Speesh

Perhaps this could be interesting.

I'm not sure how 'official' this 'project' is, but it seems like several well-known (apart from to me, it would seem), have been asked to re-write Jane Austin's books for a modern audience, as the term goes.

Whether this is necessary or not (it's not) is a different matter.

The one that caught my eye, was this one where someone or other who I've never heard of but is clearly thought highly of in bookish circles, is being asked to re-do Emma. Not that it is necessary.

Emma is my favourite of Jane Austin's books. Utterly perfect and, most importantly in this case, timeless.

The 'It ain't broke, so don't fix it rule' applies here I feel.

I won't be reading the new version(s), but it might be interesting to read a review of what this long-named person comes up with.

Personally, I think that rather than 'reinterpret(ing) the work of Jane Austen for a modern audience', this has more to do with 'these books being out of copywrite'. People should be encouraged to read the originals, improve themselves that way, rather than have them 're-interpreted' like this. And no, no one is going to go read the original after reading the re-interpreted one, why bother?

OK, so it's a bad idea.

But...I got a notice, an email on Friday the 27th September that they had dispatched my order of The Pagan Lord by Bernard Cornwell in hardback (not the 'a novel' nonsense version you see here. The good and proper original. I think I'm old enough to figure out it's a novel all by my self). It arrived here in Denmark, Monday morning. I started reading it Monday afternoon.

Can't say fairer than that.