There’s Something About Darcy: The curious appeal of Jane Austen’s bewitching hero Book Review

There are certain cultural shorthands that we all know, even if we are unaware of the deeper context of the specific reference. When we talk about Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, he is symbolic of a romantic ideal that many aspire to, even if that aspiration is far from reality.

There’s Something About Darcy: The curious appeal of Jane Austen’s bewitching hero, by Gabrielle Malcolm, was published last year. In the book, Malcolm examines the origins of Austen‘s most famous leading man, how he has inspired other romantic male leads, and how he has evolved over time. Creating the connection between the characters in her time, Dr. Malcolm explains how later male characters such as Mr. Rochester, Heathcliff, and even Dracula can trace their origins to Fitzwilliam Darcy. She then looks into how Jane Austen fanfiction has taken the character in new directions and new narratives that her creator could not have even imagined.

I loved this book. The author creates a nice balance of academic authority and adoring fandom without veering too heavily in either direction. It was a fascinating deep dive into this man who has become both a romantic icon and a character type for many a romantic male lead since 1813.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

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Jane Eyre Laid Bare: The Classic Novel with an Erotic Twist Book Review

We all know that sex sells. The question is, when enveloped in a story, especially a classic novel, does the sex help or hurt the narrative?

In 2012, Jane Eyre Laid Bare: The Classic Novel with an Erotic Twist was released. Written by Eve Sinclair with original text by Charlotte Bronte, this book more or less follows the narrative and characters from the original novel. Jane Eyre is an orphaned young woman who takes a job as a governess for the mysterious Mr. Rochester. Jane is plain, poor and outspoken, hardly the ideal women for the Victorian era. As Jane begins to fall her for employer, the mystery intensifies until everything is revealed in a twist that no one saw coming,

I was intrigued by this book because I love Jane Eyre and it’s always interesting to see how modern writers bring out the sexual tension that is just below the surface. However, Ms. Sinclair made several narrative choices that I disagree with. Without giving too much away, I will say that I am really disappointed in this book. It makes promises that ultimately fall through, leaving me as a reader angry and frustrated.

This is a poor imitation of Jane Eyre, not even the sex scenes between Jane and Mr. Rochester can make up for that. When it comes to my favorite classic novels, I am not one of those fans who believe that it is the novel in its purest form or nothing at all. I appreciate a well written reboot or fanfiction. However, this book is neither.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely not.

Top Ten Book Reviews Of 2017

2017 was a good year for the publishing industry, at least from my perspective. Below are top ten books for 2017.

1. The Genius Of Jane Austen: Jane Austen was a genius, this book explains why.
2. Growing Up Fisher: Joely Fisher’s unconventional autobiography is a look into her very unique Hollywood family.
3. What Happened: Hillary Clinton’s brutally honest reminiscence of the 2016 Presidential Election is one for the ages.
4. Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman: This must read book examines how female celebrities are questioning what is acceptable for a woman.
5. The Making Of Jane Austen: Jane Austen was not born a writer, she made herself into one.
6. Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Leia, Princess of Alderaan: The book tells the story of Princess Leia two years before the events of A New Hope.
7. Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening: Saudi Arabia is known the world over for its oppressive laws against its women. Manal Al-Sharif is fighting to change that.
8. Mr. Rochester: Written from the point of view of Edward Rochester, Charlotte Bronte’s most famous hero, the book is an eye-opening story on the man readers thought they knew.
9. You Can’t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of My Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump (A So-Called Parody): Alec Baldwin co wrote this hilarious book from the mind of you know who. Ridiculously funny.
10. The Great Gasbag: An A-to-Z Study Guide to Surviving Trump World: Written by The View co-host Joy Behar, this novel is for anyone who needs a laugh, especially considering what has come out of D.C. this year.

Honorable Mentions

• A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf: The myth of women’s cattiness, especially women writers is all too common in our world. This book destroys that myth, especially when it comes to four of the great female novelists of the last two centuries.
• Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus: The perfect way to explain last year’s Presidential election is that it was a circus.

 

This will be my last blog post for 2017. Wherever you are, have a safe and happy new year. See you in 2018.

Mr. Rochester Book Review

Readers of Charlotte Bronte’s immortal book, Jane Eyre have been in love with her leading man, Edward Rochester for more a century. One moment he is brooding, Byronic and mysterious. The next moment he is vulnerable and open in his feelings about Jane. But Jane Eyre is told through Jane’s perspective and we only see Mr. Rochester through her eyes.

Sarah Shoemaker’s new novel, Mr. Rochester, is a first person account of the events in Jane Eyre as told from the perspective of Edward Rochester. The readers first meets Edward Rochester as an eight year old boy. His mother died in childbirth, his father is emotionally distant and his elder brother, Rowland is not above hitting or verbally abusing Edward. Sent to school and then to work in the office of a factory, he grows up, slowly becomes the man who Jane meets on that cold wintry night on the road to Thornfield.

I really liked this book. What I liked about it was that Ms. Shoemaker rose to the very daunting task of re-creating the world of Jane Eyre while putting her own spin on the cannon narrative of the novel. The challenge for any writer re-writing a beloved novel is to write the story that not only feels right to them, but also easily exists within the world of the original novel. While some writers try and unfortunately fail in this quest, Ms. Shoemaker succeeds.

I absolutely recommend it.

You Might Be A Poldark Fan If

You might be Poldark fan if…

• You have seen the original series or you have read the books.
• You say “smouldark” instead of Poldark.
• If you didn’t know who Aidan Turner was before, you know who he is now.
• You’ve watched this video far too many times.

 

• You’ve also seen this video far too many times.

• Cornwall has been added to your places to visit in the UK.
• As a female, you are envious of Elizabeth’s, Verity’s and Demelza’s (post street urchin) clothes.
• You wanted to reach into the screen and smack Ruth for her nasty comments.
• Ross Poldark stands with Mr. Darcy, Mr. Rochester and Mr. Thornton as British literary leading men that bring out the inner fifteen year old in you.
• Sunday at 9, you are home, your television is tuned to PBS.
• And finally, you are ready for season two (even if you are in the US and only halfway through season one).

Poldark & The Crimson Field Review

There is nothing like Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday night to usher in the work week. The vacuum that Downton Abbey and Mr. Selfridge left a few months ago was filled last night by Poldark and The Crimson Field.

Based on the books by Winston Graham and a reboot of the original 1970’s miniseries, Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) has just returned from fighting for the British in the American Revolution. The reception that he received was unexpected. His father is dead, his home is in ruins and his sweetheart, Elizabeth (Heida Reed) is engaged to Ross’s cousin Francis (Kyle Soller). The economy is in a depression and Ross has to find a new way to revitalize his land and the lives of his tenants. When Ross rescues Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) from a beating, he expects to see a young boy under the rags. He finds a woman who is escaping a brutal home life. Offering Demelza the position of kitchen maid, Ross does not know that his life might just turn around in more ways that one.

I have not seen the original miniseries, but it’s fabled lore continues 40 years after it’s initial airing. Ross Poldark might not be Mr. Darcy or Mr. Rochester, but he comes pretty close to that stature. I know I am going to enjoy the series.

The Crimson Field is the story of three young women who have volunteered as nurses at a hospital in Northern France during World War I. Kitty (Oona Chaplin), Rosalie (Marianne Oldham) and Flora (Alice St. Clair) have no idea what they are getting into when they signed up to volunteer. They will quickly learn the brutality of war and the hard decisions that must be made. Lt. Col Roland Brett (Downton Abbey’s Kevin Doyle) is the head of the camp who goes against a superior’s orders to send a young soldier home who is suffering from what we now know is PTSD. Matron Grace Carter (Hermoine Norris) is tough on the new recruits, but she has her own story to tell.

I didn’t enjoy this program as much as I did Poldark.  I couldn’t keep up as well with the characters. But for history buffs and people like me who are suffering from Downton withdrawal, it’s not all that bad.

Heroines Book Review

We all need heroes in our lives.  They are the ones that we admire. We aspire to follow in their footsteps.

Kate Zambreno’s 2012 book, Heroines, is about the female authors who overcame the title of “female author”, to become successful in their own right.

The origins of the book come from the author’s blog, started on December 31st, 2009. Entitled Frances Farmer Is My Sister, Ms. Zambreno wrote about authors such as Jean Rhys and Zelda Fitzgerald. These women, whose abilities as writers equaled the male writers around them, were only thought to be muses. Because they were women, no one believed that they could write as well as a man. They were silenced, institutionalized and erased (thankfully for us, only temporarily) from literary history.

The format of this book is not written in the traditional format. Retaining the blog style of writing, the author lays out the difficulties that previous generations of female writers had to overcome.  One of the qualities of the book that caught me off guard was how angry I got. Zelda Fitzgerald is not just the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was a brilliant writer in her own right. Jean Rhy’s novel, Wide Sargasso Sea is the highly acclaimed and respected prequel to Jane Eyre. She dared to flesh out the character of Bertha, Mr. Rochester’s first wife. In Jane Eyre, Bertha Rochester is a one dimensional madwoman who nearly kills her husband and burns Thornfield to the ground. Jean Rhys made Bertha an empathetic character whom the reader feels for because of the circumstances forced upon her.

Gloria Steinem once said the following:

The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.

This book pissed me off. But it also set me free. This is one of best feminist non-fiction books that I have ever read and I highly recommend it.

Jane Eyre 1973 Vs Jane Eyre 2006 Vs Jane Eyre 2011

If one were to judge Jane Eyre simply by her early life, one might say that she is doomed to be unlucky and unhappy. Jane is orphaned as a baby and raised in her deceased uncle’s home by an aunt who despises her. At the age of ten, she is taken to Lowood school, a charity school where the students are receiving subpar treatment. Eight years later, Jane leaves Lowood to work for the enigmatic and mysterious Mr. Rochester as the governess for his ward, Adele.

Charlotte Bronte’s classic 1847 novel has been remade on screen multiple times over the years. In this post, I’m going to write about my favorite Jane Eyre adaptations and let you decide which among the three is your favorite. The criteria for comparison remain as is:

1. How closely the screenplay mirrors the novel.
2. The chemistry between the actors, especially the potential love interests.
3. The age of the actors, if they are close enough in age to the character to be believable in the part.
4. If the locations chosen to film resemble the scenes from the book.

Jane Eyre 1973

Cast: Jane Eyre (Sorcha Cusack), Mr. Rochester (Michael Jayston)

• Pro’s: This TV adaption is the truest of any of the filmed adaptations. It’s as if Charlotte Bronte was somehow in the room with the production team. It is flawless, the actors are perfect in their parts. In short, I have nothing but praise for this adaptation.
• Cons: The only con that I can think of is that it is 41 years old. It looks 41 years old.

 Jane Eyre 2006

Cast: Jane Eyre (Ruth Wilson), Mr. Rochester (Toby Stephens)

• Pro’s: Another flawless production. Sandy Welch’s screen play mirrors the novel. Wilson and Stephens have it, whatever it is, that actors have when they are playing certain characters.  They are on fire on screen. The viewer (especially this viewer) has the feeling that when this mini-series is over, Jane and Edward will have a very happy life together, in and out of the bedroom.
• Cons: None.

Jane Eyre 2011

Cast: Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska), Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender)

• Pro’s: Director Cary Fukanaga and screenwriter Moira Buffini take an unorthodox approach to story telling. The movie starts half way through the novel, after Jane has left Thornfield.  The casting of Wasikowska and Fassbender was a brilliant choice. Both age appropriate, they are perfectly cast in their parts.
• Cons: It is a movie vs. a mini-series, so not everything from the book got into the movie. But I’m pretty satisfied with this adaptation.

And the winner is…..I’ll let you decide.