200 years of Pride and Prejuice

Here is our opening scene in two versions. First is the BBC TV miniseries from 1995 (the scene we are working on starts at 3:15, and goes on till about 6:40), and then the film adaptation of the novel from 2005 (play from the start). In which  version do you think is this particular scene  presented more convincingly/closer to the spirit of what we can read in the novel itself? Which adaptation do you generally prefer, if you know both? Is this the type of book/film you like, at least from time to time? Please address these questions on your blogs, or just discuss anything connected with Pride and Prejudice (novel/TV series/movie). I'm looking forward to your first posts in this semester! :)

Kids' stuff again

If you are a sister or have one, I'm sure you will appreciate this.

Don't Ever Bite Your Sister
by Kenn Nesbitt

Don't ever bite your sister.

Don't kick her in the shin.
Don't slap your sister silly
and don't sock her on the chin.

Don't tape a "Kick Me" poster
upon your sister's back.
Don't take your stinky socks off
and then put them in her pack.

Don't purchase plastic spiders
and place them on her head.
Don't leave your rubber rattlesnake
inside your sister's bed.

Don't do this to your sister
for, if you ever do,
I'm pretty sure she may do something
even worse to you.


Copyright © 2009 Kenn Nesbitt

All Rights Reserved

From www.poetry4kids.com

Keep safe!

A cute little song, isn't it? :D

An interesting French-English connection.

Happy days?

As you know, our current topic is childhood/school memories. Here is an idea: Why don't you add a photo of yourself as a child to your post? I know you may not have an electronic copy of your early photos, but there are scanners in the library which you could use, or perhaps you can ask someone for help? I can help too, if it's a problem. If you need more time to get to your family archives, write your post now and add the photo later. To encourage you, I have decided to add mine. :)

The photo was taken when  I was about five or six years old. Our family was on a camping holiday in Mazury, with my parents' friends. One of them brought with him the lovely creature I am holding in my arms here - a long-haired dachshund puppy named Dada, whose daughter became my beloved pet-dog years later. 

Now, I've done my bit, how about you?

All Saints' Day vs. Halloween

It's the time of year when we turn to the supernatural, whether in a more serious and traditional manner (All Saints' Day) or more entertaining one (Halloween). Do you have any opinions about the introduction of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of Halloween to Polish cultural life? Does it upset you or do you enjoy it? I would like you to write about this on your blogs. If you are totally neutral about the issue, you can choose to write about your own way of celebrating those of your loved ones who are no longer around, at this time of year. Do you travel a lot? Do you meet your family? Another option is to write about the ways the French celebrate their deceased friends and family. All ideas and contributions related to the topic are welcome.

Welcome back!

Here we are, back to work! I hope you reach all your goals and achieve whatever you've planned to achieve this year. I also hope that you will find time to write your blogs and share your opinions, discoveries and observations with your readers here. Please do not neglect the reading part of the project. The major task is to write a post every week, but it is equally important that you read what others have written, and place your comments. Only then will your blogs be truly alive.

Our first topic is holiday reading. I asked you to write something about a book you read during the holidays. I have read quite a few actually, some of them really good, but I've decided to tell you about the one that was a big disappointment. Joanne Harris's books have been my holiday "guilty pleasures" for quite some time, so when I saw her new novel (a thick one!) on the book stall in Collegium Novum in May, I knew it would take some of my reading time in the summer. Well, it did, but midway through the book I began to suspect that it would not fulfil my expectations. Inspired by virtual reality and Internet writing, the author attempted a rather risky literary device of several unreliable narrators. The effect is that the reader is left totally confused, nothing holds together and when you find out what really happened (or you think you have), it doesn't make much sense. I do like experimental narration, like Zadie Smith's NW, for example, but somehow this went badly wrong. I read the whole thing with the hope that things would become clear in the end, but they never did. In short, a rather upsetting reading experience. I hope the author of Chocolat and many other wonderful books will get it right next time!