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Summary: my favorite fiction book
Review: Jane Eyre is my favorite fiction book of all time. But to fully appreciate this book requires that you be a "mature" reader. And also realize that this book was written in another era, where society and standards were much different than today.
I originally read this book years ago for my highschool literature class. Although I didn't dis-like the book, I didn't exactly like it either. It did not have much of an impact on me. I think I was too immature (lacking in life experiences) to relate to and understand some of the strong emotions and the complex sides of human nature portrayed in the book.
Reading this book years later as a mature adult, I was deeply touched by the story of Jane Eyre. You experience a variety of emotions: abandonment, despair, love, romance, mystery, danger, heartache. And Jane Eyre was really a character ahead of her time - Although content to conform to the standards expected of a woman in her time period, Jane had an independent mind and spirit. She would not do something against her will, heart, or conscience. She was not afraid to speak her mind. She had strong Christian moral beliefs and would not waver from them. She is a heroine to be admired and respected.
So much more could be said, but I will leave it at that. If you were disapointed by Jane Eyre if you read it as a teenager, try reading it again as an adult.
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Summary: A Girl's Search for Love
Review: Jane Eyre was a very good book. At first glance, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this book because I didn't like the previoius Victorian book I read. This book proved to be a lot better. It was not a typical romance novel. Jane Eyre was a love story, but also had many unforeseen twists that kept my attention. I had no idea what was going to happen, and when something didn't go the way I had expected, I was worried about how it would turn out. I enjoyed the basic plot, but I liked the unpredictablility the most. This book took me a lot longer to read than I had expected. This was because Jane Eyre is at a high reading level. It had many vocabulary words that confused me. This was the only drawback to this book. I would recommend this book to ages 14-20 and to people that enjoy classical literature. It was very enjoyable, but I would not suggest reacing Jane Eyre to anyone who likes more action because this book describes each event in great detail. Overall, I thought this book was very enlightening and enjoyable.
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Summary: Upon re-reading
Review: Odd, how re-reading a classic can become a meaningful experience. I'm sure I read Jane Eyre at least two times when I was in high school and again at college. Then there were the films, the most memorable being the one with William Hurt playing Rochester. Yet, last weekend when I was visiting friends and had nothing at hand, I looked at the first chapter and thought "I've don't remember any of this," and was hooked.
No wonder this book endures and no wonder that readers are entranced: it is an extraordinary story of an individual's struggle to live in a harsh world, find and create physical comfort and sustain an unacceptable love. Even though the story is intensely atmospheric (food, structures, furniture, temperature, clothes and flora are in constant reference), it is Jane herself who drives the story. Where she will find herself and what she will do next is the surprise. No wonder feminists were interested in this book: Jane never succumbs to anyone's idea of what she should do, she wrestles with decisions and bases her choices (that she insists on having choises is already delightful) on her own moral, social code. Hard choices she makes too and we wonder if she'll manage when, for example, she leaves Thornfield and finds herself forced to beg for food.
The writing is sharp and intelligent and...funny too: take, for example, the little girls toppling off their stools during prayers, or the description of Adele's "French" personality. The plot is a stretch but a loveable one. Jane, we are told often, has neither beauty nor stature, the type of person that gets ignored in any social situation. However, this seemingly ineffectual person has two highbrow offers of marriage,inherits a fortune and reaps the bounty of a geniune, loving relationship with the one man who is her intellectual and emotional equal. Not bad for a poor, plain governess in the 1830s.
Today, it might be that religion, scripture and even the idea of morality are concepts that carry too much weight for popular fiction. Jane, a level-headed girl, is neither silly nor preachy. That her thoughts are informed with the religious moral tone of the period makes this story more than a romance or tale of finding true love. It demonstrates how conviction is founded.
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Summary: Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte's Most Captivating Work
Review: Quite arguably one of the greatest British novels ever penned, Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is so all-around-wonderful, it's no wonder that it's been adapted into 5+ movies.
We first meet Bronte's Jane as a child, young and abused, in the care of her aunt. We immediately take Jane under our wing, feeling more her personal protector with each turn of the page. Then, one day, Jane is a woman. Though retaining many of her childlike tendencies, Jane is determined to be independent: leaving her old boarding school victorious and free, she begins a governess position at the manor home of the elusive and mysterious Mr. Edward Rochester. It is Jane who tames Rochester's brooding and arrogant heart, reducing him to schoolboyish desperation.
So deliciously provactive is "Jane Eyre," that it is impossible not to devour it within days; my own worn-with-love copy sits next to a dog-eared "Villette."
It is sometimes speculated that Charlotte Bronte exercised her complicated mind through the written word; "Jane Eyre" is beautiful evidence of that.
As the story slows to its conclusion, you will find yourself lost: hungry for more of Jane, more of Rochester, and more of the magic that is "Eyre." Quench that thirst with more Bronte (perhaps Emily's "Wuthering Heights" or some of Anne's poetry?) or, if you're like me, a second read of the irresistible "Jane."
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Summary: Very moving, captivating story
Review: That person who said he/she wasn't going to read it because it looked "dry as hell" is missing out on a lot. While the first couple of chapters are somewhat boring, after that the pace never flags, despite the 500-odd-page length. Many chapters in the book are very intense and moving, and it is not too hard to feel for Jane. I thought she might be a very righteous, prim-and-proper person, but was surprised and delighted to discover that she's very flirtatious with Rochester once they declare their love, and playfully delights in her hold over him. Their conversations are fascinating and very revealing. It is always clear that she is passionatly in love with him and no one else, but still more than willing to leave him once the "terrible secret" is revealed. While not quite as strong and feminist a character as I expected, she nonetheless does show an iron will and desperate desire to do what's right more than once. When someone in the book was talking about a Mr. Rochester and made it sound like he'd died, my heart literally stopped for a minute until I (and Jane) realized the man was talking about Rochester's father. That was near the end, and by then I'd become so caught up in it I really couldn't put it down. It is not just a romance novel for women; I'm a 13-year-old boy and I enjoyed it immensely. Deserves its status as a classic, and is most certianly not dry as hell.
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Summary: Long,Longer, & Longest
Review: This book is truly a classic. I read it for my A.P English class over the summer. It's just very long. There are too many dead points in the novel. The novel jumps back and forth between different thoughts and actually speaking often. It has a lot of good symbolism in it however. I reccomend reading wide sargasso sea afterwards for it is a novel from Bertha's point of view!
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Summary: A Touching Classic
Review: This classic novel tells the tale of an orphaned, moneyless girl named Jane Eyre. When Jane Eyre comes to work as governess for a little French girl at a mansion called Thornfield, life is great. But her world is turned upside down when she finally meets her employer, Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester is a troubled and temperamental man, yet at the same time sensitive and giving. Jane can't help falling in love with him. But little does Jane know, there still is another mystery at Thornfield that could destroy Jane and all of it's occupants.This classic is an unforgettable read. Mixed with drama, action, and romance, this story is touching and a page turner. Though, at first, it is difficult to read, you get used to the vocabulary and the way the author writes. This book is a must read!
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Summary: Don't watch the movie and expect to know a thing about Jane!
Review: This is an absolutely wonderful and captivating book. Once you start it you just gotta finish it! The best part of Jane Eyre (pronounced "air") is the love story between Jane and Edward, her employer. Edward keeps a dark secret , the nature of which isn't telegraphed but instead thrust upon the reader all at once (very well done!!!), that makes him both penurious and tragic. This makes him a somewhat odd match for Jane who is the epitome of virtue and is self denying. The cat and mouse play in the begining of their relationship, the way they individually struggle after the secret is revealed, and the ultimate resolution of their love story makes this one of the greatest novels in Engish literature. This brings me to the movie. It isn't a very good adaptation of the book. Major parts of the plot are missing or altered beyond recognition and signifigance. I watched the movie AFTER I read the book and was glad I did it in that order. Their are some stories that just have to be read in order for you to enjoy them;Jane Eyre is one of them (David Copperfield is another). But that's o.k., Charlotte Bronte has provided us with a tale that mesmerizes and impacts its reader like few others can. If it comes down to the movie or the book...read the book.
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Summary: The Bronte Masterpiece: The Best Edition
Review: Written in 1847 by the woman writer Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre remains a classic of 19th century literature. This novel was one of the finest of its time and what made it all the more incredible was that it was written by a woman. Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, the Brontes, were British women who grew up in Yorkshire, the English countryside. To kill time when they were bored in the domestic and boarding-school ambiance, they wrote great works of literature. It's a must read for young women, but also for men and young males (preferably in the high school or college level) Jane Eyre is ultimately a literary novel and only a literary-minded intellectual can truly enjoy it for the masterpiece that it is. It ranks among the greatest works of English fiction, taking its place with the other male greats- Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Curl up, warm up some tea or coffee, put on some mood music and read this incredibly engaging book. In this edition, we get commentary and preface by noted scholars. Jane Eyre has been scrutinized time and again. It is understood by many that the heroine Jane is Charlotte Bronte herself. It's partially autobiographical in some portions- Charlotte Bronte did grow up in lowly conditions and was in boarding school that was cold and freezing. Charlotte did love a married man who was older than her, though nothing came of it of course. Jane Eyre, a feisty, spirited young orphan, is taken away from her home where her wicked aunt and cousins mistreat her. She is taken to a boarding school for girls until she comes of age. She lands a job as a governess for the eccentric and mysterious Mr. Rochester, who is hardly ever at home and takes care of his daughter Adele, teaching her to read and write, etc. But the mystery surrounding Mr. Rochester's past becomes a present reality in Jane Eyre's own life. Furthermore, Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre fall in love. A novel that is inspired by Gothic fiction, it is strewn with Gothic, supernatural and suspenseful atmosphere and symbolism. The tree that is struck by lightning is a warning for Jane Eyre to leave Mr. Rochester's mansion, the strange cries in the attic later turn out to be Mr. Rochester's first wife, the crazed Bertha. A fire destroys the mansion and Mr. Rochester ends up diabled and blind. Bittersweet though the ending is, Jane Eyre and the blind Mr. Rochester marry and live happily, after much water under the bridge. This novel is a long read and should take up at least a whole summer, but it's very worth reading. It's a classic. Time and again, it will appear on the list of reading material for high school and college courses. And a bit of advice- dont' just read it to pass a class, get into the story. You will score even more points.
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