Lynness: 2 recent books

I finished North and South and enjoyed it very much.  I think I'll buy it with my Barnes and Noble gift card I got for Christmas from Ben.  (As much as I love books- so much so that Nathan and I got engaged at a Barnes and Noble in Orem- I rarely buy them except at thrift stores.  I guess I'm just too stingy to buy something purely for pleasure, especially when I can probably eventually get it at the library or borrow from someone.  And I won't buy a book I've never read- I might not like it!  Anyway, I liked this one enough to re-read it at some point AND I have a gift card, so....).  The movie is moderately different from the book toward the end, but only in HOW things happen- just simplifying the logistics and making it flow better.  The feel is true to the book.

I also read The Water is Wide, by Pat Conroy, about his teaching experiences on Daufuskie Island (near Hilton Head, SC, Gullah population) in the 60's.  It was full of profanity, but intriguing.  It makes me want to find out what's happened to the kids in the story and to the island and education there in general since then.

On a literary note, PBS is now showing the BBC's (I think) latest version of Emma.  It's 3 2-hour episodes, of which only the first has played.  Imagine Dumbledore as Mr. Woodhouse!!  I don't really think he fits the part, but everyone else is fine.  I don't think I would've figured out who he was unless I hadn't just been reading North and South, but the guy who plays Frederick in the movie version of North and South is Frank Churchill in this version of Emma.  They have added to the story, but it does help to explain some of the parts of the original a little more clearly.