The Forsyte Saga

Um, yeah, and I also recommend if that is something that you struggle with or it's new to you, an annotated version can be really fun.

I discovered this actually when I was reading The Forsyte Saga, which is another book that I, I read because I saw the adaptation that I really liked, the one with, um, uh, you know, the Damian Lewis, Gina McKee one.

I really liked it so I read the book.

So I wouldn't have read the book if I hadn't seen that, but I loved the experience of reading the book and- I ended up loving the book more than the series like ended up loving the book more than reason itself honestly and partly it was because the paperback I had happened to have footnotes and so a lot of the jokes that were in there that were not as obvious to me were explained and that helped a lot because I didn't know it was supposed to be a funny book and then I'm like halfway through and I'm like this is a lot more Pratchett than it is Dickens what is going on here because the TV series was not that funny and now I am a Forsyte Saga obsessive I've also watched the 1960 series I watched the new one which wrong on so many levels but weirdly I was able to enjoy it despite that because yeah I'm I'm quite good at doing that sort of thing but so wrong just just missed all the marks but I always find it fascinating to see an adaptation where they have changed things kind of for social reasons and I'm like I see why you did that but you have changed the story so massively but yes I see what you did that it's like watching the Odyssey you know Christopher Nolan film and it's like oh I see you decided to not explicitly put any kind of rape on the page or on the screen which makes a lot of sense but you know oh and and no adultery either okay you know that means it's basically not Odysseus anymore but you know I can see why you wouldn't necessarily want to be standing behind a hero who does all the things that yeah we talked about Greek heroes and how they're not as heroic as anyway short answer is um if you want to if if my book gives you even the slightest curiosity in the original absolutely go back and read the original um and I say that if you love an adaptation too because something that was a little bit shocking to me as somebody who's read Pride and Prejudice multiple times but had not reread it probably in about at least 15 20 years and I didn't realize it had been so long because of how often I've re-watched like the 95 adaptation and I did realize actually the Pride and Prejudice in my head is the Andrew Davies version and not the Jane Austen version I had to refresh myself with the original and realize how many scenes that I thought were canon uh were actually you know happened off page or happened in different ways and maybe the banter was a little bit different or actually that thing was a letter and not a yeah I thought I knew which bits were Austen and which bits were the adaptations and it I slipped and 20 years went past so yeah look if you're interested then do it it's a fun thing to do uh to go into a classic novel with an agenda linked by a supporting work and you might find yourself investing or delving into the book in a different way than you would have otherwise and that's really cool you know whatever it takes uh and if you don't want to that's also chill nobody is saying you have to read Jane Austen she is not suffering uh like if anything it's very interesting somebody somebody's phd thesis i'm sure will cover how she as an author has changed in public perception and popularity since the early 90s and adaptations i think are a big part of that like i'm not saying she wasn't popular before but much like agatha christie the way in which she has been rock starred up and above equivalent writers is fascinating you know um why do people like one book more than they like another book really interesting questions i'm not doing any more phds maybe you will i'm gonna stop talking now because we're at an hour and a half and nobody asked me that many questions uh thank you so much for people who do did respond to my call out for questions it was a little bit tumbleweeds at first and i was like am i gonna have to invent all the questions myself but i didn't so thank you for saving me from embarrassment thanks for listening to sheep might fly this podcast was recorded on muwenina country i respect and acknowledge the rights voices and lived experience of the palawa people the traditional and continuing custodians of lutruwita tasmania sheep might fly is produced and edited by andrew finch you can find my season of dragons kickstarter campaign on the kickstarter page by searching for my name tansy rr uh or my full name let's face it uh or the title of the book or follow the link in the show notes you can pledge for your reward now especially if you want one of the limited edition tiers uh if you want your own little felt dragon or whatever i recommend that or you can follow the campaign to get updates and a notification before it ends uh if you're not following me on instagram at tansy rr that's where i'm putting my daily bonnet of doom updates right now uh and also putting a lot of kickstarter and jane austen content on blue sky uh also tansy rr so you can follow me there have a great month and i will take you back to frightful manor very soon i promise see you then

Yeah.

They can pull something from, uh, The Forsyte Saga or, or, or whatever.

Uh, but if it's set on an alien planet it always looks shit 'cause it has to be made from scratch and they got 50p and a bag of chips to do it.

Of course.

So it's wonderful when you do something not Shakespeare there, and I've done quite a lot of non-Shakespeares there.

Earlier this year, I did The Forsyte Saga there.

Oh, yes.

Which was extraordinary, playing Soames Forsyte in this two-part, like the Harry Potter two plays, part one, part two.

was a really beautiful man.

Yeah, he was in the Foresight Saga.

Yeah, the Foresight Saga.

He is absolutely gorgeous in that.

But, yeah, it's stories like this, I think, that will be really, yeah, really fascinating, really.