Hi ladies and gents! I saw this posted on my friend Nancy’s Facebook page. (Nancy, join our blogging book club!) The BBC conducted a survey of the top 100 most beloved books. The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the top 100. I’ve read 12, soon to be 13. (Thank goodness for Harry Potter for putting me above average.) Evidently, I have a lot of reading to catch up on! How many have you read???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
11/29/10
11/25/10
Jane Eyre Movie
Hey ladies! I was just searching for some Jane Eyre photos to use on the blog and I found a movie trailor for a Jane Eyre movie coming out March 2011. I'm excited, we'll all have to go see it together!
Jane Eyre - Chapters 1-4
Guys I'm so excited about our book club! I've finished the first four chapters and here are some of my thoughts on Jane so far...
It seems like the book starts at a point in Jane's life when she can no longer handle her horrible living situation at Gateshead quietly and starts fighting back; the specific turning point being when John Reed threw the book at her. I think she's a pretty confident little girl despite how much she is put down by everyone around her. I also think she's pretty smart I think Jane is a little girl who stays true to herself. I think she's smart and not afraid to think for herself or come up with her own conclusions, even though her living situation seems like it would really oppress self esteem and free thinking.
She proves her confidence in lashing back at John Reed a couple of times, calling out Mrs. Reed about how poorly she treats her, and I also noticed her confidence when Mr. Brocklehurst, the man from Lowood, asked her if she liked Psalms. She said that she didn't, then he explained why she should, and she still replied by just saying, "Psalms are not interesting." I would have thought that she would be trying to impress the man from Lowood, seeing as she wanted to go away to school, but she was true to herself and her opinions and freely shared them regardless of what anyone else around her thought or wanted her to think.
I thought it was interesting how she reasoned not wanting to be poor. She would rather endure the physical and emotional pain of growing up at Gateshead to provide her with more opportunities later on in life than go to live with poor relatives, and also because she couldn't see how poor people could be kinder to her than those at Gateshead. Jane said, "I was not heroic enough to purchase liberty at the price of caste." I had to look up "caste" in Wikipedia: A caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, tribe affiliation and political power. Culture, education, opportunity, learning...basically creating a successful life for herself was important to Jane and she was willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to get herself there.
One page 32 (in my book) Jane talks about her mom and dad. We learn that her mom went against her friends' and family's wishes and married Jane's dad, even though he was a poor clergyman. It's a short little description of her parents, but I think it shows that she got at least one powerful trait from her mother; the confidence to follow her heart and stay true to herself regardless of what others think.
Toward the end of chapter four when Jane reacts to Mrs. Reed calling her deceitful, I was surprised when Mrs. Reed didn't really react. I don't know if it's because Mrs. Reed thought what Jane was saying was true, or because she just didn't care enough to react because she knew she would be rid of Jane in a couple of days. Either way, Jane starts to regret what she said to Mrs. Reed. Jane needed Mrs. Reed to fight back to feel validated in what she was saying. I think it's pretty true to life to feel a lot more justified in saying mean or harsh things to someone when they react negatively, or when they fight back. When the person being attacked doesn't say anything to retaliate, no matter how true your words are or how justified you are in saying whatever harsh thing you said, you still start to feel sorry, or a little guilty about what you said. I know this has happened to me. I was trying to think of a personal experience to use as an example but I can't think of one off the top of my head. Anyone else ever experienced this?
Sorry this is so long. Feel free to not read it all, but it's Thanksgiving, and we're all just sitting around watching Hallmark movies, and we all know how great Hallmark movies are.
It seems like the book starts at a point in Jane's life when she can no longer handle her horrible living situation at Gateshead quietly and starts fighting back; the specific turning point being when John Reed threw the book at her. I think she's a pretty confident little girl despite how much she is put down by everyone around her. I also think she's pretty smart I think Jane is a little girl who stays true to herself. I think she's smart and not afraid to think for herself or come up with her own conclusions, even though her living situation seems like it would really oppress self esteem and free thinking.
She proves her confidence in lashing back at John Reed a couple of times, calling out Mrs. Reed about how poorly she treats her, and I also noticed her confidence when Mr. Brocklehurst, the man from Lowood, asked her if she liked Psalms. She said that she didn't, then he explained why she should, and she still replied by just saying, "Psalms are not interesting." I would have thought that she would be trying to impress the man from Lowood, seeing as she wanted to go away to school, but she was true to herself and her opinions and freely shared them regardless of what anyone else around her thought or wanted her to think.
I thought it was interesting how she reasoned not wanting to be poor. She would rather endure the physical and emotional pain of growing up at Gateshead to provide her with more opportunities later on in life than go to live with poor relatives, and also because she couldn't see how poor people could be kinder to her than those at Gateshead. Jane said, "I was not heroic enough to purchase liberty at the price of caste." I had to look up "caste" in Wikipedia: A caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, tribe affiliation and political power. Culture, education, opportunity, learning...basically creating a successful life for herself was important to Jane and she was willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary to get herself there.
One page 32 (in my book) Jane talks about her mom and dad. We learn that her mom went against her friends' and family's wishes and married Jane's dad, even though he was a poor clergyman. It's a short little description of her parents, but I think it shows that she got at least one powerful trait from her mother; the confidence to follow her heart and stay true to herself regardless of what others think.
Toward the end of chapter four when Jane reacts to Mrs. Reed calling her deceitful, I was surprised when Mrs. Reed didn't really react. I don't know if it's because Mrs. Reed thought what Jane was saying was true, or because she just didn't care enough to react because she knew she would be rid of Jane in a couple of days. Either way, Jane starts to regret what she said to Mrs. Reed. Jane needed Mrs. Reed to fight back to feel validated in what she was saying. I think it's pretty true to life to feel a lot more justified in saying mean or harsh things to someone when they react negatively, or when they fight back. When the person being attacked doesn't say anything to retaliate, no matter how true your words are or how justified you are in saying whatever harsh thing you said, you still start to feel sorry, or a little guilty about what you said. I know this has happened to me. I was trying to think of a personal experience to use as an example but I can't think of one off the top of my head. Anyone else ever experienced this?
Sorry this is so long. Feel free to not read it all, but it's Thanksgiving, and we're all just sitting around watching Hallmark movies, and we all know how great Hallmark movies are.
Jane Eyre
Hi girls!
I'm so excited! Britt, I may need a lesson on the ins-and-outs of blogging. We've got a first timer over here! Can't wait to start reading!
I'm so excited! Britt, I may need a lesson on the ins-and-outs of blogging. We've got a first timer over here! Can't wait to start reading!
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