#buddyholliscurls

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I feel like I'm always coming to you for period drama/classic lit recs 😂😂😂😂 i really hope u don't mind if u ever do feel free to just ignore me lol but since I'm reading North and South now (I'm having so much fun with it btw) was wondering what film/series adaption u like best

Of course I don't mind at all! And I love reading your comments on different books.

This is a complicated question... as far as I know there are only four adaptations of North and South: two tv series of four one hour episodes each, one from 75' and one from 04', and then two radio dramas, 3 one hour episodes each, one from 97' and another from 2022. None of them are good adaptations of North and South as adaptations of North and South.

What I mean by this: some are better than others as standalone things, but in one way or another they either don't understand some of the themes, plot lines, and character dynamics and why they are the way they are, or they are just taking the book story as a backdrop to insert common tropes they like, or whatever they think the story should be actually about.

It's difficult to put examples, as you are so early on in the reading, but one could be that 2022 decides Mr Hale is actually a wise character that philosophically shapes and embodies the lessons of the book, so all his shortcomings as husband and father are either lessened or omitted, and he's given far more wisdom and foresight than what he had in the book.

There are stories I can trust an adaptation to introduce the book to the readers decently enough, even when they do take liberties with plot and characters (such would be the case of Cranford 2007, for example, or P&P 95 or Wives and Daughters 1999), and neither of the adaptations fit that bill, which is a pity.

So, that's for the preamble XD

I find both radio adaptations enragingly bad. My expectations were low, and I was disappointed to not find even one scene I could say "now, that's a satisfying rendition of this". You don't even get a dialogue accurate ending for either, and they are both riddled with baffling decisions. I do not recommend these at all.

Then there's the 1975 miniseries. It is very much a 1970s BBC series. It's low budget, Margaret is more of a delicate damsel in distress, and Patrick Stewart overacts as John Thornton. It's somewhat better than the radio dramas, because of the added length and some less wildness in changes. It's also rather dull.

So what's left is 2004. 2004 is a very beloved period drama. Apparently there is a dedicated facebook group for it, although no Elizabeth Gaskell page at all. And that's sort of the crux of it. If the book is velvet, sort of very rich and textured but rather heavy and difficult to work with, the series is silk, lighter, shinier... lovely in its own way, high quality, but it's not the same thing.

For example, Margaret becomes a bit of a blank slate, and John becomes the big Darcy-Beast-Hades mashup. The drama is turned up to eleven: their first meeting is Margaret bursting into the mill and witnessing Thornton beating a worker up in a fit of rage (they justify it later, but it is... well, what it is).

So it is a common thing for people to watch the series, then try the book and find it dull and boring and that's the end of it. And I have a love-hate relationship with the series because of it. It's not that much of a good adaptation of N&S (granted, its heights are higher than the highs of the other adaptations, some of it is perfect), but it is a delightful period drama.

So that's more or less where I am at.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

This is a very obvious but my senses tell me u are reading wuthering heights??? am i picking up on that or am i totally off base lmaoooooo how are u liking it ( if this is ur first time reading it) personally i loved the melodrama of it all and like yes everyone was TERRIBLE but,,,,,, the DRAMAAAAAAAA

I am! I am also already familiar with the main beats of the story through adaptations so it's more of a forensic exploration of the source than anything else XD

I like Mr Lockwood, and I like the setting and some of the language and that's pretty much the beginning and end of my enjoyment. We'll see.