If you're a purest, you can watch all of Session 3 in order on PBS. Yet if you've never seen the BBC series, this episode also stands on its own.
Honestly, this one episode has it all. Excellent premise. Superb execution. (The joy the minor characters have in saying their lines almost overshadows the acting of the primary characters). Incredible plot twists. Over the top awesome film elements. There is one part, that I can't talk about for being a spoiler, but I've seriously never seen film portray a character's interior monologue that well--ever! Oh, and the unexpected love scene stuck in the middle! Pitch perfect! I think I'll still be quoting John Watson's description of marital love to my own husband when I'm 83.
A movie I adored watching over Valetine's Day weekend was Austenland. If you like watching Downton Abbey. If you've loved reading an Austin novel, this is a movie for you. I rented it out of our local Redbox for $1.25. This was a fresh romantic comedy that my husband loved as much as me. It really poked fun at itself. A great comedy, that for me- a bookish girl historian--made me laugh outloud in self-recognition.
As for books, I'm really impressed with the Divergent series. A new movie is coming out in March. If you enjoyed reading the Hunger Games, go check it out. I'm not a Sci-Fi or Fantasy genre reader at all. Yet I found author Veronica Roth's Divergent book a fascinating read. (Divergent is her first book!)
The big take away message for me, was this writer talked about the virtue of Courage, in a unique way. I'm used to thinking about Courage in a very physical, masculine way. (Such as the brave 300 Greek warriors defending a thin mountain pass in the Battle of Thermopylae). As a Catholic, when I hear St. Paul talk about courage, this is the type of courage I think about--the courage of the red martyr. In contrast, this book made me better appreciate the Catholic concept of "white martyrdom." This is still a slippery concept to me. I'd describe this concept in more secular language as "the bravery of emotional honesty in the face of intense opposition."
In her book Divergent, Roth really describes the emotional courage we need as artists. She nicknames us "Dauntless." I left her book thinking that the courage we need to be Creatives--to stick out necks out, to solve problems, to make art, to be true to the small inner whisper of direction inside ourselves-- is a great gift we give to the whole world. I closed the cover of that book more determined to be myself.
Tomorrow, I'm starting a "Thursday with Thoreau" series. I'm rereading Walden. I can't believe how practical his ideas are to me. I want to share them with you gentle readers.
