READING DANIEL DERONDA, GEORGE ELIOT'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL WORK

Hugh Dancy as Daniel Deronda - BBC 2002

I decided my more- than- 500-pages tome for this summer  would be Daniel Deronda and I successfully got through  its 675 pages + notes +  introduction slowly but enjoying every bit . Long didactic passages about Zionism included? Yes, I found them interesting if not exciting.

My first meeting with George Eliot’s last novel  was actually 10 years ago with its 2002 BBC adaptation , which soon became one of my best favourites ,  when I hadn’t even read a page from the book and only  just heard about it.

BBC drama was stunning and I found the story so original and brave  that I promised myself I would read the book sooner or later. I’ve  kept the promise though it wasn’t sooner.  You know, how is it that we usually complain? Too many books, too little time. That’s it. Now,   let’s start my musings giving some order to my thoughts , focusing on few important themes  and,  especially,   let’s introduce the book properly.

AUTUMN AT THE MOVIES WILL BE BY THE BOOK

Do you have the slightest idea how much I love screen adaptations of the classics? Maybe, if you've been reading FLY HIGH! for a while. Well, the next season at the movies will make me and many other fans very happy with a few interesting titles: Anna Karenina, On The Road, Great Expectations. 

September (Ireland, UK, Spain) - Anna Karenina 

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way " (L. Tolstoj)

Joe Wright,  after directing Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007) , has  chosen her again to play the role of the tragic heroine in Tolstoj's 1877 novel, Anna Karenina. With a  screenplay by Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love),  Anna Karenina 2012   also stars Jude Law as Alexei Karenin, Anna's husband and  Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Count Vronsky, Anna's lover. Other familiar faces in the cast Matthew MacFadyen (who played with Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice as Mr Darcy, now her womanizing brother, Oblonsky) , Ruth Wilson (Jane Eyre), Michelle Dockery (Mary in Downton Abbey),  Emily Watson (Miss Potter, War Horse), Holliday Granger (Sparkhouse, Robin Hood, The Borgias) and Olivia Williams (Miss Austen Regrets, An Education).

CLASSIC ENGLISH LITERATURE DESERVING A TV ADAPTATION

(guest post by Lauren Bailey)

The English literary canon is filled with rich material just waiting to be brought to the big screen. There are so many classics that have yet to get the visual treatment, so many of which would blow contemporary TV dramas out of the water. I know what you might be thinking—many TV adaptations of literary novels tend to fall short or fail to do any justice to the source material at all. We’ve all had the experience where we eagerly await the release of a movie or miniseries adapted from one of our favorite books, only to be letdown by the finished product.

But there are those instances where directors bring real magic to the screen with miniseries and TV shows that pay homage to the literary source material. When an adaptation is done write, it makes up for all the lesser versions out there. I’m looking at you, Pride and Prejudice and Brideshead Revisited.

I’d like to that this opportunity to list some classic English works of fiction that I think would make for outstanding television. Without further ado, here are three works that place on the top of my list.

Lights, cameras, action!

REVISITING THE GREAT GATSBY - BY GUEST BLOGGER KELSEY

The Great Gatsby is a great American classic that everyone should read at least twice. Here is your chance to brush up on the novel before the new movie comes out. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 is a book based in during the time when American had made it through World War I and the country was regaining its footing with prosperity. The Roaring 20’s was in full swing and alcohol was banned, causing trouble for the rich. The plot follows a Midwestern named Nick Carraway as he moves into an affluent and young community in Long Island that has a taste for extravagance. Here he meets the mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby and the young couple Daisy and Tom Buchanan. Nick gets consumed with Jay Gatsby’s ways and witnesses what really goes down behind a troubled man and his muse. 

SOME BLOGGING AT LAST - WHY WERE ALL THE CLASSICS WRITTEN BY MEN?

What I manage  to do the least while blogging is being a regular reader at other blogs or sites and I apologize. It is definitely not for a lack of interest. I manage to go on writing my three blogs, though with no fix schedules and especially not daily,  but I'm not very good at socializing or using social networks, mainly for a constant lack of time. I post my stuff and I'm off, if I want to go on reading, watching, working and living! 

As you know,  I have to divide my spare time among my several interests -  and I must underline the words my spare time - because I've got an engaging profession (teaching English as a foreign language and its literature) and I take care of my family and house with no "external" help. Nonetheless, when I bump into something interesting or stimulating on line, I can't resist reading and commenting. This is what I did with a thought-provoking  post by writer Rosanne E. Lortz at her website .

My premise is somehow connected to the theme she proposes and I am going to discuss here at FLY HIGH! : women and the reason why few of them excel/emerge in some fields, i.e. as writers of classics. Do you feel like  joining the discussion?

TRANSLATING MRS GASKELL'S NORTH AND SOUTH FOR ITALIAN READERS - INTERVIEW WITH LAURA PECORARO

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell has its first Italian translation at last! It was published by Jo March Agenzia Letteraria in November 2011. I'm proud to own a brand new copy thanks to the publishers,  which I soon added to my Gaskell shelf,  and I'm proud to introduce you the translator of this amazing classic novel: Laura Pecoraro. You know how much I love this work and how much I wrote about it (and about the TV adaptation and a few sequels  as well) both here on FLY HIGH and on LEARN ON LINE. I actually dreamt of translating it myself  - but never felt quite good enough - because I thought it was so unfair Italian reades couldn't enjoy such an interesting literary work. This is why I'm really grateful to the publishers and the translator for their efforts. Not for myself, of course. But for the millions of potential readers out there. I hope they won't miss the chance!

Here we are, then. Meet Laura Pecoraro. Read our chat about Nord e Sud, its themes and characters, and especially about  the difficult journey toward a good translation. Enjoy!

MY TOP TEN CLASSIC LOVE STORIES

Download free DA cards at Chad Thomas's site

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! Are you happily celebrating? No? Like me trying to cope with  the great deal of messages and hearts sent to you? Joking. I must be honest: I've never loved this day's celebrations and all the marketing activity connected. So, why am I here?  Because I am really fond of love and of great love stories.  Especially the unforgettable ones from classic literature.

These are the first 10  that come to my mind if you ask me. Well, I know you didn't, but I'm afraid you must be patient, because I've asked that myself and I'm going to write about them. I'm also very curious to know what yours are. If not 10, at least one, your best favourite. Do you feel like sharing with us here on FLY HIGH?

1. Mr Thornton and Margaret's love story in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South.
Did any of you doubted that? My regular readers expected this for sure.

 They know how much I love this novel and that I've always found this beautiful romance blossoming in such an unusual, complex environment  very intriguing. For several different reasons. A curiosity: reading this book, I've always related to John and felt for him. Never for Margaret.  When he got the woman, I feel his pride and his gratification. Is that ... normal?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLES DICKENS!

I should have celebrated this occasion, Dickens Bicentenary, at school with my oldest students, the ones in their final year. No way. Schools are still closed because of the snow and it goes on snowing right now outside of my windows. 

I had planned to tell them about Dickens life, his picture of Victorian London,  and show them scenes from David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.

I have to renounce and postpone. But can I celebrate with you? Genius story-teller , Dickens, deserves to be read, remembered and celebrated on his 200th birthday (7 February 1812) . There will be celebrations all through the year and lots of TV programmes and new adaptations of his novels. The latest BBC series were very good. Have you seen them? Have you read my posts about them? Great Expectations was stunning and Edwin Drood a revelation to me who had never read nor seen the story.

Google remembers Dickens today

GOOD TV DRAMA & BRITISH LITERARY TRADITION: SHERLOCK 2 AND TREASURE ISLAND

Collage from Enchanted Serenity of Period Films

It's not a secret I greatly appreciate British TV drama. Their productions are mostly very good, especially those revisiting the literary classics. Well, also modern drama is sometimes brilliant . I loved Spooks very much , for instance,  but I also liked the Moving On series,  The Hour, A Single Father. I started watching British TV or buying DVDs  for my interest in period drama, a genre in which they are masters,   especially when it comes to adaptations of  classics. And this is what they are amazing at : adapting their classics  respecting their literary tradition. Something we totally lack on our TV here in Italy. I've seen so many beautiful series in the last three years: Austen's novels adaptations were brilliant, but also Gaskell and Eliot, Dickens and Thomas Hardy among others. My best favourite quite recent classic series are The Buccaneers, Our Mutual Friend, Daniel Deronda, North and South, Wives and Daughter,  Middlemarch, Jane Eyre 2006, Bleak House,

LITERARY BLOG HOP - WHAT WORK OF LITERATURE WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE LITERATURE?

This interesting, thought-provoking monthly blog hop is hosted at The Blue Bookcase . It's my second post in this regular event joining book bloggers and fond readers (the first one is HERE) . It's a good occasion to share thoughts on reading literature, to discover new blogs and bloggers and to learn something new. This month's question is...

What work/s of literature would you recommend to someone who doesn't like literature? 

1. To read or not to read,  Ay, there's the rub !

When someone says he/she doesn't like literature in my experience it generally means they don't like reading very much. Because if you like reading novels for instance, if you are fond of reading  fiction, what you look for is  ... words , beautifully written words,  which all together make up a story. Stories is actually what you look for. And inside those stories emotions, feelings, thoughts, adventures, lives and people you can rely yourself to and sympathize with. How can you not love literature then? 

What would I recommend to someone who says he/she  doesn't like literature but actually  doesn't like reading? I can't answer. First I should know them, at least a bit. Recommendations are meaningless if you don't know tastes and dispositions, likes and dislikes of the person you recommend something to. 

LITERARY BLOG HOP - TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU ANALYZE LITERATURE?

This monthly blog hop is hosted at The Blue Bookcase . I know it's close to its deadline but I've just discovered this event and found it so interesting that I made up my mind and joined the discussion. This month's question is...

To what extent do you analyze literature? Are you more analytical in your reading if you know you're going to review the book? Is analysis useful in helping you understand and appreciate literature, or does it detract from your readerly experience

I tend to analyze whatever I read as a professional bias. I studied literature, I teach literature, I analyze or compare the texts I read. However, I hate dissecting literary texts and I don't usually teach literature that way. I still remember the awful sensation of hating a literary work while working on its detailed analysis, so this is just what I avoid doing with my students. They are just teenagers, English (as a foreign language) is compulsory in their curriculum,  so they are not specializing students who chose to study English Literature. This is another reason why I avoid proposing them a technical study of  literary texts. I'd like to make them love reading  novels or poetry and often the first reason why they hate those texts is because they usually study them that way at school.

However, what I do as a reader is inevitably to analyze, not only when I decide to review a book I'm reading on Fly High or My Jane Austen Book Club, but in general, whenever I read and that even when I read fanfiction or chick lit. Because I've read lots of that stuff too,  recently. Attempt to escape or to widen my horizons, I actually did it and liked it a lot (mind you, not in any case). 

My tendency to analyze and compare what I read does not detract my readerly experience, the more I read the more I like doing it. Analyzing increase the pleasure, it doesn't deminish it. You understand more, hence you appreciate or dislike  what you read more .

What is your personal attitude and experience in reading literary texts? I'd love to hear from you.

CLASSICS ON DVD - TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING (BBC 1997)

Never watching a classic period drama was more amusing. This one was brilliant. It was broadcast in 1997 first time and it is now available on DVD at a very cheap price. It is an excellent BBC 6-hours' costume drama. I simply loved watching it at the weekend. I  had added it to my TBS list after watching Faulks on Fiction in April.

The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling  (1749) is Henry Fielding's masterpiece,  which I had to read  - well, to study -  for  my English Literature Course at University when I was in my first year. I must admit I didn't have as much fun while reading it at that time.  But we grow-up, don't we? I must reread it and give Fielding's great humour another chance. It is also one of the 18th century novels I have very rarely used in my lessons. I have to correct that too: Fielding must be read. He is too clever. Do you remember the scene from "Becoming Jane" in which a fictional Tom Lefroy (James MacAvoy) suggests a fictional Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) to read  a book of an extraordinary young man to widen her horizons and write fiction with as much knowledge of the world as a masculine writer?  He  is  in fact  suggesting her to read Fielding's Tom Jones.

TEACHING ENGLISH OR ... WHEN BLOGGING BECOMES DIFFICULT

It is one of those periods in which life becomes so demanding that blogging becomes... difficult if not impossible.  I haven't had time to post anything on FLY HIGH since last Wednesday and only posted giveaway winners' names and a guespost on My Jane Austen Book Club. I can't complain, that's quite enough if I think of the many other things I've been doing. I just wanted to reassure you that I'm working and really active,  only not on the blogging front. I can't be online that much and I have got very little spare time left for my reading and reviewing activity. That's a pity but ... this is my job!

Teaching literature, as you know - teaching in general - can be rather engaging and time-consuming.  Lesson-plans to prepare,  tests and papers to correct and assess are the most time-consuming activities and not the only ones! This year I've got 6 different classes, with 3 different syllabuses: language and grammar (intermediate and upper - intermediate levels) as well as literature from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

FORGOTTEN CLASSICS - WALTER SCOTT, ROB ROY

Modern historical fiction is quite well-appreciated and well-sold both among male and  female readers.  There's been a huge spreading of best- selling authors and series in the latest years. But where does this genre come from, actually? The Father of the Historical Novel was Sir Walter Scott ( 1771 - 1832 ) who started the  publication of a long series of successful volumes to pay back his debts with Waverley (1814). The story takes place between Scotland and England in the years just before the first Jacobite Uprising (1715) and features both historical and fictional characters involved in historical and fictional event . The prototype for hugely successful Gabaldon's Outlander saga?  Surely it was. Of that one and many more.

THE LOVER - FAULKS ON FICTION PART II

The focus of this second issue of Faulks on fiction is  the figure of the lover in  novels. Great characters are discussed and  analysed, starting with  Mr Darcy and Heathcliff.
 In the introduction Faulks says: 
“For centuries the language of love was verse , from the chivalry of courtly love, with crusading knights and lonely maidens to Shakespeare’s  star-crossed lovers. The passion was real, but the settings were not. So where did we really learn about  love? In the pages of novels. Much of what we understand of love comes  from the lives of great fictional lovers. But there’s a problem here. In celebrating the power and passion of love, novelists overlooked its frailty, its tendency to fail. Romantic fiction gives us happy endings, but the reality is seldom like that. A proper novel takes you inside the heads of people  going  through a real crisis and real emotional  choices and many of us appraise our own experience of love in the light of these fictional characters. It was in fact the psychological novel which told us the truth about love and its power to transform".

JANE AUSTEN’S MR DARCY

Here’s Sebastian Faulks’s portrayal of one of the most widely popular and best loved fictional lovers. Remember: this is HIS point of view!

MARRIAGE A LA MODE

I  was looking for visual materials to support my lessons on Samuel Richardson 's work to my fourth year students -we are reading from Pamela and Clarissa as well as listening/watching bits from adaptations of the latter (if you want, have a look here) - when I bumped into this interesting series of pictures. Isn't marriage between nobility and commoners, one of the topics of these days? Well, apart from that, these images are precious to visualize the social context of the literary works I'm working on.
So, what I want to share with you is this series of paintings by William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) which I thought could be perfectly linked to our discussion of Richardson's work at school and of some interest for you readers of Fly High!

THE NOVEL, A BRITISH PASSION. WATCHING FAULKS ON FICTION - PART I THE HERO

This is quite an interesting programme for one who's fond of  English classic literature like me.  In it,  Sebastian Faulks reflects on  the fact that millions of novels are read every year. And also on the fact that very often we return to the old ones again and again. Why? Is it the prose? Is it the plot? Or is it the writer? In recent years, he says, people talking about novels have focused on authors. In his opinion, instead, the only people who matter are the characters: the heroes, lovers, snobs and villains. People whose inner life we get to know so well that they are more familiar to us than our family and friends. So much so,  that it  is in the power of their experiences that we see our all lives in a new light. These characters live beyond their time and beyond the page. The lives of these characters help to understand ourselves. 

Here are some of the classic heroes he introduced: 
Robinson Crusoe, Tom Jones, Becky Sharp, Sherlock Holmes.