Cold Comfort Farm

Last week, I watched Cold Comfort Farm with Kate Beckinsale and I decided to read the book again. I bought it for my Kindle and read it for most of yesterday. The movie holds pretty close to the book, except for the character of Mary Smiling. The book character seems a little more motherly then the character as portrayed by Joanna Lumley. There's also not so many male charcaters in the movie at Cold Comfort Farm, there's a few more hired hands and cousins that never appear in the movie. But I'm enjoying it all the same. From the forward in the penguin classics edition, Stella Gibbons is said to have been embarassed by the book in later years and though she wrote 20 other novels, none of those are currently in print.

Pride and Prejudice

I've decided to put the Jane Eyre Post on hold for a short time, because I've just finished listening to Pride and Prejudice audio and have now barely finished watching the Joe Wright version starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. I've always loved the book, though I saw the film first when I was 12. It was the old BBC version and I still like it, though thanks to the A&E and now the more recent one, not as much as I once did.
What I love about the book is how Lizzy, imperfect as she is, still finds happiness in the end. I admire her humility and her self reflection on her behavior and her desire to be better when the truth of the man she's loathed comes out. I think too often, when I make a mistake, I seek to justify my actions rather then humbly admit a fault. This may be just part of growing up, I hope to become better of it in the future. I'm sure I'll have occasion for it.
Lizzy had a great love for her family, she accepts them with their faults and recognizes their strengths. Though she has grief in her parent's marriage, she shows compassion in their times of need. In the recent film, there is a scene where Lizzy comforts her mother after Lydia finally departs. Wright had a different impression of Mrs. Bennet then I originally had, but I enjoy his.
I also like the epilogue, where Kitty is given some redemption and learns to manage herself. I'm not in the habit of reading the fiction that "spins-off" Jane Austen's novels, but I always thought that is Kitty really did improve, she might catch the eye of Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy's cousin. But that is my own conjecture.
I think the message of the novel for me is to school my thoughts and feelings towards others. I am known for a exuberance of emotion, but sadly not always for the common sense that gives emotion deeper meaning. Sometimes, not always. I've learned regret to wain when it's occasion is followed by a renewed effort to overcome the fault.
I also envy Lizzy the house. I think there are few things more satisfying then being able to call one's home thier own.

Introduction

Due to a great response from a simple post on Facebook, I've decided to start a blog dealing with classical literature. I hope this will be a way to maintain my love for the written word and to explore new depths of insight and ideas. What I hope to create is an outlet for my passion for reading and analyzing literature. Video and film are great sources for gaining perspective on books, and I want to include those experiences as well. This blog will mostly be about classical literature, but I'm sure I will also discuss modern books as well.

For my first post I want to share an experience that taught me the value of literature, film, thought and discussion. I remember a favorite class at SVU where we read novels and then watched the movies based on those. These classes were held in the Professor’s basement, where he had a huge blank wall and video projector. My guess is there was about 25 of us, maybe less then that. The discussions we shared offered valuable insights into many different walks and opinions of life. One in particular stands out. We read the short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier followed by the movie adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock. As I sat reading the story near the library before class, I thought about what the story was really about. Eventually I came to the conclusion it was about fear, a deep rooted and unexplainable fear that seems to come from nowhere and wreaks havoc wherever it goes. While watching the movie, I looked for signs for this theme and found them everywhere. I won't deny it was frightening.

But the last scene of the movie taught me something about how to deal with fear. That last scene shows the main cast, walking slowly through an entire field of birds, the same birds who have been killing people and destroying the town. There's barely any movement from the birds, and it's a creepy-feeling scene. (Alfred Hitchcock was a genius by the way, no doubt about it) As I watched the scene, it came to my mind, that this was one way, if not the best way, to deal with fears. To walk through them steadily, don’t show panic, don’t run away, and walk on.

All this was very abstract in my mind. It was only after the movie ended and the professor encouraged discussion, that I was able to give real voice to my thoughts. I had and still have a respect for the opinion of this certain professor. When I voiced what I thought the story and movie was trying to convey, he said something along the lines of that was a very good interpretation, and one he felt was correct. I was very proud of myself and had real pleasure in the discovery of a small nugget of knowledge.

I’ve been able to apply this in some areas of my life. From the average daily fears to the irrational strange ones that everyone has. But what I desire is to learn to think original thoughts, to tap into that reservoir of truth and to express things the way I see them. I think this is of great worth because I believe it is what all human beings can do.

I don't want every post to be exactly like this, I share it to illustrate how a combination of literature, thought, film and discussion helped me to learn something new. I hope this blog and any comments or insights from those who read it will be a source of pleasure in thinking.

Preview for next post:
I want to begin the next post with an analysis of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.