Karen V. Wasylowski: I will pay you to look at my blog (watch for Sean Bean at the end of this)

Sunday, January 16, 2011

I will pay you to look at my blog (watch for Sean Bean at the end of this)

I saw on the Market news yesterday that they are inventing a printer that will reproduce in 3D. It uses plastic jets inside instead of ink and can reproduce a solid form from an image. This is interesting, is it not? Hmmm... This may be a wonderful Christmas in 2011. I will take my little printer and steal off into the woods with my Mathew Mac dolls. Of course, there are those who would want something else. Something say a bit older, a bit more regal, a bit more colin...

It has not escaped my notice that I got back my lost follower - I am back to ten now so evidently the Firth pictures are doing the trick. Now that I am a Cancer sign instead of a Leo I must behave in a more civilized manner. Here are the new breakdowns:

Capricorn: January 20-February 16
Aquarius: February 16-March 11
Pisces: March 11-April 18
Aries: April 18-May 13
Taurus: May 13-June 21
Gemini: June 21-July 20
Cancer: July 20-August 10
Leo: August 10-September 16
Virgo: September 16-October 30
Libra: October 30-November 23
Scorpio: November 23-December 17
Sagittarius: December 17-January 20

I was going to go for 1 to 4 books in the Austen Prose Reading Challenge. I've never read a book about a fictional Jane Austen before so I may not like them. If any of you want to read with and give me your impressions I'll forward them on and then we can divvy up the gift if we get one. Plus I'll hve to consider putting you all on salary to read this blog.

And now for no apparent reason other than to look at him, a Youtube video of Sean Bean as Sharpe - a great series of books written by Bernard Cornwell recreated into a mediocre British TV series staring a gorgeous British man.

The theme was a great great song from the 1800's, an actual British Army song sung by John Tam - not so beautiful but a great folk singer. I wanted to use this song so badly for my video for Darcy and Fitzwilliam but then it would just be the Colonel's part and not Darcy, but I love this song. Absolutely love it. And isn't Sean Bean a treat and a half. He usually plays such heavies in films, then came The Lord of the Rings and he was Bromoseltzer or something. But before that he was my beloved Richard Sharpe! All my great loves are named Richard!

4 comments:

Elsina said...: Well Firth is the man for me :) You really made me laugh with Bromoseltzer. Still chuckling here. In fact I think Boromir was Sean Bean's best part ever, but than I didn't see the Richard Sharpe movie. Will have to look that one up!; January 16, 2011 at 12:07 AM
LucyParker said...: Thanks for the new Colin to ponder. I copied him to my screen. Thanks for sharing.

I'm having a hard time understanding how to do the S. Barron book read. Do I have to go through an author's blog to participate? Please dumb-down the sign-up for me. xo; January 16, 2011 at 1:22 AM
Karen V. Wasylowski said...: Lucy, I can't dumb down the sign-up because I copied it verbatim. I don't understand it either. Just go there are post your opinions I guess. I'll ask some questions and report later.

Elsina, welcome. I remember you from the Jane Birthday go round. I'll have to find a lot of Colin for this place. Tomorrow I can have pictures of him winning his Golden Globe!; January 16, 2011 at 9:04 AM
Karen V. Wasylowski said...: Oh and Sharpe was a series in England in the eighties. Last year they had two special movies on TV in Britain with Sharpe and his buddy the irishman in India and I think they are filming another. If you can find the old series it's worth watching just because he was so beautiful back in the day. But read the books too, they are much better.; January 16, 2011 at 9:07 AM

REVIEW BY DEE SWIFT OF DARCY AND FITZWILLIAM

Darcy and Fitzwilliam by Karen Wasylowski

I am not a particularly fanatical Austen fan, certainly not a purist, but I do like the wit of Jane Austen, and so was ready to embrace the tale of Darcy and his cousin with open arms. I was not disappointed. What impressed me most about this book was that it was the feel of Austen, but updated. It is very difficult to be funny in an Austen-esque way and still be fresh. Too often the humour doesn't properly succeed. But the impact that Austen must have had in her day is all here, in this laugh-out-loud romp through Darcy's post wedding adventures, and those of his irrepressible "brother".

I was unprepared for just how funny the book would be. The scene where Lizzie is giving birth, with Amanda's small, curious, stiffly-educated son looking on, is hilarious, and had my husband wondering why I was laughing so much. Even the servants have been wittily expanded, and the book is funny because it is so well-observed. It pokes fun at regency attitudes to women, and gently lampoons the mores and morals of the time. There is also a sense in which the English themselves are satirized, and this is refreshing, but not at all offensive.

After the initial forty or so pages of set-up the book fairly sweeps along with misunderstandings aplenty, and it is no slight volume. The characters have to be impeccably constructed for the situation comedy to work, and Karen Wasylowski has done this thoroughly, also the research on her period and The Peninsula War gives the reader just the right amount of setting.
A great read, that works whether you have read any Austen or not.

THE CALICO CRITIC

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Karen Wasylowski has done a fine job with these Austenian characters. She has stayed true to the original vision of their temperaments, yet brings new aspects of who they are to light. Their witty repartee is always fun, as they regularly jab at each other in non-cynical brotherly ways. Darcy and the Colonel passionately love their women, sometimes going to extremes to protect them and those they love. There is much drama in this narrative, although it doesn’t cross over into melodrama in the least.

There was more than one night when I had trouble putting the book down to go to bed!Being the men who they are, there are a few moments that are a bit PG-13 as far as language and sexual content. I mention this only for those who are particular about these issues or are considering this for young readers. Most of the bedroom material is within the confines of marriage, and Wasylowski doesn’t go overboard with frequent gratuitous moments of intimacy or colorful tirades.

Thank heavens this isn’t some tawdry bodice-ripper with blue dialog every other minute.

Darcy and Fitzwilliam was an enjoyable read. Karen provides a epilogue that occurs decades after the main story, and I think she could easily draft a sequel in the future. I readily enjoyed her treatment of these characters and hope she continues to revisit this world. Her work is page turning, humorous, maddening (Caroline!!) and touching.

This is a fine edition to the ever-growing library of Austenesque novels. It’s definitely a “bromance” worth an Austen fan’s consideration.

LINDA BANCHE REVIEW

Review: DARCY AND FITZWILLIAM: A TALE OF A GENTLEMAN AND AN OFFICER by Karen V. Wasylowski

Laugh until your sides ache and then laugh some more with Karen V. Wasylowski's delicious Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer. This absorbing, fast-moving romp of a book catalogues the often hilarious ups and downs in the enduring affectionate friendship of those brothers-in-spirit, cousins Fitzwilliam Darcy and Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.

I read this entire 481 page book in one day, laughing all the way. Ms. Wasylowski has a good ear for realistic male banter, most of it uproariously funny. The best two lines in the whole novel occur when Darcy and Fitzwilliam reminisce about their youth and the hilariously disgusting things young boys do to each other. I still laugh when I think of those lines.A truly wonderful and original take on Pride and Prejudice. I can't wait for Ms. Wasylowski's next book.

JANE AUSTEN EXAMINER

This book was a delight to read. I found the character development of Colonel Fitzwilliam particularly fascinating. Men who have seen war, especially at the grand level Wasylowski has laid out her Fitzwilliam, are hardly ever unaffected. Her portrayal of his issues and struggles are heartfelt and poignant.

It was a little heart-wrenching for me to read about Darcy’s past lover and for Elizabeth to have to deal with the reality of marrying an older man more experienced than her. I was almost angry at the author at first, but I realized what a great job she did of involving me in the storyline. I was fairly sucked in.

HISTORICAL BOOKS REVIEW

SUITE101.C0M Review

Jane Austen Books Get a Dose of Karen V. Wasylowski

Though this is only Karen V. Wasylowski's first book, it is safe to say this author has found her voice in sequels to Jane Austen classics. One of the better additions being Karen V. Wasylowski's wit and humor. I never expected to laugh so hard as I did with Darcy and Fitzwilliam. The storyline was so engaging, the plot so thick with intensity and literary genius that I was immediately roped into the novel and ultimately emotionally invested in its outcome.

Karen V. Wasylowski

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

I will pay you to look at my blog (watch for Sean Bean at the end of this)

4 comments:

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REVIEW BY DEE SWIFT OF DARCY AND FITZWILLIAM

THE CALICO CRITIC

LINDA BANCHE REVIEW

JANE AUSTEN EXAMINER

HISTORICAL BOOKS REVIEW

SUITE101.C0M Review

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