More Austen rewrites

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/13/joanna-trollope-rewrite-jane-austen

My initial thoughts are that it's not exactly the first time this has been done, as the article acknowledges.

Although I instinctively cringed when I first saw the item on today's news, I suppose much will depend on the authors chosen to do the rewrites - I can't say I'm ever tempted much by Ms Trollope of Mr McCall Smith (who is tackling Emma) but I would be a little intrigued to see what Stephen King made of my personal favourite, Northanger Abbey (this one is, in fact, being done by Val McDermid and P&P by Curtis Sittenfield).

I don't think I'll be queuing to buy any of them but it will be interesting to see if the publishers' wishes of reviving interest in the original books are fulfilled. What do other fans think of the idea and who do you think would make the best, or most interesting job, of rewriting the novels?

I don't think I'll be buying or reading any of them either. I don't think it was a matter of reviving interest in the originals (really? Jane Austen's works need "reviving"?) I may be cynical, but I just think HarperCollins smelled money in this project.

I doubt I'll be buying any of them (do we need someone to rewrite P&P in a contemporary setting after Bridget Jones?), but if push comes to shove I'd be more interested in these re-imaginings than in the "remixes/mashups" that have been so popular - Jane Eyre, now with sex scenes or P&P with 100% more zombies...

I may be cynical, but I just think HarperCollins smelled money in this project.

Unfortunately, all I see is dollar signs as well.

>4 Nickelini:
I could probably make an Austen joke on "Collins" if I wanted too. But I just took a rather hard exam and my brain could use a break at the moment.

#2/4 What? You're suggesting publishers may be in it for the money? Oh ye of little faith! And there was I thinking they were doing us all a favour by 'introducing' us to great literature we'd never heard of (Jane Austen? Who she?)

I was quite amused to see Val McDermid being interviewed and saying this was a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' and one she couldn't turn down. Presumably because nobody has ever attempted it before? Or because somebody has been holding her at gunpoint and forbidding her to use Austen's themes in her work? I'd have said the whole thing has been pretty much done to death already (Death Comes to Pemberley being, perhaps, the final death knell) and I'd love to hear HarperCollins explain why they think this is some kind of new idea since people have been 'rewriting' Austen to a greater or lesser extent, practically since the novels were first written.

#5 AnnaClaire - I hope the exam went well. I only have to see the word to flash back to my own exam days. Hope you're either celebrating or taking a well-earned rest today.

Okay, this isn't a rewrite. It's standard, Austen-written Pride and Prejudice. It just has a scandalous retro cover that makes me laugh:





From Pulp the Classics, Elsa Mathern designer.

I may have to buy these, along with a few others they offer.

LOL That is quite the cover. Personally I thought P & P & Z was a lot of fun, but that the mashups could get really old really quick. Thankfully I think that whole fad has mostly run its course by now, no? I got that one from one of the B&N "bargain" sales online, I don't think I'd ever pay full price for one; I'm curious how the others fared but not enough to pay more than a couple bucks (which is probably the attitude of many and why the fad didn't have a very long run).

But yeah this idea is clearly all about the $$$.

HA! I love the dangling cigarette.

That is hilarious!

>7 Nickelini: More than hilarious! Colin Firth should sue for royalties!

"...and his rather fit friend,..." WHAT!!!

I tried to read the new Sense & Sensibility and just couldn't enjoy it. I gave up after deciding there was nothing heroic about forcing myself to read it. Despite that experience, I just put the new Northanger Abbey on hold at the library. I enjoyed Jo Baker's Longbourn, but that's not in the same category as these explicit rewrites.

These books are just trying to modernize the originals? That seems stupid and like someone just trying to cash in on an old loved classic. :|

>14 .Monkey.:, Hi Monkey! Yeah, it's a whole endeavor - I'm reposting the link from post >1 Booksloth:.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/13/joanna-trollope-rewrite-jane-austen

Ah it's been a while and I'm a bit under the weather today, I'd forgotten the contents of the first post. ;)

Longbourn is really well done, and I agree, it's not in the same category.