Mansfield Park

I am a professed Jane Austen fan and I have a confession to make: I have never read Mansfield Park. I believe I have actually been living in denial of this fact because when I went to add the book to my goodreads account I found I had already marked it as read. Shame on me. 

I have started Mansfield Park about five times and always ended up putting the book down around the part where Fanny is left on a bench in the park while everyone else is having romantic intrigues around her. My problem, I suppose, is that Fanny never seemed to be an active participant in anything. She's not boring, but I wanted her to be different. A little more vibrant and a little less moral. 

Fanny is the most passive, philosophic, introverted, self-deprecating heroine of Austen’s creation. At times, she really seemed to have a serious self-esteem problem. Still, one can’t hate her just because she’s not Elizabeth Bennett. Not everyone can be witty and self-confident. Mansfield Park is different, the characters more complicated than Austen’s other works. I found that I was actually hoping for the rake - a staple character in Austen’s fiction who is the young, dishonest man that tries to flirt his way into the amiable heroines good graces only to end up eloping to Scotland with a far less amiable character, usually a silly sister or cousin - to make his conquest and not be the jerk I knew him to be. 

Of course, everything ended as it should, but the process of getting there was stranger and more complicated than I’m used to in an Austen novel. It was definitely worth the read and now I can hold my head high when I proclaim: I love Jane Austen! 

The Help

Well, an International Bestseller snagged me again. I know, I know. After my last experience I swore to return to the 19th century and I did; albeit, via the BBC. It only took watching Anthony Trollope’s 1869 novel He Knew He was Right to lower my blood pressure and lull me into a blissful Victorian coma. I did bring my Kindle on our trip to California (most 19th century works are free on it), but when we went to Costco the other day I was drawn to the book table and one $9.99 “Bestseller” could not be ignored.   

I know I am a little late hopping on the bandwagon for Kathryn Stockett’s The Help. It was published in 2009 and it has already made such a sensation that the movie version is coming out this August. Obviously, I was still a little skeptical when I started it, but I really liked this book. I appreciated the fact that even though it’s set in what has become an overdone time period and place (1960’s Mississippi) the story is unique. Stockett hit on all the major events and topics of the Civil Rights period: Rosa Parks, the MLK and JFK assassination, separate but equal, and the KKK, but they were a minor part of the novel, the backdrop to the daily lives and struggles of the maids and the white young woman, Skeeter, working to record their stories. 

My favorite character in this story was Miss Celia: a clueless “white trash” lady from podunk Mississippi who married rich and now doesn’t have a clue about how to be a “lady.” She dresses like Stripper Doll Barbie. She does things like getting her platinum blond head stuck in her hair dryer hood. Trust me, she’s a great character. 

The trailer actually looks good. Of course, it won’t be as good as the book. I just hope there aren’t too many movie moments.  You know, those cheesed up scenes that you see coming a mile away and you’re hoping they don’t do it, but then, lo and behold, the music swells and the moment happens and once again, originality and Hollywood separate on the path of entertainment. Still ... I guess one shouldn't pre-criticize. I will keep an open mind. :)