BOOK VS MOVIE: Lady Susan/Love & Friendship

Jane Austen once wrote in her her novel Persuasion, "I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives." Indeed, Austen wasn't afraid to show the shortcomings of the society she was a part of and that detail is what upholds her legacy today.

Yes, many of her works involve romance and the possibility of marriage but there's so much more to Austen's written words. She examines the plights of her era's social norms, how women were expected to be nothing more than dutiful wives and mothers.

But as her novella Lady Susan shows, not every woman is destined for an untarnished reputation. Told through a series of letters, it revolves around the titular young widow as she tries to arrange engagements for both her and her daughter. And whispers about her behavior start spreading among her friends and family.

Though borrowing its title from a completely different work of Austen's Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship stays mostly true to the novella. With a playful turn from Kate Beckinsale (and Tom Bennett stealing every scene he's in), it's the kind of work that would make Austen proud. (Out of curiosity, why do women so seldom adapt Austen?)

Between Lady Susan and Love & Friendship, both works depict the lead character as more than just the dainty figure fiction often puts them in. But while Austen shines more of a light on society's standards, Stillman focuses more on the people within said society. So which one's better?

What's worth checking out?: Both.

BOOK VS MOVIE: Sense and Sensibility

We live in a society that (still)
 demands equality between men and women amongst the arts. "There aren't enough movies/TV shows directed/written by women!" and "Women deserve to be better written!" are some of the most common cries towards Hollywood. Towards literature however? It's much more tame.

Perhaps it is because there have been countless pieces of literature that have an air of feminism. Jane Austen's work has been said to have such themes. (Well, that's what I've been told.) Indeed, many of her protagonists are independent-minded women, so I got curious about what Austen had to offer.

After failing to make a dent in Pride and Prejudice, I opted for her other famed novel Sense and Sensibility. I was taken by Austen's words but like as I did with Pride and Prejudice, it took me a while to fully grasp them. I very much enjoyed the story Austen told even if I did find it a bit long-winded.

A few tweaks to the original text aside (most noticeably an age lift for a few characters), Ang Lee's adaptation stays fairly true to Austen's novel. And thanks to the work from Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman (they have some of the most heartbreaking expressions I've ever seen), the film is just marvelous. (If you didn't smile from the ending, don't even talk to me.)

But which of the two to recommend? Austen's novel is rather poetic as is Lee's film. But the film is easier to follow than the novel. (At least in my eyes anyway.) So I suppose the verdict is clear then.

What's worth checking out?: The movie.