Picture Books, Pride and Prejudice and The Gift of Rain

I spent a pleasant morning at Kinokuniya Bookstore. Well, it's always a good place to be, as any book-lover living in the Klang Valley will agree.

Drooled over several books and thought about buying them, but ended up with just one: Behind the Attic Wall (Avon Camelot Books, 315 pages) by Sylvia Cassedy.  The cover is really shockingly  unattractive, don't you think? Kino's children's and YA books buyer, Kit said to me: "American books have the ugliest covers."

Here's she is, in rock star/reclusive movie star mode: "Don't take my picture. I vant to be alone!"

I was at Kino to meet Sophia Ahmad, a journalist from the Bernama News Agency. Amir and I were supposed to be interviewed about our picture books. Our appointment was for 11, but Sophia didn't turn up til after one: a last minute assignment sent her to Shah Alam and she couldn't reach me on my mobile. No matter: more time to browse.

While waiting for Sophia, I had a scone and a cafe au lait. Any excuse!

Eric Forbes (our editor at MPH Publishing) was mooching about and joined us for a chat (unfortunately, I was too busy stuffing my face with the scone to snap his pic).

Eric was on his way to an appointment with one of his writers and stopped at Kino to buy Tan Tuan Eng's The Gift of Rain (Myrmidon Books, 448 pages). I don't particularly want to read a book set during the Japanese occupation, but I will read this one because I have heard many good things about Tan's writing. I am, however, looking forward to the first Malaysian  novel about modern-day Malaysia and Malaysians.

   

Anyway,  Sophia eventually turned up and we had a nice chat about children's books. She has a three-year-old girl so Amir and I suggested she get her our books: Hey, it's for a good cause!

I'm on leave for one week, starting today, and I hope to get a lot of writing done (reviews, projects, email, blog). I also hope to watch at least one DVD a night. Tonight's film will be Pride and Prejudice ... the version starring Keira Knightley. I admit that I'm watching it just so I can bitch about it later. But who knows ....

Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy and Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett in Joe Wright's film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. (Austen must have cut this scene from her final draft!)

Comments

[Elya]

I liked this film, and already watched about 30 times .
Mne ocen nravitsya etot film, ya pocti 30 raz prosmotrela eqo, i nikak ne moqu nasititsya, i vsem sovetuyu posmotret.

[Barb]

P & P with Kiera and Matthew is what got me to watch all the Jane Austen movies - got all the books now too. Although I like Colin Firth - I can't say his version of Darcy is the better of the 2. I think he is cranky all the way thru and has such a really stupid smile at the end when they are driving away in the carriage. Not a smile anywhere and then grinning like an idiot. Nope Matthew is much better.

[Meegs]

The best version of pride and prejudice is the A&E version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Don't get me wrong, Matthew Macfadyen is a great actor and I loved his performance in the Masterpiece Theater's presentation of Little Dorrit. As Mr. Darcy though, Colin Firth has him beat. Plus the A&E version is much longer and more true to the story. I am not a huge fan of Keira Knightly and though Jennifer Ehle is more unknown, she does a better job as Elizabeth. I will say that Keira Knightly, though she is not my favorite, was excellent in the Duchess.

[Beatriz]

ESTOY TOTALMENTE DE ACUERDO CON LA PERSONAS QUE DIJERON LO DEL BESO Y LO DE TANTO SUFRIR POR VERLOS JUNTOS...NI UN MISERO BESO???...SI ESTA MUY BONITO LA PELICULA...ME ENCANTO...QUEDE FASCINADA CON AQUEL HOMBRE...PERO SI ESPERA MUCHO MAS...VERLOS JUNTOS...UNA ESCENA ROMANTICA..PERO BUENO QUE MAS...YA QUE...SOLO QUE ME QUEDE PICADA...OJALA HUBIERA PODIDO VIVIR EN ESA EPOCA... O VIVIR EN LUGARES TAN HERMOSOS...QUE BONITOS PAISAJES...

[Agnes]

Ahhhh ... AMEI ESTE FILME !!!! Comprei sexta-feira e assisti 3 vezes ! É LINDOOOO, mas eu esperava um grande final com o BeijO! Faltou um pouco mais de romance dos dois ! Só isso ! Mas a história é linda ! Principalmente a parte que, apesar de seu orgulho, ele se declara pra ela !
Eu sempre assisto o filme e depois coloco o final alternativo ! Ele ficaria melhor no filme ... e essa cena dos dois, no banco da praça, sei lá, tambem ficaria muito legal no filme ! Eles mal se tocam, só se tocam qdo dançam, e nem assim, se tocam direito ... acho que o grande final com o beijo, era o que todo mundo esperava e não aconteceu ... mas mesmo assim, continua sendo um otimo filme !

[Russia]

Otlichniy film!!!

[Uekz]

Отличный фильм! Посмотрела уже трижды и посмотрю еще не раз!

[Jess]

I totally agree with you there, italia. We waited the entire movie and only get ten seconds of a kiss at the end! What's up with that?! Oh well. I still love the film.

[italia]

como es posible que una pelicula tan linda no tenga el final que todo el mundo espera, qué pasó por la cabeza del director !?????? El beso, el matrimonio ???? nada, toda la película sufriendo por verlos juntos y al final, 30 segundos y fin ????

omg i luv pride and prejudice

[mon]

¿donde estaba escondido este chico? lo descubrí con esta pelicula y estoy locamente enamorada de el. ¡¡¡¡¡quiero cambiar a mi maridooo!!!!!!!

[mery]

La película...hermosa, bueno en realidad es una muy buena historia, pero el final me quedó con gusto a poco......el esperado beeeso, los 2 actores se ven muy lindo él sobre todo.

[roxana]

porque no muestran el final completo de la pelicula k tenemos k estar buscandolo ademas el final es lo esperado el gran beso.

[Paulaaaaaaaaaaa]

una chotadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa yo queria q se den un besoooooo!!!

[Daphne]

Hi Sharon! Ha-Ha! I snapped the scone and then started stuffing my face and then Eric showed up. I know, I know, excuses, excuses ... ;-)

[bibliobibuli]

how can you remember to snap your scone but forget to snap eric????

(if you'd snapped your books instead, i could have understood)

[daphne]

Hi Kenny. Yeah, I was being facetious when I said that Austen left that scene out of her final draft. I have heard terrible things abt this version of P&P ... and I didnt get around to watching it last night after all so the verdict is still out. Oh, and Kit was commenting on American children's books of a certain kind. For example, Sarah Maclachlan's books: So beautifully written but with covers that are as ugly as sin. Unfortunately this puts off potential readers who may not be bothered to, like me, rush home and get busy with the brown paper!

[Kenny Mah]

I believe that shot is a promo shot, and not from the film itself. Keira returns to form in this film, reminding me of her performance in Bend It Like Beckham. Her Pirates performances, feisty as they are, always disappear behind the rowdiness of Johnny Depp's Capt Jack.

And while I can't completely agree with Kit, this round on this particular cover, she's spot on. Ugh.

[Michelle]

I have read Behind the Attic Wall many times. I stayed up until 2 am finishing it. I think I was 9 or 10 when my mom bought it for me.