COFFEE & BISCUITS

Some novels, everytime you read them you feel differently. Austen’s novels read like that. On the surface, it just seems like Victorian chick-flicks. People who read it once will think so. People who read them more them once, and analyze every Austen novel, will think differently. These Austen analysts are an esoteric bunch. I consider myself one of them. I have read Pride and Prejudice at least 15 times (and every other Austen book except Northanger Abbey), and watched almost all existing version of it and some more than 5 times. I can almost complete the sentence when I watch it. Sense and sensibility, to the less degree has I studied.

But PBS has been rebroadcasting Sense and Sensibility since last weekend, so I watch again. The last time I watched sense and sensibility was when I was in high school, and just watched it for the plot and thus, I naturally favored Marianne, since she’s the action in the novel and movie.

Not that I am much older, I am really touched by Eleanor Dashwood. When Edward Harris paid the Dashwood a visit towards the end, and clarified the mistake, Eleanor could not help but break down her cool, understanding demeanor, and finally gave up to tears. At that point, I, for some totally unknown reasons, started break down into tears!

It is just that, given that Marianne, the passionate one, had all the goods news, and finally it’s Eleanor’s turn! She who has given up on the future and adopted that peace!

If Jane Austen’s books are considered chick flick, it sure is 1000% better than Hollywood chick flicks.

I spent the last entire week resting.  In sum I spent 2 days finishing a novel and watched 2 movies in the theatre today.  Here are some quick thoughts on them:

1.  Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls

Harrison Ford still makes my heart beat faster after all these years.  This sixty-plus year old man looks even fitter than Mutt (Shia Leotif).  The first 1.25 hour of the movie is fast paced, funny, and totally enjoyable.  My favorite scene is when Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) appears and Harrison Ford asks in shock, “Marion?!”, while Mutt looks on with shock yelling somewhat naively and roughly, “MOTHER!”  Marion Ravenwood is the same tom-boyish character and is at her best when she drives up to the branch at the cliff.  I thought Shia Leotif was impeccably casted as the son of Indiana Jones, and I can only see him excelling at that role — he possesses that combination of street-smart charm and mamma’s boy quality that no other young character I know possesses.  Another great scene is where Cate Blanchett was fencing with him as each stands in their speeding car, as Marion supplies fencing instruction for Mutt.    The only disappointing thing about this movie is the revelation of the treasure of the crystal skull.  Come on , UFO?!  My mind screams LAME when the metallic UFO spaceship spinned its way out of Peru.  But overall, it is very entertaining and a fun ride.  Though I would always think better of the Last Crusade.

2.  Kung Fu Panda

The fact that it is a movie about animals behaving like human beings (i.e. working, owning shops, being in jail) gave me an effy feeling even before watching the movie.  Though the lines are funny, overall the movie as an animation disappoints.  The plot mirrors that of Mulan — the underdog learns Kung Fu from the master amidst disparagement by others and finally succeeds in defeating the enemy.  Yet it lacks the grandeur of the battle scenes in Mulan, it lacks the elements of a hard and long journey of the hero of the story (in this case, the Panda), it even lacks the motive for the bad guy to behave the way he did.  Even as a movie intended for children it lacks the basic logic of a story.   The panda never has to go through conflicting emotions as Mulan did.  How the Panda suddenly acquires the Kung Fu in a mater of 2 or 3 days is really questionable.   The only redeeming feature of the movie is the dorky/awkward humor. 

3.  Pillars of the Earth -  by Ken Follet (about 1000 pages)

This historical fiction is written in 1989 but it sits on my bookshelf.  I have forgotten when or how I acquired it.  But as Maple just read it, I read it as well (I also saw its sequel in Borders).

Gripping is the word to describe the plot of the story.  The prose is expected for a bestseller.   Each of the major characters are pretty well developed.  The 1000 pages depict the long journey of the building of a catedral in a small English town called Kingsbridge, and the lives of the characters involved in building this cathedral.  It is a story about how good triumphs over evil. 

I wonder what Ken Follet was thinking as he writes this story.  Obviously, the story is inspired by his passion for the stories behind the building of cathedrals in England.  (whenever a long term project is involved it must involve much politics, blood, and personal struggles).  But aside from that, I felt that the story reflects the religious struggle of Follet.  A question that any religious person asks during bad time is, “Why is God doing this to me?”  Illustrating the stubborn faith in God is highest in the agenda of writing this story.  I think the key line of the story occurs as Prior Phillip gave his unconvincing sermon on the Book of Job. 

So I started reading the Book of Job yesterday night.  I found it very difficult to read.  In fact, it’s the hardest part of the Bible I’ve ever encountered.  I felt that I really need a priest to guide me through it.

Another immediate reaction I have about the story is the character Aliena.  It reads like an exact replica of Scarlett from Gone with the Wind.