I read Throne of the Crescent Moon earlier this year and liked it pretty well. Definitely found the old folks more engaging than the teens, but what I really want from a sequel is to spend more time exploring Fantasy Medieval Baghdad.
I always wonder with S&S if my preference for Elinor and Brandon is because of the plot itself--as you said, aligning Marianne with his ward doesn't feel very romantic--or because of the outrageous chemistry between Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman in the film. It probably also doesn't help that my mental picture of the characters as the actors means I've got a teenage Marianne and a mid-30s Elinor (and an almost-50 Colonel Brandon, for that matter) in my head, making their differences look like more than just temperament. I sort of end up on the margins with Austen. My favorite of her works is far and away Persuasion, but I actually prefer Frances Burney's Evelina when I want sentimental satire. It's one of the few things I didn't resent having to read for my MA comps.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2020-12-07 06:05 am (UTC)I always wonder with S&S if my preference for Elinor and Brandon is because of the plot itself--as you said, aligning Marianne with his ward doesn't feel very romantic--or because of the outrageous chemistry between Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman in the film. It probably also doesn't help that my mental picture of the characters as the actors means I've got a teenage Marianne and a mid-30s Elinor (and an almost-50 Colonel Brandon, for that matter) in my head, making their differences look like more than just temperament. I sort of end up on the margins with Austen. My favorite of her works is far and away Persuasion, but I actually prefer Frances Burney's Evelina when I want sentimental satire. It's one of the few things I didn't resent having to read for my MA comps.