43 Comments

You two make me laugh.

Love your letters.

And re Jane Austen, bingo. You'll see...

Expand full comment
author

LOL, Prue - thank you! And gosh, I'm intrigued.....!

Expand full comment

That 1995 series. I never watched it, but also never had to, because my sister and my nan wore out the VHS recording she made when it aired on PBS. 😅 Their love for Colin Firth knew no bounds.

Expand full comment
author

LOL, Bryn! I wonder how I'll feel about him when I watch the series again. I have my suspicions that I know already, of course... 😍😍😍

Expand full comment

Delightful , as always, Rebecca; love the new terminology of apostropedantry, the minimal gutter is quite frustrating indeed, and yay for audiobooks!

Expand full comment
author

Thank you so much, Mya! I love making up words like that. Those gutters are so irritating, aren't they?

I recently came across a beautiful edition of a book I've been wanting to read, and although it's hardback rather than paperback it looked and felt way more 'accessible' to me as a reader than a too tightly guttered paperback. The display copy even lay flat when I opened it, and the words were ALL properly on the page, not falling down the crevasse in the middle. 🙌 User experience is so important, isn't it?

Expand full comment

It really is! And on behalf of all suffocating apostrophes, may I thank you for your rescue efforts, Rebecca!😊

Expand full comment
author

🤣

Expand full comment

I dare any of your readers, or Terry's, to tell me that misplaced apostrophes aren't worth making a flap about! My classical homeschooling friends used to joke that each instance had the potential to cause a kitten to drop dead on the spot. But, I never thought to see it from the apostrophe's point of view, suffocating under tape or the damning gaze of the Literati. The poor suffocating dear!

Loved this, Rebecca -- and I have thoughts brewing for a piece that touches on whether we are facing north or moving forward. If I can ever find my way to it!

Expand full comment
author

Oh Elizabeth, having read this gorgeous comment of yours I am minded to put on my hat, coat and gloves and head straight down to South Street (at 8.44pm!) to rescue that poor apostrophe from its suffocating tape and stow it in my pocket ready to stick on a sign on which one is missing!

Oooooh, I'd love to read the piece you're brewing - it sounds right up my street!

Expand full comment
Nov 29, 2023·edited Nov 29, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Pride and Prejudice. I purchased the set when it came out, and I would be embarrassed to tell you how many times I watched the entire series. Obsessively so. You chose the best scene, of course. When you watch the series again, notice how Colin Firth played Darcy as a very lonely, unhappy man. He does not smile once throughout the entire saga... until the very last scene in the wedding carriage. His whole face and posture changed. Thanks for the reminder. Love the letters!

Expand full comment
author

I'm so glad you enjoyed the series as much as I did, Sharron! I must carry on and finish the audiobook (I'm now up to chapter 27 of 61) so that I can start watching! Listening to the audiobook I was surprised that my first impression of Darcy had been so different to how I'd seen him on the screen, so it'll be very interesting to compare. I'll certainly be looking out for his (non)smile - thank you for the tip-off! 😊

Expand full comment

the comparison between Firth and Matthew Macfadyen is night and day.

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

It sure is, though both played him as bumbling, inept, rigid. But, I do have to say MacFayden, in the last scene was, ahem, quite charming. I could have licked him all over. ( Can I say that on Rebecca's page...? Yeeks. Maybe not...)

Expand full comment

lol, not sure I can say the same, but... perhaps my wife has something she’d like to share 🤔

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Yes, I am sure, but, Dave...would you really want to know?

Expand full comment
author

🤣

Expand full comment
author

🤣

Expand full comment
author

🤣 SHARRON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

(oooops. sorry. i got carried away. won't happen again )

Expand full comment
author

LOL - I'm going to be laughing for ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😘

Expand full comment

“If it was to be secret," said Jane, "say not another word on the subject.” 🫣

Expand full comment
author

🤣

Expand full comment

Oh, Gosh - how I love that series. Just showed my wife the other day. :)

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

My 80-year-old mother was really taken by it. She would sit in her rocker, rapt, sighing ... ha ha ha. All women are still young girls inside , no matter our age.

Expand full comment
author

"All women are still young girls inside, no matter our age."

YES!

Expand full comment

😂😃😂 Why do I hear the dryer procedure, forty years post college--so unfair! The dryer pic, also a good strategy for saving time!

My wife would probably like a listen to that audiobook. That movie clip was great. I may try a dip in the local pond after arising. 🥶 Thank's, thanks Rebecca!

Expand full comment
author

LOL - well, it's a few years since I was there, just mud - I graduated towards the end of the last millennium! 🤣 Enjoy your dip - that idea sounds rather too chilly for me in November! 🏊🏼‍♂️🥶

Expand full comment
Nov 29, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Those were the days. Waiting for each weekly episode of Pride and Prejudice (or Brideshead Revisited) to come out. British historical series were so... informative. Grin. I couldn’t imagine the luxury of those grand houses.

Another lovely read. (And yes, apostrophes... 🙄)

Expand full comment
author

Oooooh, Brideshead Revisited - and a very dashing young Anthony Andrews! 😍 I'll have to see if I can find it. I didn't watch it at the time, but I was well aware of a keen following.

And thank you so much for your kind words, Beth! 😊

Expand full comment

An apostrophe party! There should be champagne and apostrophe confetti. I love you Brits. I'm still Googling, fishing for correct grammar. So? Is it Two Weeks Notice or Two Week's... I think it's the latter.

BTW, we own that version of Pride and Prejudice. I must have binged several times over the years.

Expand full comment
author

Ooooooh, an apostroparty! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the sound of that confetti! 🤣

In fact... sorry, but it's neither Two Weeks Notice nor Two Week's Notice. It's Two Weeks' Notice!

Notice of one week = a week's notice

Notice of two weeks = two weeks' notice (the apostrophe follows the s, because the s is already there)

I LOVE that you had so enjoyed that series as well, and enough to own it, too. I'm so pleased that it's available on a streaming service over here. I remember making a conscious decision to not watch the 2005 film starring Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley because I wanted no-one replacing Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in my recollections!

Expand full comment

I disliked the 2005 film. Don't bother. No one can replace Firth and Ehle. I love(d) seeing cast members from the '95 version in different roles over the years. Hubby recognizes them as well. "Hey, isn't that Mr. Collins?"

Two Weeks'... Haha. Thank you for the correction!

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Speaking of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, you may like this version: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032943/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5

Expand full comment
author

Oh Olga, thank you SO MUCH for linking to that film trailer - it's FABULOUS! Olivier makes a smouldering Darcy 😍, and as for the screen caption 'Five love-hungry sisters... and how they got their husbands' - what a hoot! Loved it!

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

You are most welcome. :).

I don't know how many times I've seen that film. But every time I come away with both laughter in my heart and a smile on my face.

Expand full comment
Nov 30, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden

Oh and if you thought Laurence Olivier was smouldering in PRIDE AND PREDJUDICE, you should see him in WUTHERING HEIGHTS (he played Heathcliff).

Expand full comment
author

Looking it up RIGHT NOW - thank you very much! 😊

Expand full comment

I thought this wa's one of your better letter's, Rebecca. I'm always in favour of incorporating drawing's and film clip's. (Regarding the former, I love your sketch of a book. I like the dotted paper too.) so I will re'spond fully in due course. I pre'sume you don't wi'sh to join my recently formed apo'strophe appreciation 'society?

Expand full comment
author

Terry, your society is misnamed - you have shown NO appreciation for the apostrophe in your comment! *shudder's* 😉

But thank you! Dotted paper is my favourite - all of my notebooks have dotted pages. I'm already looking forward to reading your reply to this letter next week. 😁

Expand full comment

me too. And I HAVE shown appreciation for the apostrophe: I use one everywhere, whether it's wanted or not, so there

Expand full comment

"When I read a book book, you see, I read it in my own voice." Me, too! Love your letters to Terry, and Terry to you. ⭐️

Expand full comment
author

Awww, thank you, Mary! 😁

Expand full comment