nPostednon December 16, 2014
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nTodaynis the birthday of one of my favorite authors—and a great excuse tonsit around and binge-read, or even to binge-watch movies. If thenweather outside is frightful where you live, and you need an excusento stay in and keep cozy and warm, get your Jane Austen on!
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nJanenAusten was born in England on this date in 1775. She lived her wholenlife as part of a close-knit family who were landed gentry—whichnwas a good thing—but who had little money—which was a bad thing.nDuring her time, a gentlewoman had no actual work—the servants didnthat—so she spent most of her time with creative pastimes such asnplaying the pianoforte (we call them pianos) and painting. Some womennwere so daring as to read fiction—at the time, many people thoughtnthat reading novels was harmful to one’s character, that peoplenshould stick to reading the Bible and elevating non-fiction. Very fewnwomen were so daring as to WRITE fiction!
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nButnAusten did just that. She wrote six novels that have been publishednand republished ever since Sense and Sensibility was firstnpublished in 1811. Every one of those novels has been made intonmovies, too—some of them have been made into movies, televisionnspecials, and even modern-day rewrites and homages.
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nAndnspeaking of homages, an entire publishing industry has developednaround Austen. People have written books about her, about people whonare crazy about her, about people who are crazy about her hero Mr.nDarcy, and further adventures of her characters. According tonWikipedia, there in an entire Janeite fan culture.
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nHerenare my favorite movie versions of Austen’s books:
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nBestnJane Austen movie:
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- Alwaysnand forever, the 1995 A & E Version of Pride and Prejudice starringnColin Firth as Mr. Darcy
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- Innmy opinion, it’s a tie! The 1995 version with Emma Thompsonnand Hugh Grant ties with the 2008 TV miniseries versionnwith the yummy Dan Stevens
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nBestnversion of Emma: n
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- The 1996 movie with Gwyneth Paltrow
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nBestntake off on Emma:
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- Clueless (1995)
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nBestntake off on Pride and Prejudice:
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- Bride and Prejudice (2005)
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nBestnmovie about Jane Austen fans:
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- The Jane Austen Book Clubn(2007)
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nBestnmovie about Mr. Darcy fans:
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- Austenlandn(2013)
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nBestnmovie about Austen herself:
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- Becoming Jane (2007)
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversarynof the invention of the transistor
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nKazakhstan’sn Independence Day
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nBeethoven’sn Birthday
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nMargaretn Mead’s Birthday (scrolln down)
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nAnniversaryn of Boston Tea Party
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on:
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- Historicaln anniversaries in December
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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