Bloody hell, I need a lie-down in a dark room.
Those who know me/ read this blog/ have even fleetingly met me know just how much I love The Wire and it’s conflicted anti-hero Jimmy McNulty. And just when I felt like I couldn’t love it any more, I read something that made me fair shiver with delight. Coffee company Carte Noir have just launched a series of online ads with British actors reading excerpts – often pivotal moments – from classic and not-so-classic novels. It’s reminiscent of the BBC’s Jackanory programmes I used to watch as a kid. The reasoning behind the campaign appears to be: “Have a break, have a coffee with your favourite book.” And by Jove, it works. I have never wanted a cup of coffee so much, nor have I wanted to re-read Pride and Prejudice (already one of my favourites) so badly, as I did when I watched Dominic West read the passage where Mr Darcy professes his love before Lizzie rejects his proposal. Oy.
All the actors feature twice – as well as Austen they have West reading from Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. They’ve also recruited Greg Wise (Mr Emma Thompson) to read from Hardy’s Tess of The D’Urbervilles and Nicholas Drayson’s A Guide To The Birds of East Africa and Dan Stevens reads from Dickens and Jonathan Coe’s The Rotters’ Club. Watch all the videos and find out more here.
In the meantime, I leave you with a clip from the BBC’s 1995 (!) adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which cemented the love affair between Colin Firth and the millions of faceless romantics out there. Jennifer Ehle’s cracking, too. Enjoy.
2 Comments
July 4, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Terrific find! As a little sugar in your coffee, did you know that West and Ehle appeared on Broadway together in Noel Coward’s ‘Design For Living”? Dreamy.
July 5, 2009 at 12:42 am
That’s excellent sugar you’re giving out there, Wired! Glad you like the post – I’ve been re-visiting the Carte Noire site as often as possible to let the honeyed gravel of Mr West’s voice wash over me. It’s a nice way to pass an afternoon.