Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 101

"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte -- Final Thoughts

I can still remember my first encounter with Jane Eyre.  It wasn't with the book, it was with the 1983 BBC miniseries starring Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton.  My mom got it from the library when I was probably thirteen or fourteen, and we watched it together.  I fell in love.  With the story, with Jane, with Rochester, the whole shebang.  I didn't read the book until I was a few years older, but when I did, it quickly rose to the ranks of my favorite books.  A...

Top Ten Tuesday: Movie Time

I do lists of ten favorite movies of various genres all the time over on my other blog, Hamlette's Soliloquy.  But today, I'm doing one here, for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.  This week is a movie-related freebie, so I'm doing My Top Ten Favorite Movies Based on Classic Novels.  I've put them in alphabetical order because why not :-)  I'm sticking with books I've read, by the way.  And these are my favorite adaptations, not necessaril...

What My Kids are Reading #7

I feel like sharing what my kids have been reading lately, so I'm starting this series up again :-)


Sam (9)

The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett -- He enjoyed The Dragons of Crumbling Castle  so much, I got him this, and he's now read it probably six or seven times.  It makes him laugh.

Physics:  Why Matter Matters! by Dan Green -- We're studying basic physics in third grade science this year, and he's relaly been enjoying seeing various concepts from school pop up in thi...

Jane Eyre Read-Along: Chapter 38

And they all lived happily ever after :-)

Isn't it interesting that St. John Rivers gets the last word?  He writes a last, dying letter to Jane, and his final words are what Jane leaves us with.  I'm not sure what to make of that -- there's probably something profound in the fact that here, at the end, she and St. John are of one accord, but if there is, I'm missing it.

But anyway, we've finished the book :-)  Jane and Rochester are married, happy together, happy being parents of...

The "Jane Eyre" Giveaway

We have finished Jane Eyre!  Hurrah!  The book I thought would take three months to get through took almost 6, but that is entirely my fault, as I got much busier than I had anticipated.  Thank you so much for your patience!  And for all the wonderful discussions we've had -- I've very much enjoyed sharing my favorite book with you.  (And if you haven't quite finished it, no big deal. I'm happy to keep discussing it as long as you'd like.) 

To celebrate, I'm hos...

Jane Eyre Read-Along: Chapter 37

O delicious chapter!  If I could only read one chapter of Jane Eyre for the rest of my life, I would read you.

I have approximately three zillion things underlined in this chapter, with stars and hearts and smiles alllll over the place.  There's no way I can share all my thoughts, but I'll do my best to hit the important ones.

I love so much that when Jane first enters the room, before Rochester knows her, she says, "Down, Pilot!" (p. 501).  Because way back in chapter 12, R...

Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Additions

This week's TTT topic from The Broke and the Bookish is "books I've added to my to-read list lately."  Here goes!



The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz -- I think it was Dale's review at Mirror w/Clouds that made me put this on my list.

Echoes of Sherlock Holmes ed. by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger -- I've loved the two previous collections of Holmes-inspired stories edited by King and Klinger, so this is at the top of my Christmas wish list right now.

How to...

Jane Eyre Read-Along: Chapter 36

I was about three pages into the next chapter when I realized I was supposed to stop and write about this one.

What I'm saying is, this may not be a long and thorough post.  I WANT TO READ THE REST OF THE BOOK RIGHT NOW.

St. John can't stand not having the last word, can he?  Creeping around the house with his little notes.

Wow, it's been a whole year since Jane left Rochester.  That went fast.

I love how "grass and weed grew here and there between the stones and fallen rafter...

"Letters on an Elk Hunt by a Woman Homesteader" by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

Do you remember just about a year ago when I read Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart and went kinda ga-ga over it?

Yeah, there's a sequel.  And I'm ga-ga again.

I was a little worried, going in, that this wouldn't be as good as the first book, for several reasons.  One was that reviews I'd read of them both had been much less enthusiastic about this book than the first.  The other is that I knew that, while the letters in the first book weren't intende...

Jane Eyre Read-Along: Chapter 35

I think this is such a telling sentence, regarding St. John Rivers:  "To me, he was in reality become no longer flesh, but marble" (p. 475).  That is one cold, unyielding dude.  Jane isn't being mean there -- she also says that he did not have "a spirit of unchristian vindictiveness" (p. 475).  But he is so inflexible and untouchable as to be inhuman.

And yet, Jane does not hate or fear him.  She still values his friendship, even wishes she could recover it.  So s...