Well, I finally did it! I finally read the book that everyone raves about and is a favorite to so many! I can honestly say now that I am one of those people. My only disappointment is with myself that I waited so long to read it.
Charlotte Bronte's JANE EYRE is such a wonderfully told gothic romance. Her writing is just amazing. I love that it's not your typical love story with a beautiful maiden and handsome young man - its a story of a plain-looking orphan and her not-so-handsome master, but their love is beautiful. I instantly adored Jane and dispised her aunt and cousins, who treated her so horribly as a child. Then after being sent off to that wretched school, her closest friend, Helen Burns dies. and then a few years later her dear friend and teacher, Ms. Temple leaves the school to be married. Is she not to ever have someone love her who will not be taken from her? Then there's Mr. Rochester - who I found odd, in a likeable sort of way. The chemistry between them was apparent from the start and I loved reading the banter between them. When the truth of Mr. Rochester's wife was revealed and Jane ran away, I thought surely he would go looking for her and find her. Though he did search, she was well hidden with people who, surprisingly turned out to be her family, something Jane had always longed for.
The character I was most surprised by was St. John Rivers, even though he did save her life and opened his home to her, I felt the way he treated Jane when she refused to marry him and be his missionary wife in India, was indignant, even though I realize he though he was doing what God expected of him. He was very selfish and it was easy to see he had his own motives from the start.
I really loved this story. I read this book at the same time I was reading other books, but chose this as my bedtime reading. It was a great way to end each day. I will say that I kept a dictionary close at hand and used it frequently to look up some of those words! Whew! I've heard from so many fellow bloggers that they, like me, hadn't read JANE EYRE. To those, I can only hope to encourage to not put it off any longer. This is a beloved classic piece of literature that should be read again and again.
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Publisher: Courage Classics (Hardcover)
Published: 1991
Pages: 358
Raing: 5 out of 5 stars (It was amazing!)
And now that I've read your review I've been inspired to read this one again!! I think I will read it during the summer when I have more time to devote to it and will be able to take my time reading it again!!
ReplyDeleteI should read it again. It's been years and years...ok, decades! Loved it. Glad you did too.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you enjoyed it. Now that you have finished this one, perhaps you would want to try Villette, another Charlotte Bronte novel that is almost better than Jane Eyre.
ReplyDeleteI've read Jane Eyre and I vaguely remember enjoying it. I would like to read it again to refresh my memory. I might do it for the upcoming classics challenge. Right now I am working on Wuthering Heights for my book club.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite books. Last fall/winter I went in search of a good Jane Eyre movie. Here is a link to my favorite so far
ReplyDeletehttp://stacybuckeye.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/jane-eyre-1983-movie/
It's good to see another Jane Eyre convert :)
It really is a good book isn't it. I read it years ago but I'm going to reread it for the Classics Challenge and I can't wait. Glad you liked it so much.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorites. I am glad that you read and enjoyed it. Makes me wonder about the really great books that I have missed out on reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked this one. I read it for the first time in college and loved it.
ReplyDelete--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric