Persuasion, or ¿how come I’ve never read this book before?

I’m a Jane Austen fan (aren’t we all?), though I will admit, at first, it wasn’t easy. Reading Sense and Sensibility at 12 is probably not the best way to fall in love with her writing. I remember finding it incredibly dull and boring (this was before the movie made me change my mind, of course). But, if I can say anything about my house when I was little, it’s that it was filled with books, and I was always encouraged to read more, so, a few years later, I decided to try Emma. 

 

It was good, if not great. I enjoyed it, but I never fell in love with the characters. (And, no, the movie didn’t help. Ewan McGregor was kind of distracting). Pride and Prejudice, however, was another thing. "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you" and I was won. Mr Darcy jumped to the top of my fictional-characters crush list, and there he has remained to this day, despite some stiff competition. 

For the next few years I abandoned Jane Austen completely. It wasn’t until I first moved to Barcelona that I managed to get the movies for the three books I hadn’t read: Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. I holed up with my roommate and watched all three of them, and we awwwwwed and smiled and generally had a good time, but neither Mansfield Park nor Northanger Abbey left me wanting to read the book.

And then came Persuasion.

I recommend the 2007 TV movie. I really do. Not only because the guy who plays Captain Wentworth is one of those you will remember for a long, long time, but also because …it’s a damn good story. And the letter at the end…the letter. OMG, the letter. I melt just thinking about it.

So, this past week, while flying home from vacation, I actually read Persuasion for the first time (yes, on my tablet). I’ve been meaning to do it for a while, and I just never found the time between all the stuff I wanted to read. And, boy, it was good that I did.

Persuasion, to me, is Jane Austen at her absolute best. It’s witty, sharp, and her characters are as engaging as they come. I never really stop to think about how stupid they’re being (despite the fact that, as with many period works, it’s hard to reconcile your forward thinking mind to what was expected of them), I just like them. And there’s not much nonsense in Persuasion, either. Characters might get derailed, might take bad advice, might be too convinced of their own importance, but they are real people, and, in the end, they end up figuring out their own path. 

I adore Elizabeth Bennett, but Anne Elliot, Anne Elliot I would want to be. 

And, if nothing else, I would love to get letters with lines like these: “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.” Or “Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant.”

Such a letter was not to be soon recovered from, is Jane Austen’s next line. Ah, how right was she. Such a book is not to be soon recovered from, either. 

*I wanted to put a nice picture, maybe even a quote, but I could NOT resist Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth. I mean, just LOOK at him. I rest my case. 

Top 10 things I learned from romantic comedies. Or, maybe not …

Watching romantic comedies a girl can learn a lot about life, friendship, fashion …and, of course, love. Sadly, most of the lessons instilled in us by these wonderful, sappy, clichéd and usually happy-ever-after-y movies are …well, a sham. Because, of course, real life is not really like a romantic comedy. It’s not even like a drama, most of the time. Life is just …life. And, in a way, even if that means I don’t get the cool outfits, or the hunky male lead, I’m kind of glad. 

But, if life WERE like a romantic comedy, these would be the Top 10 lessons to be found in them:

1.    If he hates you and you hate him, then you’ll probably end up together. Hatred does not exist. You’re probably just in denial. Circumstances will conspire to bring you two together.

2.    There are two types of girlfriends: the ones who get drunk with you, give you advice, and have their own boyfriends. And then there are the sluts who just want to steal your man. These are the ONLY two types of friends. Be quick to identify which type of friend every new acquaintance is or suffer the consequences.

3.    Being clumsy, ignorant, silly and/or a workaholic are perfectly acceptable character flaws. Once the right guy comes along, he will find it totally endearing. You don’t have to change a thing.

4.    Sex is a wonderful romantic and tender experience. Even if it’s your first time. Even if it’s his first time. It will be perfect EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Because that’s what happens when there’s love.

5.    And, on that note, men never fall asleep after sex. Never, ever. They all want to have heart-to-hearts just after doing the horizontal mambo.

6.    Getting engaged means nothing. Even if you’ve dated a man for years and years, and you have come to the conclusion that you know him and can spend the rest of your life with him, he can still turn out to be a douchebag who won’t even care when you break up with him to go shack up with your best friend/guy you just met, etc.

7.    Falling in love with your best friend is completely normal. In fact, it happens all the time. If your best friend isn’t in love with you yet, maybe it’s time to take off your glasses. Cut your hair. Put on some makeup. If that fails, just get engaged to someone else. That’ll do the trick.

8.    Get drunk. Seriously. Just get drunk. Alcohol brings clarity. And, also, the person who takes care of you when you’re drunk …that’s the man for you.  Even if all he wants is to get into your pants.

9.    Lies are no big deal if you’re in love. It doesn’t matter if he lied about his identity, career, about the fact that he was engaged, or if he neglected to mention that getting to know you was merely the result of a bet …in the end none of that matters if you’re in love. And, if he’s there, groveling, then, of course, he loves you too. And all is well.

10.  Once you finally kiss your soul mate after overcoming hordes of obstacles, that’s it. Fade to black. There’s nothing else. Happily ever after is just a fantasy. 

And, on that note, aren’t you also kind of glad life isn’t like a romantic comedy? Sure, I’d still kill for the shoes. But the rest, I’d rather figure out on my own.

Will they or won’t they? …From The X-Files to Castle.

I’ve had a few weeks to digest the Castle season finale, though I suspect I will need a few months, maybe more, to really come to grips with it. I’m not one to cry at TV shows (surprisingly enough, because I cry at nearly everything), especially not when the ending turns out to be exactly what I wanted, but if twitter is to be believed, then tears were the overwhelming response to the finale. The question is, why?

Are they tears of joy? This is what fans have been waiting for since these two characters crossed paths, four seasons ago. Maybe some fans, most fans, were just happy that the journey has finally brought them together. Some were maybe mourning the end of the show as they know it. And they may be right. Ratings would seem to prove them right.

I can say I don’t understand why most shows fail after the two main characters get together, because I do. If that’s the only reason you watched the show, and it’s already happened, then why continue watching? It makes sense. But, is that really the only reason we watch these TV shows?

Not me. And lately TV shows seem to be betting on the fact that there are more people like me around. Bones did it last season, after all, and we’ve had a very fun, if somewhat shortened season, of Bones and Booth being, well, a couple. The creator, Hart Hanson, made sure to introduce something that would shift the dynamic between the two characters and still keep us interested in how those two would handle it, even if they are now handling it as a couple. Ratings seem to prove his bet has paid off.

Ten years ago, this seemed an unthinkable notion. I watched nine seasons of The X-Files waiting for what Bones, and now Castle, have given me. The X-Files seemed, if any, the perfect show to continue strongly after the main characters finally hooked up. There were still aliens, and a big conspiracy to deal with. There was a lot of new ground to be covered. It just never happened, and now, after two movies, it feels a lot like …too little, too late. 

Castle seems ready to continue along the same path Bones took last season. Andrew Marlowe, the mind behind the show, has said that he thinks there are still a lot of stories to be told, even if the two main characters are now a couple. He also said that putting it off for any longer would be even more unrealistic than getting them together. 

There’s the crux of the matter, for me. For how long are we supposed to believe that two people who are obviously attracted to each other, who obviously care about each other, can’t find a way to be together? Four years is a lot of time. Eight is absurd. At this point, this makes more sense than keeping them apart.

And, I, for one, will still be watching when next season starts. The question is, will you?