Classic FM tell me that, to mark Mothering Sunday, they are podcasting Jane Austen novels, or, as they put it “complete abridged re-telling of these romantic classics”. That’s got to be better than the shortened abridged version, hasn’t it?
Jane Aus by Dr Rob Spence is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Isn’t “complete abridged” a bit of an oxymoron?! And what was wrong with the full version – or is it just part of the growing trend in the ‘snippet culture’?
“Isn’t “complete abridged” a bit of an oxymoron?! ” Well, that was my point really. Obviously, Classic FM – which tends not to play more than one movement of a symphony – is very much part of “snippet culture”.
There’s neither SENSE nor SENSIBILITY in shortened abridged versions. And re-telling seems even worse. But maybe my aversion to abridged versions is just a PREJUDICE? However,I wouldn’t take PRIDE in reading this ..
Maybe with a little PERSUASION they would read the full and totally unabridged version …
You’ve hit on something there, Francessa. I can see it now. Classic FM presents “Pride” by Jane Austen. Next week: “Sense”.
Then: “Northanger”.
Finally: “Em”.
You mean, just those 4 words? Now, my students would love this! Maybe, they could even shorten “Northanger” to ANGER?
This would be the edgier, twenty-first century, gritty, urban Jane Austen, wouldn’t it? It would feature a tough female detective – perhaps Em, or even M. I can see the stark images on the covers now, each one in the series given a single-word title, embossed in black on the cover:
Pride, Anger, Man…
Jane Austen’s too prissy a name for our auuthor though. Maybe Jack Austen…
I prefer Jane Aus. 🙂
I’ve just seen the advertisement for the new film about Jane A. Its certificate is 12- “contains mild sex references and scenes of boxing”. Now that would spice things up – Jane indulging in mild sex after a few rounds with Mr Collins…
Yes indeed. Can’t wait for this movie — maybe I should take my 3rd year Jane Austen students along for a change from all that serious lit crit.
Hi Harriet – the film has the inevitable American in the title role, though not Renee this time but Anne Hathaway ( I’m sure I’ve heard of her somewhere before…) who, from the publicity looks a trifle more glamorous than Jane ever managed.
At least it doesn’t seem to be going down the “JA never married so she was obviously a lesbian” route favoured by some critics of late.
Anne Hathaway? Wasn’t she the wife of Mr Shakespeare?
…so I’ve heard tell. She seems very well-preserved…
Amazing, the effects of anti-aging products these days …
They should have used it for William, too.