*: This is part 1 of a blog-arc, so to speak - it is literary, extremely cerebral, mildly boring and I don't mind saying so myself, bordering on a rant. I will be more than happy if you read this, but don't say I didn't warn you...

Does a word like 'disingenuous' send you running towards the nearest WordWeb or Google tab?
Well, 'disingenuous' didn't send me off on a Googling spree.. but some other words still do... err let me say, phrases, like 'invigorating in a non-rigorous, pragmatic sort-of way' ...

And at the risk of sounding like an old crone, I'm wondering, what ever happened to the value of being well-read and well-spoken... Nowadays, we all seem to have attention spans that would only last a news ticker or a web-clip in gmail... I know they said "Keep it simple, stupid!" - but, really, this stupid?

I am not going to lament on how we all don't read books any more.. ok forget books, atleast newspapers? End to End? no waaaayyy.. right? Me either...

But I want to change - I'm going back to my roots... in a manner of speaking... I've always felt sorely inadequate in the company of my many, well-read, uncles - who, during the formative years of my childhood (look how that turned out!), have emphasized to me, the value of reading classics - the unabridged versions... And take my word for it, when they say they were 8 or 9 when they finished Dickens' writings or Keats' poems, I do not doubt them. Yes, they were brought up in a different time, we're brought up in a different time... still...

We're all looking for meaning, right? Life's small moments? Something we can connect with.. something that makes us feel less insane... For me, it just might be reading some classics... Personally, I have always found that, reading books is like looking at life through someone else's eyes, walking in someone else's shoes... I find it stimulating and you know what they say, once a new idea enters your mind, it stretches a little and never goes back to the way it was...

So I'm gonna start with one of my fave authors, the wonderful Ms. Jane Austen... I can see those eyes rolling... stop here if you want... you can still make a run for it...

Part 1 of this blog arc is going to be about one of her most celebrated works, Pride and Prejudice... And although I could, at this point, launch into a full-blown review of the movie or of the book, I'm going to just jot down some random thoughts about both...

• The book was first titled 'First Impresssions' before it came around to be what we know as P and P
  
  
• Both Hollywood & Bollywood have made attempts at converting P&P into a movie that takes place in our times, or at the very least incorporating some elements from P and P. Case in point, You've got mail that has our charming Mr.Hanks and the elfin Ms. Ryan discussing Ms. Bennett and Mr.Darcy. Bollywood's take? Well, its more of a cross over, but still, Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice. These apart from the other P and P versions with Colin Firth, the one with Laurence Olivier etc. Oh and did I forget to mention Bridget Jones' Diary, too.
  
  
• The film adaptations of Ms.Austen's books have always commended a top-notch cast - I mean, look at P and P - the 2005 version. Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Kiera Knightley and last but not the least in any sense of the word, Dame Judi Dench. If that doesn't dazzle you, nothing will... I haven't seen any other Matthew MacFadyen works, but he deserves a mention here too.
  
  
• P and P will be to girls what the Godfather is to guys. No argument.
  
  
• The 2005 version of the film is more like a lush painting than it is a movie. Striking visuals, masterful panoramas (yes, panoramas, not panoramae. Wiki it.), rich orchestration and not to mention bloody brilliant dialogue delivery
  
  
• I am yet to see the 1995 Colin Firth version, but have heard only good things about it
  
  
• I admit, I started P and P, never to finish it - but I blame the teeny black and white printout I took. That was a mistake. A big mistake. I am making amends though - I'm getting a brand new copy of the unabridged, paperback version in a couple of days, so I can sink in and lose myself in it. Hats off to my lil sis for finishing it earlier than me (of course you had it easier - no office work, no status reports, no meetings and generally, a little more energy. Don't even argue.)
  
  
• Mr.Darcy - pause while I melt - is that guy. Really. (yes ladies, I hear the collective swooning in the background) and Elizabeth Bennett, in one way or another, is something we all have been/want to be/had to be at some point in our lives - strong, independent, intelligent and resourceful (I'm not a feminist. really. I like what this quote says "Timothy Leary - 'Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition.'" Haah.)

So ends Part 1. But only because I have some other stuff to juggle... I'llll be back....