Lyme Park: First Impressions

good adaptation

bad adaptation

I first read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in 2005. I became a fan immediately and therefore, I became a hater of that same year's film adaptation - with Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen-. It's a beautiful film but not well adapted. I think most people (who have read the book) would agree that the best adaptation, incredibly loyal to Austen's words, is the 1995 series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.

It is not a secret that Jane Austen was inspired by Chatsworth House to describe Pemberley, Mr. Darcy's humble flat. And though the actual Chatsworth house was used in the 2005 film and even the mini-series Death comes to Pemberley, it was not used in the 1995 series. Pemberley in that series was "played" by Lyme Hall in Lyme Park. You can watch here a little video from the 1995 adaptation, to see the locations I am talking about, and compare it to the photos you will see further on.

What did Jane see?

In the last 9 months, I have visited Lyme Park 3 times. A lover of the 19th century British literature like me cannot but walk up and down those hills, and around that astonishing manor, and put oneself in the shoes of one of those writers. I know Lyme Hall is not Jane's Pemberley, but it will do until I visit Chatsworth house.

Can you see yourself in the story?

Lyme Park is part of the National Trust.Visiting the house or the gardens (and the lake) requires paying a ticket. Prices vary depending on whether you visit only the house, only the garden or both. So far, I have visited only the gardens and that has been enough to let my imagination fly.

Yeah... I could live here.

Or even in a tent here

If you have seen the video I mentioned before, you have probably seen the lake in which supposedly Mr. Darcy likes swimming,

Mr. Darcy is there, diving.

also the gardens where Lizzy and her aunt and uncle walk,

Aren't these roses beautiful, Mr. Gardiner?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man...

... in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

But Lyme Park is not only beautiful architecture, gardens, lakes, etc. They also care for us: book lovers. Next to the shop, there is a lovely little reading room. You can take any book from the shelves, sit down in one of the sofas and read for as long as you want... well, until 5pm, when they close. Some of the things I like the most from this room are the quotes on the walls. There are 5 quotes from different books. I guessed 3 out of 5. Can you guess them all without cheating?

 Give it a try! I will post the right answers in a few days.

The narrator in the Divergent series

This is not just another review on the Divergent saga. I have finished reading the trilogy, watched the film based on Insurgent (yes, based, because it has nothing to do with the book and it changes some of the big themes of the books), and also read the 4 short stories about/from the point of view of Four… so let me rant again about the narrator.

**BEWARE OF THE SPOILERS**

Veronica Roth

If a writer chooses to use the “easy narrator” (first person, internal monologue)- as Veronica Roth does along the whole Divergent series- this does not mean the writer will not face any problems while narrating. When giving voice to Tris, Roth finds no obstacles because, after all, she is a woman and, without coming into differences in feminine personalities, she knows what a teenage woman thinks (thus all those “He touched me! He touched me!” moments in Divergent). But she doesn’t know what a male teenager thinks. In Insurgent, the way Four phrases his thoughts in the conversations he has with Tris about their relationship, sound a bit too feminine for a man like Four. When I started reading Allegiant, I was shocked to find now we had 2 narrators: Tris and Four. My first thought was: Roth got carried away again.

Meyer did it in Breaking Dawn and it works fantastically well because 1) for some reason I won’t mention here, Bella cannot keep on narrating, she’s physically unable to do it so another character narrates; using a new narrator is completely reasonable, and 2) the difference in the narrating style is very clear which makes it easy to follow, enjoyable, and it helps you deepen in this other character’s personality and motives. Also, G.R.R. Martin changes the narrator’s point of view in every chapter of his A Song of Ice and Fire series but, unlike Roth or Meyer, he narrates in the third person, thus proving his writing and narrating skills.

Roth’s decision of using 2 narrators in Allegiant, though, was not that clever. At first, as I said, I thought Roth was just following a sort of trend because there was not a single reason why Four had to narrate certain chapters. But then, Roth did something I did not expect, something that justifies the use of 2 narrators, that to be honest, I hoped Collins had done in The Hunger Games but she didn’t and Roth was brave enough to do because it closes the whole circle of that character. Bravo, Mrs. Roth. BUT, let’s not get too excited yet. Roth uses 2 points of view, but again, she’s unable to give them different voices. There’s no way, as a reader, to tell who is narrating. Tris? Four? We know it by the context… and because at the beginning of every chapter, we are told in big letters who is the character narrating that chapter. But we cannot tell it by the style or the choice of vocabulary. Again: Four is too feminine.

When I came across this idea, I thought I was being too harsh. But then I read the introduction to the 4 short stories. Let me quote the first few lines: “I first started writing Divergent from the perspective of Tobias Eaton, a boy from Abnegation with peculiar tension with his father who longed for freedom from his faction. I reached a standstill at thirty pages because the narrator wasn’t quite right for the story I wanted to tell.” I’m glad her editor someone else thought what I thought. As I always say: write only about what you know.

(Old) review of The Hunger Games trilogy

This is a translation of the review I wrote on April 10th 2012 for Goodreads:

It is true that I've enjoyed this trilogy VERY MUCH (especially the 3rd part, which is curious given that most fans hate it to infinity and beyond), it is true that it's very addictive and that I've enjoyed reading it BUUUUUUUUUUUT I'm going to analyse a few details and I'll start by spitting out everything I didn't like:

Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins can't write. She basically has no idea.

Well, let us be a bit kinder with this poor woman: She can write; there you are a very successful trilogy and I doubt she wrote in a couple of days. But she set her own bar too high and she didn't manage to pass over it. Perhaps she allowed herself to set it higher because of the main theme of the trilogy, much higher than Mrs. Meyers’ bar when she wrote her Twilight saga. Actually, Mrs. Collins had to crawl under the bar more than once (and twice, and thrice). As a reader, you can notice her desperation some times for not knowing how to get out of that huge mess she got into by herself.
She made many mistakes of the type I'll call "the writer who reads something s/he likes and thinks: hehehe-that's-cool-I-wanna-do-that-too". My memory is not very good so I'll just mention some of the mistakes I found most shocking:


**WARNING!!! MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**

The rule change half way through the Hunger Games. What the flip is this??? At this point of the novel, I dare to say that most female readers would marry that macho man called Gale and that, in our minds, Peeta is portrayed as a sort of naive and soft boy with no chances whatsoever. You could smell how eager Mrs. Collins was to create a love triangle with the 3 main characters. Hohoho how cool would it be to suddenly change the story to put Katniss under more pressure! BAMMM!!! And Mrs. Collins changes the rules of the game and we find out Peeta is adorable... but only when he speaks or when he has a paintbrush at hand (and that does not only happen in “The Hunger Games”, but also in “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay”).

The 2nd rule change at the end of “Hunger Games”. You could see it coming since minute 00:00 after the new rules were introduced. To be honest, the fact that it was narrated in the present tense (something I liked very much, 10 points for that, Mrs. Collins) got me thinking during all the novel that Katniss would die in the games and that the narration of the rest of the trilogy would be taken by another character. A girl can dream.

Something I didn't like either was certain characters; characters who seem they're going to be or to do something important... but NO.

Madge: We're not friends but, hey! Yes we are! Isn't Madge lovely, bla, bla... Where is Madge? Where's the baaaaall? I would've married her to Gale in the first half of “Catching Fire”. THAT would have made the story exciting, Mrs. Collins. Resources, Mrs. Collins!!

The red-haired Avox: Who? Oh yeah!!! Half “Hunger Games” seeing her; we're going to be besties because she forgave me. Really? She told you so with that tongue she had cut, didn't she? Now I can't remember you, and in the end... dun dun duuuuun: Do you remember the Avox? Well, she died.

Darius: A sexy ginger who flirts with Katniss. He’s the reason why Gale jumps into the scene. He becomes an Avox, HER Avox, along with the other Avox. This is getting interesting. Do you remember Darius? Well, he got killed just like the other Avox.

Peeta’s parents: This is Mrs. Collins thinking what to do with Peeta’s parents: What do I do? What do I do? Uhm…. I know! They shouldn’t do anything! Dead. The end. Resources, Mrs. Collins!!

Delly: In Mockingjay she’s the only one from District 12 who can talk with Peeta during weeks. Peeta hates Katniss. Peeta is alone with Delly. Alone. HELLO?? Resources, Mrs. Collins!!

Effie Trinket

EFFIE: I don’t want to talk. You get so fond of her… she disappears at mid “Catching Fire” and you obviously think she’s been killed. But no! She wasn’t dead and appears again in the last chapter of Mockingjay… as if nothing ever happened! EXCUSE ME??????

The bow made by Beetee: A bow that only works when she touches it, that has voice recognition, that is flipping amazing, that I’m sure when in battle it has a thousand hidden gadgets… I’m sure you push a button and the A-Team appears. But… nothing. Resources, Mrs. Collins!!


On the other hand, one of the hohoho-how-cool-I-wanna-do-that-too things that many writers find very appealing is killing important characters to cause a highly tragic and emotional scene… like Cinna’s death: It’s one of the few deaths (outside the arena) that I find is very well depicted… even though we never really see him die and that makes us wait for his re-appearance at any moment at the beginning of “Mockingjay”, maybe next to Peeta (though that may be asking for too much). Besides, Cinna’s influence and presence is still there, until the very end of the trilogy. But there are two deaths that make me want to kill Mrs. Collins, both of them totally gratuitous, pointless AND after which no one sheds a single tear: Finnick and Prim.

The flipping annoying cat

Finnick’s death is extremely tragic for all the female fans because he’s a character you fall in love with and you find so sweet when Annie comes back and all that stuff and you think it’s horrible that not even Katniss or Annie show some emotions when he dies (wrong, Mrs. Collins). But Prim?? Let’s see, Mrs. Collins: Prim’s supposed to be the centre of the universe of the trilogy, everything happens because her and for her. Thus, she should be a bit more developed character. We know Prim is adorable, that everybody loves her, and so on and so forth. We know that… because we’re told so, but we NEVER get to see so. The times we get to see more of Prim is when she gets so flipping annoying because she can’t find her cat (which happens at least once in each book, and honestly, I couldn’t care less about that cat). Prim’s appearance at the end of “Mockingjay” is acceptable but, what happens when she dies? Is there a funeral or something? If so many people loved her, why the only thing we know is that Katniss goes crazy (even more), their mom never goes back to District 12, and Peeta (months later) proposes planting roses to honour Prim.

Resources, Mrs. Collins!!

What about Gale? Yeah, ok, he knows her sooooo well that he knows what she thinks just by looking at her, he anticipates her moves, he saves her more than once… but suddenly, when she’s decided to give up on Peeta (yes, yes, I know she had given up on Gale twice… it seems this girl is not very good at predicting), they kiss in the forest (you must admit it’s the best kiss of the trilogy) and… and… BAMMM!!!! The boy has a revelation and realizes that fighting for her is not worth it because she doesn’t love him. And that’s all, folks! No more Gale for you, girl. So you go crazy, your sister dies, you kill the wrong president and get locked in a room for two days, you want to kill yourself… So what? You don’t love me anymore! I better go to another district because I need a job. Personally, I don’t understand Gale.

But well, besides all this (and more details I can’t recall now), I keep grading this trilogy with the highest mark because I liked it VERY MUCH.

As I’ve already said, the fact that the 3 novels are narrated in the present tense is fantastic but I also believe my dear friend Mrs. Collins hasn’t used all her resources wisely (which by now is not very surprising given that we’ve noticed that resources are not exactly what Mrs. Collins is best at).

Another detail to highlight is the incredibly organized structure around number 3:

3 novels divided in 3 parts with 9 chapters each one (3x3). In my opinion, this is a way to remind us that although the story seems very real, it is not. It’s a built fiction (maybe built to reflect the reality we’re living in). It takes realism out, and adds premeditation.

Also, 3 are the games in which Katniss participates, yes, 3: the first ones, organised by the Capitol; the second ones, controlled by the rebels; and the third ones, the war between the Capitol and the rebels. In none of them can we say Katniss has any control over the situation but it’s curious how as her role becomes more and more important, her opinion regarding the games is taken less and less into account.

The games Coin proposes at the end with the children from the Capitol as tributes are different, but I will talk about them a bit more in the next paragraph.

I read a review a girl wrote about “Mockingjay” in which she complained about the action scenes. She was very deceived because in all of them, when Katniss is about to get on the scene, she gets knocked down, she misses everything, and we always end up knowing what happened through other people. That girl thought this was horrendous and it is true that once or twice is ok, but when you realise that is what ALWAYS happens, you can’t help agreeing with that deceived girl. In my opinion, although from the reader’s viewpoint this may seem irritating, it highlights what we already know: that Katniss has nothing under control, ever. The last thing she did because she decided so was volunteering as tribute to replace her sister. She was obliged to do all the rest: taking the role of Prim’s mom, and the father in her family; she admits that if she hadn’t had to go to the games, the logical development of her relationship with Gale would have been marrying him (not because she was in love with him and wanted to marry him but because that was the expected); also her relationship with Peeta is imposed, being the Mockingjay, her clothing, what she does at every moment is out of her control, it’s Haymitch or Effie or whoever else who decides for her; when she decides to kill herself, Peeta doesn’t let her; although she had decided not to have any children, Peeta convinces her to do the opposite… Everything, EVERYTHING is out of her control, why not the battles in “Mockingjay”? Even the games I was talking about before, the ones Coin wants to organise, those which it seems Katniss can control, or at least decide something… Obviously, history repeating, she can’t control anything at all. We’re lucky she decides to kill Coin and does so because after all, she’s the main character, isn’t she?

Another 10 points to Mrs. Collins for this: the little control Katniss has over her life.

To sum up, I think the result is quite good but the development needs to be improved: characters are not deep enough, many open stories, many irrelevant details while there are others much more important that are simply ignored. With all the money Mrs. Collins has earned from these books (and all the money she will get from the films), I suggest her to take a course on creative writing, because she’s writing novels for teenagers and that is not an excuse to not make things right.

Divergent: the book vs the film

I've just watched Divergent, the film based on the book, and these are my conclusions:

#1: why do I keep on watching film adaptations of books if I know I'm not going to like them?

#2: I'm aware that adapting a book into a film is not easy. Scriptwriters have to get rid of minor characters or change certain things. I was ok with most of the changes in the film... Except for the last 40 minutes. What the heck was THAT? And where is Edward? And Marlene? Uriah? And why is Jeanine EVERYWHERE?

#3: I want to congratulate whoever did the casting for this film. Four is pretty much like the one described in the book except for the dark blue eyes. That's exactly how I imagined Marcus, Cristina & Al. But am I the only one who thinks the actors who play Eric & Peter where playing the wrong role, as if whoever gave them their scripts interchanged them?

Peter vs Eric

#4: WHERE IS THE RIVER????

#5: Given the fact that Veronica Roth - the author of the books - is one of the producers of the film, I understand that all these changes have her blessing... Which only adds more confusion to my mind. Did I hear the word "money"?

#6: The guy who plays Caleb (Ansel Elgort) is cute. And yes, I know he's the same guy in The Fault in our Stars... which makes it all a bit weird... but hey! They're actors, right? (Same story with Miles Teller).

The fault in our stars vs Divergent vs The spectacular now

#7: So far we all were aware that James Dean somehow reincarnated in James Franco. But I'd dare to say someone is playing in a lab with their genes and created Theo James. 

JAMES Dean > JAMES Franco > Theo JAMES
I call it the JAMES GENE

#8: I've seen an Amity dressed in green!!!!! 

#9: I thought the phrase "the hem of his shirt" would appear at some point of the film given that in the books it appears an average of 638663429764 times. Also, I thought the emotional importance of Tris saying Four's real name would be present in the film... Taking into account that, in the books, he gets angry when she doesn't call him by his real name. Weird.

#10: A brake? Seriously? One of the things that makes Tris be completely sure that she likes being Dauntless... And it's replaced by a brake???? A BRAKE????

Divergent: my review

There's probably nothing I can say about this book that hasn't been said before. First of all, I must congratulate Veronica Roth for 1) creating the perfect novel for any teenage girl and 2) making a mash-up of The Hunger Games & the Twilight sagas that works out pretty well. Let me explain.

I'm obsessed with narrators and I tend to judge the quality of a novel by how well the narrator is constructed. In Divergent the narrator is the main character, Tris. So, first person, internal monologue... I call that the "easy narrator". Also, Tris narrates in the present, not the past, which is a positive point for the author because narrating in the present tense is not as easy as it seems. So far, this is the same description for the narrator in The Hunger Games.

Curiously enough, this narrator, along with the main character is, in my opinion, very well designed: designed to be liked by any teenage girl who reads the book. All we know about the character is not too much so any girl can see herself reflected in Tris' thoughts and feelings. If she was more complexly described, she would have a too-defined personality and not every girl would agree with her decisions. Also, the fact that she narrates in the first person makes on the reader the illusion that what she/he is reading, is her/his own thoughts. Clever.

**SPOILER ALERT**

So here we have Katniss Tris, in the reaping ceremony choosing ceremony, and then leaving District 12 the Abnegation Faction to go on a one-week training course on self-defense and knife-throwing. She happens to be better than she thought... And she falls in love with a superhot guy whose chest is like rock (Edward Cullen??) and makes her go dizzy and her legs shake when he looks at her (Edward, is that you?), and he has a terrible secret about his past (I'm pretty sure, you are Edward), and although he, Edward Jacob Peeta Gale Four could have any girl he wants because he's like the perfect man, he chooses to be with Bella Katniss Tris, because you know, she's the main character of the story so he's not allowed to love anyone else.

And then Peeta & Katniss kiss under the rocks in a cave.
And then Edward & Bella kiss between some rocks in the forest.
And then Four & Tris kiss on some rocks next to a waterfall.

Aaawwwwww!!!!

The more I look, the more similarities I find between these sagas. I'd summarize it like this: Divergent= The action of The Hunger Games + The romanticism of Twilight. In 1 word: 

HORMONES!!

Read this review in Goodreads