kareng Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Hey folks. I was just wondering if you have any suggestions for good DVDS and/or audio books of some of the classics. We pretty much have Jane Austen movies down. But I'm wondering about Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights and other books that you consider to be "classics". We picked up a Jane Eyre DVD that I borrowed from the library and it described it as "sens**l". I'm not looking for sens**l. The reason I chose that one was that it was 2 hours shorter than the others and talked about it being a good version. I'm looking for authentic versions that are true to the books, not modernized ones that felt "they" needed to include some s*x or sens**lity to draw in more viewers. Do you have DVDs or audio books that you would recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 For Shakespeare, find the audio Arkangel versions, they are complete, they aren't read by one person but by a cast and done dramatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I second the Arkangel audio Shakespeare. There are many good video adaptations of Shakespeare. Our favorite Hamlet is the one with David Tennant as Hamlet. Kenneth Brannaugh's Henry V is fabulous. Just a few days ago, we watched a great film version of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence (with Winona Ryder as May); it was very well done, with book passages in a narrated voice over, very true to the novel and filmed with wonderful attention to detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 The Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid have audio book versions that feature the Robert Fagles translation. These are all quite good, but the Iliad is an abridged version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Seamus Heaney reading his wonderful translation of . Listen to it on a rainy night, preferably around a fireplace by candlelight. Bill Wallis's lyrical reading of Simon Armitage's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Alan Rickman reading Hardy's Return of the Native. Alan Rickman could read our local burger joint's menu and I would swoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I second the Arkangel audio Shakespeare. There are many good video adaptations of Shakespeare. Our favorite Hamlet is the one with David Tennant as Hamlet. Kenneth Brannaugh's Henry V is fabulous. Just a few days ago, we watched a great film version of Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence (with Winona Ryder as May); it was very well done, with book passages in a narrated voice over, very true to the novel and filmed with wonderful attention to detail. That is a great Age of Innocence. They kept the ending, which wasn't Hollywoodized. Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer are leads. There is also a nice mini series version of Wharton's The Buccaneers that was shown on PBS. It is available on Netflix. I also though The House of Mirth was well done. Lead is the actress from X Files (Gillian Anderson?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Duplicate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Seamus Heaney reading his wonderful translation of . Listen to it on a rainy night, preferably around a fireplace by candlelight. Yes! His Beowulf is outstanding - both the translation and his reading. Forgot all about that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 This is the best Jane Eyre I've ever seen. It's long (about 5 hours), but stays true to the book with very little added to it. Of course, even at 5 hours there is still a lot left out. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Do you know about CC Prose Audiobooks? free online...then you can try chapters to see what you like... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 The Timothy Dalton Jane Eyre is good. There's a really old Wuthering Heights that is good too (with Laurence Olivier, sp). On that Jane Eyre, sounds like you got into a modern one that really souped it up. There's nothing inappropriate in ANY of the older versions I've seen. So skip that modern 2011 one and go back to Timothy Dalton and older versions and you'll be fine. For Shakespeare, we've watched a number of the Ambrose/BBC versions, and they're clean, fine for kids. Some of the more modern movie versions had some elements we weren't wanting. I think you can watch the Ambrose ones on their website as a rental for $4 each, or you can usually get them through the library on dvd. You know, you might go a different direction and try light opera. Clyde Bulla has a book of summaries of Gilbert & Sullivan operas. You can read the summaries and then watch the videos. Start with Pirates of Penzance, hehe. Bulla has a couple other really good opera summary books. They're quite simple to read, so we pair them with a book of summaries by the Metropolitan Opera. She reads from those sources then watches the video on youtube. Do that once a week, and you've covered a lot of material quite enjoyably! There are LOTS of good summaries available for Shakespeare, so it's easy to read a few versions and then enjoy the play together. When we did Shakespeare like that, we googled and found discussion guides to use with them. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/256558-shakespeare-choices-for-6th-grade/ They're plays and meant to be seen. I'd rather have someone who comes out having seen 10 or 14 shakespeare plays and LIKES them than a person who has slogged through one via reading and vows he'll never darken his eyeballs with it again. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kareng Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 This is the best Jane Eyre I've ever seen. It's long (about 5 hours), but stays true to the book with very little added to it. Of course, even at 5 hours there is still a lot left out. I cannot recommend this highly enough. We just saw this (as a family) and enjoyed it very much. I can't thank you enough for this recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 We just saw this (as a family) and enjoyed it very much. I can't thank you enough for this recommendation! Your very welcome. I have it in the DVD player right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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