Lost in Austen

I came a little late to Lost in Austen (coming late to TV shows is a deliberate habit of mine- I prefer them on recommendation and on DVD), but when I finally popped the first disc into the player and settled back with the thought 'I'll just watch one episode,' I found myself compelled to watch the next... and the next... and the last.

The show follows Amanda Price, a modern girl who inadvertently swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet, finding herself in the world of Pride & Prejudice, right at the beginning of Austen's classic story. From there, everything starts to go wrong and Amanda desperately tries to make events follow the book (most of the time, she only makes things worse).

I've never been a purist when it comes to film and TV adaptions of books (after all, what's interesting on the page is so often boring on the screen) and the series is probably best avoided by those who think the role of an adapted screenplay is to slavishly copy every detail of the original text. Pride & Prejudice is one of my absolute favourite books, but nonetheless I am unashamed to admit that I enjoyed every moment of this adaption, which works to honour the book as well as highlight the irony of modern girls daydreaming about a 'romantic' world in which most of their liberties would be removed.

Some favourite moments: Amanda's 'postmodern moment' (pictured), and the vindication of Mrs. Bennet. If you're planning on watching the series, watch out for these!

Some observations: it's interesting that the show, like many readers, seems to conflate the BBC series with the book. It has always mystified me that the literary buffs, usually so nit-picky when it comes to screen adaptions, embrace the Colin Firth version so readily. It seems that Colin Firth's Darcy is Darcy (forget Austen's Darcy who, dare I say, was somewhat different). I suspect this has something to do with the fact that many readers saw the series first. It is a bit of a shame that it seems to be a job requirement of all screen Darcys since (and probably all that will follow) that they look very much like Colin Firth.

Nevertheless, Elliot Cowan is a wonderful Darcy. If I were in Amanda Price's shoes, I'd spend less time worrying about getting the plot right and more time trying to steal Darcy.