Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther

Posted on 21 November 2013 by Katrina

I’m back – after a few days away, due mainly to life getting in the way and specifically to idiots viewing our house.

Anyway, the only thing keeping me semi-sane at the moment is reading and I’m behind with blogposts. A couple of weeks ago I finished reading Mrs Miniver. It’s one of those books that just seems to have always been there, probably more because of the film than the book. Anyway I realised that I had never read the book, nor even seen the film although I’ve probably seen some clips from it.

The first thing that struck me when I read the blurb on the back of this Virago is that as Jan Struther was of Scottish heritage then this one would be fine for Peggy Ann’s Read Scotland 2014 Challenge. Her father was Henry Torrens Anstruther, an Edinburgh advocate and Liberal MP for St Andrews. Jan Struther was the pen name of Joyce Anstruther, she dropped the -An- of the surname as her mother was also a writer using the name Anstruther. Jan married Anthony Maxtone Graham which is of course another weel-kent Scottish surname.

‘Mrs Miniver’ was originally a column which was published in The Times, beginning shortly before the start of World War II. She was asked to write the column by Peter Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming, it’s funny how all those bookish people are linked one way or another. Jan Struther obviously based the Miniver family on her own. Mrs Miniver’s family is described as being middle class but I think upper middle is nearer the mark as in 1939 you had to be pretty well off to be able to afford a car and indeed a cottage in Kent as well as a house in Chelsea. Nowadays you would have to be a multi-millionaire to afford that life-style of course!

Having said that Mrs Miniver did write about things which everyone was experiencing, like getting gas masks and going out in a black-out for the first time (inky), driving to Scotland ( and I must say if you’ve never done that then it’s high time that you did), visiting Highland Games, at the end of which Mrs Miniver writes: The music began to quicken intolerably for the final steps: and Mrs Miniver saw the rest through a mist. For I defy anyone, she said in self-defence, to watch a sword-dance through to the end without developing a great-grandmother called Gillespie.

First published in book form in 1939 and later in film, which I believe is quite different from the book, but Churchill credited it with doing more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships. It’s a fun but informative read.

Austenland – the film

Posted on 20 September 2013 by Katrina

Kirkcaldy Film Theatre has been having its very first Film Festival this week, which is why they had the Scottish premiere of the film Austenland at the Adam Smith Film Theatre this afternoon. I didn’t know a thing about the film but I’ve read and re-read Jane Austen’s books over the years and although I wouldn’t call myself a Janeite I couldn’t pass up the chance to see this film’s premiere.

I was surprised to see a red carpet had actually been rolled out at the front of the theatre, actually it looked great and I was cursing because I didn’t have my camera with me. Before the film began there was a short talk by Sharon Bassett, the treasurer of the Scottish Branch of the Jane Austen Society.

Austenland begins in the US where Jane a 30 something woman is obsessed with the Colin Firth Mr Darcy. Her home is full of Austen related stuff, dolls, a cardboard cut-out of Colin Firth as Darcy and lots of twee Georgianesque country home china bits and bobs.

As she’s having no luck with the US men she dates she decides to splurge all her savings on a trip to a Jane Austen themed stately home in England, the stay culminates in a ball where she will be guaranteed a romance with one of the gentlemen there. It’s the Jane Austen equivalent to one of those murder mystery weekends which were so popular a wee while ago.

From the beginning her expectations are dashed when she discovers that she has only paid for the ‘copper’ experience, whilst her older and wealthier compatriot has opted for the platinum deal. Poor Jane is treated like the poor relation.

This film has many of the elements of a Jane Austen novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it, there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, it’s all very tongue in cheek of course, but I think Jane Austen herself would have had a good giggle if she had been able to watch it herself. I’ve just had a look at some film critic reviews of the film and it was only given 3 stars which I think is harsh. It is after all a rom-com and it drives me round the bend when people say that Jane Austen things are cliched – that just can’t be helped as everybody else has copied her down the years, somebody has to do things first!

If you want to see what else is on at the Kirkcaldy Film Festival this weekend have a look here.

The Da Vinci Code and Meanderings

Posted on 22 August 2013 by Katrina

A couple of days ago and not for the first time we drove past a road sign which said Rosslyn Chapel – 2 miles thataway. And as usual I said to myself, we must go there, but it always seems to be the way of things that we go far afield to visit tourist destinations but ignore the ones practically on our doorstep.

Anyway, last night that Da Vinci Code film was on and as I’d never seen it or read the book I deliberately avoided them both) I decided to watch the film this time around so that I could at least get a glimpse of Rosslyn Chapel on TV.

So just about three hours later we got there, and it was a brief glimpse, not at all what I expected from all the hoo ha at the time they were making the film, and I regard it as a feat of endurance that I managed to stay the course. For one thing I didn’t even realise that it starred Tom Hanks – not one of my favourites, but apart from that it was just a waste of three hours of my life that I can’t get back again, I am grateful though that I didn’t actually pay to see it in the cinema.

It dawned on me that in the time it took to watch the film we could have driven to Rosslyn Chapel, had a good snoop around it and the whole area and driven back, and it would all have taken us less time that it took us to watch the film!

I’m wondering how many more times we’ll drive past that roadsign pointing the way before we actually turn in that direction to visit Rosslyn. We were on our way somewhere else as usual, heading south of the border – no not down Mexico way but to Flodden field and a couple of antiques/bric a brac centres via the Scottish Border town of Kelso.

It was a good day out but I didn’t bring much back in the way of loot, just one old book by Rex Stout called The Broken Vase, and a couple of bits of fabric, one length with Indian elephants on it amongst other motifs and some Union Jack material, just in case it is on its way out. I must admit I’m finding it difficult to imagine the design sans the St Andrew’s flag (Saltire).

On the way back home we stopped off at a chippy in Greenlaw for a fish supper – see above. The Chip Shop was run by a Frenchman and although I don’t really want to admit this, the chips were possibly the best ones I’ve ever had as they were beautifully crisp on the outside but soft in the middle without being at all soggy. We shared this as we usually find that a large fish supper is enough for two. Another thing which I like about this chippy is the lack of a polystyrene/styrofoam box. I don’t see the need for them and they litter the country and can’t be recycled. What’s wrong with plain greaseproof paper covered with wrapping paper, just like this? Actually there was so much fish that you can hardly see the chips underneath it all.

I’ve just realised that The Classics Spin this month is number 4 so for me that means The Lady of the Camellias by Dumas (fils).
Not as scary as Moby Dick I hope.

I’ll be posting photos of Flodden soon.

Laurel and Hardy – Me and My Pal

Posted on 16 December 2012 by Katrina

I read that Kate Atkinson book When Will There Be Good News a while ago and there never was good news in that book – so depressing, and the whole world seems to be stuck in a horrible no good news cycle at the moment too.

Anyway, if like me, you are in need of something to cheer you up a bit, you might like to have a look at this Laurel and Hardy film. It was always one of my favourites, and this time of the year (Christmas) is usually jigsaw season for us, so it seemed appropriate.

Brave – the film

Posted on 20 August 2012 by Katrina

We don’t go to the flicks all that often, which is a shame because I do enjoy going out to see a film but there’s hardly ever anything on which I want to see. There was a lovely wee film called La Luna on just before Brave and it was worth dragging myself out just for that one alone.

I wasn’t at all sure about going to see Brave because I thought it might just be a 21st century version of Brigadoon but I must admit that I did enjoy it, and it was such a relief that the Scottish accents were authentic, not the usual phoney ones which grate on the ears of anyone who really knows what a proper Scottish accent should sound like, mind you there are so many different accents within Scotland.

Basically Brave has all the elements of a classic fairy tale or mythology. The king and queen are looking for a suitable husband for their beautiful daughter so the lords of all the various far-flung parts of the kingdom travel to the palace in an attempt to get their eldest sons married to the princess. So far so like the beginning of Song of Achilles in cartoon form. Throw in an old witch with a cauldron and spells for added humour, especially her call menu of potions.

Princess Medira has developed a mind of her own though and she isn’t going to conform just because her parents expect her to marry. She wants ‘freedom’ – is there a rule now that that word has to be used in films set in Scotland, since Braveheart? Brave is about all sorts of things like times changing, things not being as they seem and is all for independent women, particularly princesses with long red hair. What a shame I neglected to be born a princess.

We were told that this film was for children but the film theatre was full of adults, just a few kids, who all behaved themselves after the one who was sitting next to me and wailing all the time was taken out. I don’t think it was anything to do with me! She was just too tired and too young.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister – or in other words ‘the high heid yin’ went out to the US to see the premier of Brave as it is hoped that it will encourage people to visit Scotland. I can’t quite see that myself, it’s not as if there was any real Scottish scenery in it, it is a cartoon after all. It sounds like clutching at straws to me. Surely everyone knows by now that Scotland is a great place to visit, if it doesn’t rain.

Midnight in Paris – a film

Posted on 14 February 2012 by Katrina

We went out to the flicks tonight, the first time I’ve been to see a film for absolutely yonks. Of course, Midnight in Paris is a Woody Allen film and his films are not to everyone’s taste. They aren’t always great but more often than not I really enjoy them.

Midnight in Paris was a bit like a big advert for Paris, if you haven’t been able to visit then you’ll probably find the whole thing interesting just as a way of seeing the place.

Gil is a successful Hollywood screenwriter, and he’s in Paris with his fiancee Inez and her ghastly parents. At first I thought it was going to be a difficult film to like because none of the characters were at all likeable, but it wasn’t long before lots of wonderful artistic people from the past made their entrances. Gil mentions that he would have loved to have lived in Paris in the 1920s and it isn’t long before he is whisked into the past and meets up with Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, Man Ray – to name a few. I suppose it’s a hackneyed sort of a fantasy, but still very watchable.

A flick with vintage cars, flapper dresses and Paris added up to a good night out. They do say that the only thing wrong with Paris is that it’s full of French people! I couldn’t possibly comment.

It has taken about nine months for Midnight in Paris to reach the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy and it’s only on for one more night – February, 14th – today. It’s worthwhile going out on a dark, cold night to see it!

Chatsworth House Interiors

Posted on 1 August 2011 by Katrina

We went on a tour of Chatsworth before going into the parkland and even although it was quite early in the day it was packed with people. About half of them seemed to be Scots! Although there’s quite a lot to see, it’s obvious that only a fraction of the house is open to the public. I would love to know what the main staircase looks like as that’s usually the grandest part of stately homes.

Karen of Books and Chocolate was wondering if Chatsworth is what Jane Austen based Pemberley on in Pride and Prejudice. I read somewhere that Deborah Devonshire (the dowager duchess) believed that she recognised Chatsworth in Jane’s descriptions, and I suppose she should know. Jane does mention that Lizzie visits Chatsworth amongst other great houses in the Derbyshire area, the county does seem to have a plethora of them. But its the fact that Darcy’s sister is given the name Georgiana and that was the name of the 5th Duke of Devonshire’s wife who lived at Chatsworth in Jane Austen’s time which makes me think that she did really base Pemberley on Chatsworth. The house was used for parts of the 2005 P&P film, not a favourite of mine.

As you can imagine it’s just about impossible to get a photo without people in it but I took the one below of a stairway. I love the stairs themselves but I’m not so keen on the paintings, it’s all very heavy and dark looking but it fits in with the age of the house I suppose.

The ceiling in the photo below is of the room which was the 6th Duke’s dining room and it’s much brighter and airier with the crystal chandeliers and white and gold paint.

And this is the dining table, loaded with silver and looking wonderful. I’m so glad that I don’t have to clean all that silver though!

I could have quite happily settled down in the library which is below, I think it would probably be one of the cosiest rooms in Chatsworth.

I might be blogging about the garden and parkland again tomorrow, that really was my favourite bit.

Show Boat by Edna Ferber

Posted on 10 May 2011 by Katrina

It was Anbolyn of Gudrun’s Tights who nominated the author Edna Ferber for the CPR Book Group, the idea of which is to give neglected authors and or books a bit of a boost and breath some new life into them. So thank-you Anbolyn because I hadn’t even heard of Ferber who was so popular in the 1920s and 30s and even won a Pullitzer Prize.

I started off with Show Boat which I think everyone will know was made into a Broadway musical in 1927. The 1951 movie is so famous that it’s one of those ones which I’m not sure if I’ve actually seen in entirety or maybe I’ve just seen lots of clips over the years. Anyway next time it’s on TV I’m going to watch it to see if it differs from the book.

I really enjoyed this. The show boat is the Cotton Blossom Floating Palace Theatre and it plies its trade on the Mississippi River, calling in at towns on the river as the local crops ripen and the inhabitants have money in their pockets. Magnolia’s parents are the boat owners, they are Captain Andy Hawks and Parthenia Ann Hawks and while Andy is a popular and kind chap, Parthy is a grim-faced terror with a dislike of the theatre, actors and just about everything else. She has a tongue that would cut cloot (cloth) – as we say here.

Against Parthy’s wishes Magnolia ends up on the stage and when they call in to St Louis she falls for the wonderfully named Gaylord Ravenal, who ends up joining the show boat’s cast.

That’s a brief outline but there’s lots going on in this book with characters being accused of miscegenation (marriage between a black person and a white person) which was illegal in some places in America at the time and that ‘n’ word is used quite a lot by the more ignorant characters. One of the characters is ‘passing’ as a white person.

As a Jew Edna Ferber was no stranger to prejudice but it didn’t stop her from having a very successful career as a writer, which you can read about here. I have one other book by her – Ice Palace, but I’ll certainly be looking out for more in the future.

I’ve loved the idea of a Mississippi river boat since I started reading Mark Twain years ago but I know that the reality would kill me in no time – too hot!

The Eagle – the film

Posted on 13 April 2011 by Katrina

Amazingly, we actually went to the cinema in Dunfermline last night to see The Eagle which is based on the Rosemary Sutcliff book which I enjoyed reading years ago. Mind you it was SO long ago that I’m not sure how true to the book the film is. I don’t remember there being so much fighting and goriness but as that seems to be what most people want then they’re obviously going to add in as much as possible.

It’s set in Roman Britain and Marcus Aquila has been given command of a fort on Hadrian’s Wall and he is determined to gain back his family’s honour which was lost when his father and the Ninth Legion which he had command of, disappeared along with their golden eagle standard. The only way he can do it is to find the standard and take it back to Rome.

I quite enjoyed it but the battle scenes were so loud, they shook the whole place and it’s positively painful on my ears. Marcus and his slave Esca travel north into Caledonia/Scotland and some of the Scottish scenery is quite spectacular, the best part of the film for me really. It turned out to have a bit of a Romano-British Brokeback Mountain flavour to it, I think.

We hadn’t been to the flicks for ages, since we saw Tamara Drew actually because we didn’t get around to seeing The King’s Speech. I think we’re the only people in the western world who haven’t seen it. We did try when it was at the wee local cinema but we couldn’t get in as everybody else had booked their tickets! You live and learn!

Pining for the West

Meanderings about recipes, books, craft and more

Category Archives: Films