Lost in Austen (and my recent dealing with Austen as well)

Hello, everybody!

Just so you know, my newest College Fashion article was uploaded today, on the topic of Jane Austen's first published work, Sense and Sensibility. Take a look at it right here.
(And simply because I neglected to promote my past article as well, take a look at my looks inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre right here.)

While this sort of post would typically be accompanied by my personal review of the book, I must make a confession: I haven't actually finished it yet. What can I say, it's hard to get past the Austen rule quite so easily, especially when you're a Freshman in college with work to be done and an essay to turn in next Friday and two midterms before then as well.

That being said, I have been engrossed in some other forms of Austen fiction, just not the kind written by the legendary authoress herself. Additionally, they are not about Sense and Sensibility, but about her arguably most famous novel, Pride and Prejudice.

First up, is the masterful YouTube series - which I only just managed to catch on to, despite the fact that the multi-media web series has been running since April 9th, 2012 - The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. 

And fair warning: this will suck you in quickly. It is an expertly adapted modern variation on Austen's classic tale, and the characters are not only easy to relate to, but much easier to see reflected in those closest to you. And like those closest to you, you can follow all of them on quite a few social media platforms, including reacting YouTube channels and Twitter feeds. They are amazing in their ability to coordinate between them all, and it allows for a heightened sense of reality between you and the multi-faceted subjects of Austen's world.

However, I do have to comment that I didn't realize that this series was still ongoing. So, on the plus side, my adventures with Lizzie and the Gang are not yet over, but on the sad side, I am now slave-bound to my computer four days out of the week, waiting for the next upload. And wouldn't you know it, I managed to catch up just as the story reached it's most suspenseful moment. That's what I get for taking to YouTube when I KNOW I have a paper due.

As for the second mode of Austen magic enrapturing my mind recently, I have the BBC miniseries Lost in Austen to thank, for my adventures on the struggle bus, while my notes for midterms went untouched. That being said, it was a very enjoyable excursion, in the end.

The series, which ran in 2008, stars Jemima Roper as Amanda Price, a modern-day fan of the classic romance fiction, who, after a disastrous marriage proposal from her boyfriend, finds Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom, having discovered a secret door between the real world, and Longbourn. The two unintentionally swap places, and soon Amanda must cope with all the characters of Austen's world that we know so well.

It is made up of four episodes, each about an hour long, and its fast-paced nature and snappy dialogue make each installment go by quickly. The additional interest of seeing a new side to each of your favorites - a charming, but framed Wickham; a terrifically awful Darcy; and a seriously unexpected turn of events for Caroline Bingley, for instance - should convince you to track down this show immediately.

So, that's enough Austen for me right now. I think it's about time to wash my brain out with something far less romantic and hopeful... especially since tomorrow is Valentine's Day.