Victober 2022

Victober
October 1-31
Victober Goodreads Group | List of Victorian authors on Victorian web
Spinster's Library Victorian Ladies Music Playlist (here)
#Victober
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Celebrating Victorian literature...
British and Irish literature published and/or written between 1837 to 1901
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host: Marissa, Blatantly Bookish
Marissa’s challenge: Read a Victorian short story

Gothic Tales
by Elizabeth Gaskell
Short Stories, Gothic, Horror, Victorian | Published: 2000 | Goodreads

host: Ros, Scallydandling about the Books
Ros’s challenge: Read a work of Victorian poetry, long or short

host: Kate Howe
Kate’s challenge: Read a Victorian work with chronic illness or disability representation

host: Katie, Books and Things
Katie’s challenge: Read a Victorian Bildungsroman/coming of age story

Group Read:
Also, host: Petra U
Petra’s challenge: Read a Victorian book and watch a screen adaptation of it

The Mayor of Casterbridge
by Thomas Hardy
Classics, Victorian | Published: 1962 (first 1886) | Goodreads

The Mayor of Casterbridge (2003)
Director: David Thacker
Screenplay: Ted Whitehead
Based on book by: Thomas Hardy
Stars: Ciarán Hinds, Juliet Aubrey
Drama | imdb
At a country fair, young hay-trusser Michael Henchard quarrels with his wife Susan, and in a drunken fit decides to auction off his wife and baby to a sailor for five guineas. The next day, realizing his loss, he swears not to touch liquor again for as many years as he has lived so far. Eighteen years later, Henchard has become Mayor of Casterbridge, a man well respected but not well liked. The unexpected return of his wife and daughter Elizabeth Jane sets off a turn of events that force him to face the consequences of his selfish impulses and violent temper.


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* image header source: Victorian Books list

Lovely Books and Things - 1.2.22

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. A cozy meal - Jamie Oliver's Sausage and Sage Sprouts (here)
2. Starting a cross stitch project, but first getting inspired by Flosstubers on YouTube
3. Downton Abbey: The Legacy Continues movie release poster - it's coming... March 18

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Library: audiobook

All's Well
by Mona Awad
Literary, Horror | Published: 2021 | Goodreads
Freebies: from Free Little Library

The Mayor of Casterbridge
by Thomas Hardy
Classics, Victorian | Published: 1962 (first 1886) | Goodreads

Nevermoor
The Trials of Morrigan Crow
by Jessica Townsend
illustrated by Jim Madsen
Fantasy, Middle Grade | Published: 2017 | Goodreads
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Virtual Author event: hosted by Murder By The Book
See archive of this (here)

Arya Winters and the Tiramisu of Death
by Amita Murray
Mystery, Cozy | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Down a Dark River
by Karen Odden
Mystery, Victorian, London | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

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AND watched: theatre

Drive My Car (2021)
Original title: Doraibu mai kâ Director/Writer: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Writer: Takamasa Oe
Based on short story: Haruki Murakami
Stars: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tôko Miura, Reika Kirishima
Drama, Japan | imdb | my rating: 5
Adapted from a short story in Murakami Haruki's "Men Without Women". A director's wife was a playwright, but she died two years ago. When he's invited to direct a play at a festival in Hiroshima, the director finds his chauffeur to be a stoic woman. The two share many rides, and as communication is initiated secrets and confessions are gradually exchanged.

Upside down Christmas tree
at the Westfield San Francisco Centre
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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
Screenplay by: David Nicholls
Based on novel by: Thomas Hardy
-Drama, Historical, Romance

Starring:
Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene
Matthias Schoenaerts as Gabriel Oak

My rating: 4.5

Per imdb:
In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.

Neat-o trivia bits from imdb:

-There is a scene in a market with a poster in the background announcing the news in Casterbridge which is a reference to another Thomas Hardy novel, "The Mayor of Casterbridge".

-The movie's title is derived from a poem 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' by the poet Thomas Grey.

-The song sung by Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen in the film is "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme," a traditional British and Irish folk ballad.

PeekInside:



My two-bits:

The initial draw for me to see this was for costumes, setting and location. Loved this film for all.

Farm life and the daily routines of it is beautifully portrayed in the background of a love triangle tale.

Unlike the grandeur of ballroom settings and city life in London, this story takes you mostly outdoors in the country. The brightness and colors of all the outdoor scenes bring about the feeling of fresh and crisp England air.

Oh, the sheep! One scene with them is memorable and just really grips at the heart.

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GET familiar with the original...

Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
Amazon | Goodreads
In Thomas Hardy’s first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy’s novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.


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* image source for sheep

* part of my Armchair Summer Travel (details) - check it out to enter Armchair Summer Travel Book Box Giveaway

* made me want to visit country? England - YES