osprey_archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
osprey_archer) wrote2013-07-18 03:47 pm
osprey_archer) wrote2013-07-18 03:47 pm
Entry tags:
Cranford
It is dreadfully hot here, and muggy, so that leaving the apartment is like stepping into a greenhouse; so I have been staying inside, reading and watching Cranford.
Cranford is not a straight adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, but a mash-up of Cranford with two of her other novels, I suppose because the screenwriters didn't think there was enough meat to Cranford to make a miniseries. Possibly they are right, but I think I would have preferred a movie adaptation of Cranford alone than this three-novel business.
Actually, I enjoy the story about Lady Ludlow (exasperating though she is), Harry Gregson, and Mr. Carter; but the story about Doctor Harrison's various admirers makes me sad. I just feel so bad for Miss Caroline, who so badly wants a husband and is not only not going to get one, but makes a right fool of herself thinking that the new doctor will ask for her hand, even though she only sees him on professional calls.
Not that it's all her fault! I feel very bitter against Doctor Harrison's optometrist friend for sending her that fake Valentine. It was so, so unkind of him; I am hoping that he will suffer a bitter and unrequited infatuation so he'll understand just how badly he behaved. Not holding my breath, though, as I have only one episode left.
Still it would be nice. Preferably Miss Caroline, although I suspect it is more likely he would fall for sensible, cheerful Mary Smith - I do love Mary Smith. She's one of the reasons I am rather sorry this is not a straight-up adaptation of Cranford alone, because then there would have been more of her. In the novel Mary Smith is basically a conduit for the story - sort of like a kinder, gentler Nick Carraway - and it's impressive that she's imbued with such charm and life here.
Cranford is not a straight adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, but a mash-up of Cranford with two of her other novels, I suppose because the screenwriters didn't think there was enough meat to Cranford to make a miniseries. Possibly they are right, but I think I would have preferred a movie adaptation of Cranford alone than this three-novel business.
Actually, I enjoy the story about Lady Ludlow (exasperating though she is), Harry Gregson, and Mr. Carter; but the story about Doctor Harrison's various admirers makes me sad. I just feel so bad for Miss Caroline, who so badly wants a husband and is not only not going to get one, but makes a right fool of herself thinking that the new doctor will ask for her hand, even though she only sees him on professional calls.
Not that it's all her fault! I feel very bitter against Doctor Harrison's optometrist friend for sending her that fake Valentine. It was so, so unkind of him; I am hoping that he will suffer a bitter and unrequited infatuation so he'll understand just how badly he behaved. Not holding my breath, though, as I have only one episode left.
Still it would be nice. Preferably Miss Caroline, although I suspect it is more likely he would fall for sensible, cheerful Mary Smith - I do love Mary Smith. She's one of the reasons I am rather sorry this is not a straight-up adaptation of Cranford alone, because then there would have been more of her. In the novel Mary Smith is basically a conduit for the story - sort of like a kinder, gentler Nick Carraway - and it's impressive that she's imbued with such charm and life here.
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Is Cranford very short? (I wonder why they didn't just choose to make it on its own...)
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"There had been neither births, deaths, nor marriages since I was there last. Everybody lived in the same house, and wore pretty nearly the same well-preserved, old-fashioned clothes. The greatest event was, that Miss Jenkyns had purchased a new carpet for the drawing-room."
This makes for a good comfort read (although there are some deaths later on, but they are not upsetting). But I can see why filmmakers would be leery about adapting it without bolstering the story with something a little more plotty. But giving Cranford more plot undermines one of the more interesting parts of the book, which is that it's a nineteenth century novel about women to which marriage and romance are incidental.