I was mercilessly teased by a colleague for this, but I loved Jane Eyre. I thought it was really beautiful. Yes, it was romantic and that turns off some people, but I like a good romance every now and then, especially when it is done so well as this. Besides, the novel also addressed issues of faith and religion, social and economic class divisions and conscience. Not only that, but Jane and Mr. Rochester are such finely drawn characters. Everyone else, while necessary to the plot, is utterly peripheral when you recognize the power of these two individuals in personality, passion and conviction.
This past week I started reading Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Life After Death. I wanted something to answer my nagging question of "Where has my loved one gone?" This book answers that question. Of course, it only contains one of many theories about this, and I am not sure how much I believe and how much I do not, but it is a nice read anyway. Dr. Ross references many patients that she had who came back to life after having been dead, as well as experiences with "ghosts" (for lack of a better term; certainly not one she uses, though) who return with messages and comfort. Again, I am highly skeptical but sometimes you just want to tell yourself that something is true to erase the uncertainty.
Finally, I am reading Tartuffe for the first time through DailyLit emails. I am a big fan of that website and service! The play is good so far. Not much to say as I have only read a few scenes, but it has captured my interest.
7 comments:
Tartuffe :
I hade to read it in the high school and on the university too
i enjoyed to read it,
but a play is better to watched than read, especially Moliere's plays, though...
I'm a great fn of 'Jane Eyre' as well, but have to be very careful after reading it as Bronte's 'voice' is so strong I find myself adopting her style in anything I write.
Jane Eyre is one of my all time avourite reads. I like the strong character of Jane.
SS 1: Review of Shelf Monkey
SS 2: List of acquired books
Funny, I wrote about Jane Eyre on my Sunday Salon post, too! :-)
DailyLit is great, isn't it? I'm reading a P.G. Wodehouse. It's a perfect way to start the day!
I liked this one a lot more than many of the main alternatives, but I always found Rochester a bit annoying. Should we consider him such a great romantic hero if he treats his first wife like that?
Good point, Stu. I did not like his tirade about his wife's mental illness, though it seems he did the best for her by having her cared for and not discarding her, even though she tried to kill him on numerous occasions. In her condition, he couldn't very well live in a marital relationship with her, could he?
I may just be defending him because I liked him so much. It was strange, at times he was cranky with Jane and I thought, "You are such a @#$%^" but I loved him anyway.
No idea why I haven't heard about dailylit before but I'm currently checking it out and it looks great. Thanks for the info :-)
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