Here's my poll for today: How many of you people have actually read "Jane Eyre"?

If you shouldn't...wow, you're crazy. I don't think you belong here. I'll just copy&paste my crazy weblog entry to give you an idea of how important it is to me:

"I have officially decided something VERY important. For years now, someone would ask me, "What's your favorite book?" and I (of course) woud reply that there was no possible way to choose one. There are so many great ones out there! But....on my fourth re-reading of "Jane Eyre", I realized that the aforesaid novel is...perfect. Absolutely amazing. Wonderful! If you haven't read it, you should. The quality of the language is so complete; I find an archaic word that I don't know the meaning of at least every other page. And the subtle irony, the hidden mockery of insincere or pretentious people...it's just great. Charlotte Bronte is a genius."

Yep. Post.

<timidly puts up his hand>

Umm... I haven't. And I probably am somewhat crazy sometimes. But I would like to think I kind of have some sort of place here... as the token Manxman if nothing else.

I'll go and stand in the shunned persons corner now... will anyone be joining me?

R

Don't worry; you totally belong here. I was just very excited, because I had *finally* decided my favorite book in the world, and at the time it seemed incredulous that anyone might not have been exposed to something so great.

Please forgive me.

Maybe you should read it! It's completely amazing, definately worth reading. If you're a Fforde ffan, you're obviously intelligent enough to appreciate it. I would read it, if I were you.

i shall be joining you in the aforementioned shunned persons corner.... I have a copy of Jane Eyre but just have never got around to reading it. I have no excuse, I know!

I've read it twice, but the last time was about 16 years ago now (I remember it because I was in hospital for part of the period!). I agree it's a very very very very good book :-) And I'm pleased to say I remembered enough of the characters and details of the story to savour the references in Thursday's world with true delight.

I've read it both pre and post The Eyre Affair. It's a wonderful novel; beautifully written. I've lent and recommended The Eyre Affair to many people but always ensure they read Jane Eyre first.

Ahh, I just finished my fourth re-reading (I was in the middle of it when I posted first.) That's just the sweetest story ever written. Charlotte goes a little crazy with Jane's first-person narration, but it's still great.

Hooray, two people that have read Jane Eyre! I suppose that makes the score 3 and 2, favoring those that have read the wonderful novel.

Okay i've read Jane Eyre, liked it, but it is far from my favorite book and I probably won't read it again. I think once is enough when there are other things out there to be reading but I don't get a shiver of horror when it's brought up like my sister does. lol (She actually wouldn't read The Eyre Affair because it has Eyre in the title.)

I've read it many times. I also had a crush on Rochester during some of my teenage years. (Oh c'mon, I know you had crushes on literary characters too; it's not that weird.)

Crushes on literary characters...? Not exactly...well...if they were real, maybe...you know...this is odd...

-stops talking-

I just started "Wuthering Heights", the colloquialism put me off for many years (it was just tooooo confuzzle-ing!) but I'm a little bit smarter now. :)

My sister is similar to yours...if I like a book, she decides that she probably doesn't want to read it. I've been trying to get her to read "Watership Down" for years now...I mean, I read it in the second grade, and she's way old...anyways, she develops prejudices before she gets to know the book.

Tell her how bad it is and how you really regret reading it. Maybe she'll read it to spite you?

I love Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, though will have to hide in the corner of Watership Down related ignorance. How old are you in second grade anyway - can I use that as some sort of intelligent excuse?

~~And the subtle irony, the hidden mockery of insincere or pretentious people...it's just great. Charlotte Bronte is a genius.~~


I don't doubt that Charlotte Bronte was a genius, nor do I doubt that Jane Eyre is a splendid read; however, I have a painful intolerance for any book that doesn't grip me within the first few pages. I've been told that my literary impatience has robbed me of many blissful hours of escapism; though, I don't think I'll lose any sleep over it. After all, I knew more than enough about Jane Eyre to appreciate the allusions made in The Eyre Affair. (I was asked to do a summery of it in high school, and I've always had a way with making the best of skimming for sense and content.) Much the same is true about the references to Dickens. The only Dickens story I've read from front to back is A Christmas Carol, and that was because I had an extremely insightful Literature teacher who had assigned me a summery of each individual chapter. (Pure hell, that. I could've kissed her feet when I found out it wasn't A Tale Of Two Cities.) Nonetheless, I refuse to sit in the shunned corner; I'm far more suited for the snubbed or underestimated corner.

One thing that did strike me as curious about your post was the joy you seem to take in the "hidden mockery of pretentious…people." I guess this stuck out as odd because in your profile you refer to yourself as both pretentious and pompous. Unless, that is, your homepage and IM address are referring to someone else. ::grin::



Post Edited (08-06-05 09:48)

My own "pretentious-ness" is a kind of joke...you see, there are several definitions:

1 : characterized by pretension : as a : making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing) <the pretentious fraud who assumes a love of culture that is alien to him -- Richard Watts> b : expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature <pretentious language> <pretentious houses>
2 : making demands on one's skill, ability, or means : AMBITIOUS <the pretentious daring of the Green Mountain Boys in crossing the lake -- Amer. Guide Series: Vt.>

I think of myself as ambitious, and when I use the word "pretentious" to describe myself, that's how I use it. But the first definition applies also. I'm pretentious to imagine that I actually matter. I'm pretentious to think that I might actually make something of my puny self. I'm pretentious to address people like I'm actually their equal. So, whenever I give myself a screenname with "pretentious" or "pompous", I can delight in my little joke...as they laugh at me, I laugh back.

I was mainly referring to that so-called pious and religious man that ran the boarding school (who brought his wife and daughter to the school in silks while demanding complete plainess from the orphans) and Jane's aunt. It was so completely obvious that Bronte was making them look like idiots, with the way they talked...I think I laughed out loud. Anyways, more emphasis on "subtle irony" than "hidden mockery". I think I only used "pretentious" and "pompous" because they are words that just occur naturally to me. I was writing that for the benefit of my ignorant peers on my weblog, not for the high-class folks on the fforum. :)

You are seven in the second grade. It really wasn't anything special, I mean, "Watership Down" /is/ a story about bunny rabbits...even if it's also an epic novel about a very human-like journey.

It took me a chapter to "get into" Jane Eyre. Only that. The first pages were a drag, but as soon as they throw her into the Red Room it gets interesting.

I have yet to read "A Tale of Two Cities". It took me three re-reads to digest the first two pages alone...and I only recall that these were about the queen and king of France and England. Wow.

~~But the first definition applies also. I'm pretentious to imagine that I actually matter. I'm pretentious to think that I might actually make something of my puny self. I'm pretentious to address people like I'm actually their equal. So, whenever I give myself a screenname with "pretentious" or "pompous", I can delight in my little joke...as they laugh at me, I laugh back.~~


So, then, I take it you're not a psychology major.

Does it make me extremely ignorant that I don't really get the joke?

I don't really think that it's pretentious to think that I matter. But I'm really quite far down on the high school social level as construed by the idiots, so the idiots might believe me pretentious (if they know what that means.) Does that mean that I am not an idiot? No. I am extremely fallible. Just...less so. So I tend to give myself airs. But not really. Are you following this? Probably not. So let's stop talking about me. I don't understand myself sometimes.

I also found it too hard to get into "A Tale of Two Cities". I slowed down and just took it a city at a time and then it was fine.

Know this is suppose to be about Eyre Affair....but since you brought up Watership Down...i would like to say it is one of my favorite books (Tales from Watership is not as good). It's enjoyable at any age. I read it when i was probably 16 had has my brother read it soon after and he was 21 and loved it too.

As for reading Jane Eyre...I read it many many years ago when i was probably too young to "get it" So i wasn't that interested in it and realized i remembered very little of it. Maybe I'd try it again.



Post Edited (08-22-05 08:43)

Read for A Level (25 years ago) and I think re-read once since. But examining it to the nth degree at A level spoilt it completely!

I grew up in Haworth, so of course I've read it. I know I'll probably be lynched for saying this, but I also happen to think it's appalling. It may be just because I grew up immersed in Bronte culture, but I'm heartily sick of them now, and if I never read another word of a Bronte novel, it will be too soon. We studied them in English at school almost constantly, and I have to say I was deeply unimpressed. Maybe I'd have felt better about it if I'd read it of my own free will, rather than as part of a school syllabus, but I'm not so sure. If you can read only every tenth page of a book and still not lose anything from the plot, then you know you should be out there reading something good instead.

That said, I suppose if I hadn't read it, I wouldn't have understood The Eyre Affair, so maybe it was all worth it after all.



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&quot;We are born alone, and we die alone. In between, how about a drink?&quot;
~ Mr. Nutty

~~I know I'll probably be lynched for saying this, but I also happen to think it's appalling.~~

Well, I won't be joining in on the lynching. Quite frankly, I feel that most of the classics were long and drawn out, and could've been told in a much more interesting manner. As for the every-tenth-page thing, I gotta disagree with you there. I've read some pretty good books that could fall into that category. Then, I've always been good at linking bits here and there, so it may just be my ability to fill in that makes that possible.