From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Start date: October 1, 2024

Finish date: October 31, 2024

Discussion: CLASSICS READS

Why we're reading this: October 2024 - Bookshelf Catch-Up
Catch-up Selection for Dec. 2021
Classics Sept ‘18
[close] October 2024 - Bookshelf Catch-Up
Catch-up Selection for Dec. 2021
Classics Sept ‘18

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CLASSICS READS

James and the Giant Peach - *SPOILERS*
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James and the Giant Peach - SPOILER-FREE
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What Members Thought

Oct 07, 2009 Brenda rated it did not like it

Shelves: did-not-finish

I just can't do it anymore. There is not one thing I like about this book. I've come to realize the Bronte sisters aren't for me. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 11, 2023 Laurel Bradshaw rated it really liked it

Shelves: audible-purchased, chunky-450, audiobook, classics, nook, ebooks-owned, england, shamrocks-and-stones, color-rating-red

This is one of those books I would swear I read when I was younger, but since I couldn't say for sure, I decided I had better just read it. As the description below indicates, this is actually a pretty complex novel that isn't easily described. Is it gothic? A mystery? A romance? A coming-of-age story? It has elements of all of those. Certainly the author had a lot to say about the autonomy of women (or lack of it) in her day. But is it really feminist? What does it say about equality between th This is one of those books I would swear I read when I was younger, but since I couldn't say for sure, I decided I had better just read it. As the description below indicates, this is actually a pretty complex novel that isn't easily described. Is it gothic? A mystery? A romance? A coming-of-age story? It has elements of all of those. Certainly the author had a lot to say about the autonomy of women (or lack of it) in her day. But is it really feminist? What does it say about equality between the sexes, when (view spoiler) Or the fact that (view spoiler) Gentle reader, you are free to draw your own conclusions. Your interpretation is as good as mine.

Description: Determined to make her heroine "as poor and plain as myself," Charlotte Brontë made a daring choice for her 1847 novel. Jane Eyre possesses neither the great beauty nor entrancing charm that her fictional predecessors used to make their way in the world. Instead, Jane relies upon her powers of diligence and perception, conducting herself with dignity animated by passion. The instant and lasting success of Jane Eyre proved Brontë's instincts correct. Readers of her era and ever after have taken the impoverished orphan girl into their hearts, following her from the custody of cruel relatives to a dangerously oppressive boarding school and onward through a troubled career as a governess. Jane's first assignment at Thorn field, where the proud and cynical master of the house harbors a scandalous secret, draws readers ever deeper into a compelling exploration of the mysteries of the human heart. A banquet of food for thought, this many-faceted tale invites a splendid variety of interpretations. The heroine's insistence upon emotional equality with her lover suggests a feminist viewpoint, while her solitary status invokes a consideration of the problems of growing up as a social outsider. Some regard Jane's attempts to reconcile her need for love with her search for moral rectitude as the story's primary message, and lovers of gothic romance find the tale's social and religious aspects secondary to its gripping elements of mystery and horror. This classic of English literature truly features something for every reader. ...more

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Apr 02, 2008 Genevieve rated it it was amazing

I love this book! Super cheesy love story but I loved the heightened language of reading it. No one writes this intelligently with such interesting sentences.

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