Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte


From Goodreads:
Charlotte Bronte's impassioned novel is the love story of Jane Eyre, a plain yet spirited governess, and her arrogant, brooding Mr. Rochester. Published in 1847, under the pseudonym of Currer Bell, the book heralded a new kind of heroine--one whose virtuous integrity, keen intellect and tireless perseverance broke through class barriers to win equal stature with the man she loved. Hailed by William Makepeace Thackeray as "the masterwork of great genius," Jane Eyre is still regarded, over a century later, as one of the finest novels in English literature.

My Take:
I had no idea that I'd like this book as much as I did. I put it on my list to read because I wanted to read more classics.  Having just been in the UK this summer, I was reminded of the countryside there, which led to memories of all the adventures we had as a family. Love it when a book brings back good memories.
What I liked was the character Jane, her desire to be moral and true.  She was put into some pretty harsh environments and situations and pretty much always did the "right" thing. I'm not sure that I would've done the right thing in a few of those situations, especially at that age.   Bronte was brilliant at developing character. They are timeless characters that anyone can relate to.    Gotta love that!

10 comments:

ImageNations said...

I have a copy. Would be reading it soon.

Emily Cross said...

Jane Eyre is one of my favourite classics! Definitely a bit more action and risk in comparison to other novels in this time. Glad you enjoyed it.

If you enjoyed this I definitely recommend Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. Espec the BBC adaption ;)

Briony said...

Jane Eureka is one of my fictional heroes. I really need to read it again!

Briony said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
moonrat said...

so funny! my roommate is currently reading this for the first time for her Gaps list, too (I drafted her but didn't get her to join the blog...yet...) so we've been talking about it a lot.

and excellent because now we can ALL go see it in theaters this spring together and discuss whether we agree with the movie adaptation!

Emily Cross said...

That's excellent MR - slowly but surely we'll convert everyone :)

Also I highly recommend the Jane Eyre mini series (2006). One of the best adaptations IMO.

Unknown said...

How fun I wake up to a slew of comments for this review.

Nice simple and to the point review.

I have this one in my pile and when I get around to it - I have pictures. Loads of them....

The North Yorkshire Moors are lovely - damp dark and very cold. A perfect setting for the Bronte's family tale which was so very very sad.

Emily - you have surfaced :)

MaDonna Maurer said...

Nana, you should definitely read it soon. =)
Emily, thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to start looking for that one. I'll add it as my 101th book on the list. LOL

MaDonna Maurer said...

I'm so out of the loop...a movie is coming out? Sweet! I hope that play it here in Taiwan...doubt the hubby will go, but I have a few friends that'll go with me. Thanks MR for the news flash to me!

Shellie, you have pics of the area? That is great. Will you post them when you do your review? Or at least some of your favorites? That would be fun to see.

Rachel said...

I saw the new movie last weekend -- it was pretty good, and faithful to the book. They moved some things around -- it's not linear like the book is, they use flashbacks and the like -- but other than those temporal changes, the script seemed pretty faithful. I liked Mia Wasikowska as Jane, she was excellent! Michael Fassbender, yum. And Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, very entertaining. I'd recommend it --