Jane Eyre in Reading 1001

Dec 09, 2010 Chinook rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001, 500-women, 1-kindle

What to say. Surprisingly, the random three stars I gave this based on not much recollection of it when when I joined Goodreads is where I’ve settled with it after this reread.

Back when I was 12 or 13, I read this and Wuthering Heights. I don’t really have any recollection of either of them from that read. I’m fairly certain my second read of this happened between my excavation in England and starting my university exchange year in Edinburgh, when I was travelling around Europe or maybe my trip What to say. Surprisingly, the random three stars I gave this based on not much recollection of it when when I joined Goodreads is where I’ve settled with it after this reread.

Back when I was 12 or 13, I read this and Wuthering Heights. I don’t really have any recollection of either of them from that read. I’m fairly certain my second read of this happened between my excavation in England and starting my university exchange year in Edinburgh, when I was travelling around Europe or maybe my trip to Italy when I was working in Scotland. Either way, I reread Jane Eyre and tried by failed to reread Wuthering Heights.

Now I’ve reread both. I like this one a lot more than Wuthering Heights, which to me read as a series of really truly terrible parenting decisions rather than a love story. Jane Eyre comes closer to a love story and is considerably more interesting, but when Wyatt accused me of listening to the audiobook at night in bed specifically to put him to sleep, I laughed because it had a lot of truth. This wasn’t a slog, not at all, but it was really wordy. A half hour of the audiobook could pass and it would feel to me that Jane had just come up with twenty ways to say the exact same thing. That sort of rumination over people and actions is pretty true to life, but sometimes it did drag for me.

People in reviews talk a lot about Jane as such a strong and independent character, sometimes with a for her time comment tacked on. And I do see that, I do. But I also see her as really fundamentally acting bizarrely with her abusers. Her need to be kind to her aunt at her deathbed was hard enough to take, but listening to St John trying to force Jane to agree to marry him, using every trick in the emotionally abusive husband handbook and then listening to her try a million different ways to act like he’s a good guy anyway and keeping in touch with him after... I dunno, guys. Her strength and independence just doesn’t strike me as all that straightforward.

Rochester and Jane are a surprisingly satisfying couple, which is such a surprise because it’s like Bronte was wondering one day what it would be like if Bluebeard just locked the wives up instead of killing them and then felt bad about it later. And yet, the repartee between them was pretty electric and awesome and so I was happy enough to see them together in the end.

I wish we got more of Bertha. She gets so little time in the story and we never get any window into her story. I’m glad I’ve got Wide Sargasso Sea waiting for me, because Bertha is wasted in this novel. It’s almost like any random impediment would have sufficed to send Jane off to meet up with her family and gain the fortune that puts her on equal footing with Rochester. I fee like Bronte missed a huge opportunity here - and after spending so much time on all that schooling preamble and Helen (I didn’t like her at all), she suddenly has a wife imprisoned in an attic and we get like five paragraphs??? I exaggerate, but for real, Emily. You dropped that ball hard. ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Anita Pomerantz rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books

This book got off to a promising start telling the story of a young girl, orphaned, living with cousins who wanted nothing to do with her and being shipped off to boarding school. I was actually interested in this young woman until she took a job as a governess.

Things went downhill fast from there!

Jane falls in love with the guardian of her charge, and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. He's unattractive. He is wealthy, but she doesn't care for money. He's fairly bossy and not especia This book got off to a promising start telling the story of a young girl, orphaned, living with cousins who wanted nothing to do with her and being shipped off to boarding school. I was actually interested in this young woman until she took a job as a governess.

Things went downhill fast from there!

Jane falls in love with the guardian of her charge, and for the life of me I couldn't understand why. He's unattractive. He is wealthy, but she doesn't care for money. He's fairly bossy and not especially kind. And as more and more is revealed about his past, we'll let's just say that for the times it was fairly risque. He isn't very nice or loving to the little girl for whom he is guardian. The only thing I see that could have intrigued Jane was some (witty, but not very) banter between them.

When it turns out Rochester has a huge secret in his life which he doesn't reveal to Jane prior to their wedding day - - well as you can imagine, when the secret comes to light - - all hell breaks loose.

I'm making it sound more interesting than it was.

Bronte is very enamored with her powers of description (which are strong), and the pace of the book from boarding school to Jane's wedding day, just LAGS. I'm like please don't describe another garden because I can't take it. I found the romance to be unbelievable, and since that's really all that there was and all that happened . . .well, it was very dull.

The book did pick up for me substantially after Rochester's secret was revealed. We continue to follow Jane's story which suddenly devolves into "deus ex machina" territory when her saviors turn out to be related. How convenient.

Without revealing any more in the way of spoilers, we move to a final melodramatic ending - - which I did enjoy to some degree despite the fact that it was fairly over the top.

I see completely why this book is studied as a piece of literature. It has some interesting feminist themes that make for good discussion. In fact, our book club discussion was actually pretty fascinating given how much I didn't care for the book. But, it really doesn't hold a candle to the writing of today in terms of plot development and the use of suspense to propel the reader through the tale. ...more

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Apr 07, 2011 ms.petra rated it liked it

A classic Gothic romance. I think I enjoyed it much more as a young adult. Jane is the consummate heroine, but she is still a teacher, a governess, and ultimately a woman of means. I like to see women outside of that box.... a pirate, an explorer, a gangster, an athlete, a statesman. Something more traditionally male and be successful in her own right. I am not sure how well this novel translates in today's virtual world. ...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Kallie rated it it was amazing

I have read this book so many times; it must be one of the first novels I ever read. I never tire of Jane (my first literary heroine). She is intelligent, feels deeply and fairly, and will not knuckle under to unfairness and dishonesty. Because of this, she is timeless, and a great model for young people.

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