Mount TBR 2018 discussion
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Jane Eyre *START DATE: April 1*
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Yay, can't wait to start! It's one classic I've been looking forward to read!
I will take up any excuse to reread Jane Eyre. Mind if I join in on this?
I don't mind at all! How many times have you read Jane Eyre? This is going to be my first time... I'm excited to have you along! If you love it, why? Let us know why you revisit this story time and again!
I love Jane Eyre. It is probably my favorite classic novel. I may join in, if that’s okay. It’s been a while since I’ve reread it and I bought a beautiful new illustrated edition last year. I can’t count a reread for Mount TBR because I’ve always owned a copy and I’ve listened to the audiobook before, but I think I’m due for a reread. 😊
July wrote: "I don't mind at all! How many times have you read Jane Eyre? This is going to be my first time... I'm excited to have you along! If you love it, why? Let us know why you revisit this story time and..."I've read it... let's see... at least four times that I can remember. First read it as a kid and been going back to it ever since.
It's hard to pinpoint why I like it so much. A lot of it is to do with Jane herself, I think - she's a surprisingly ordinary person to be the protagonist of a classic novel, not an Austen heroine with frills and petticoats and a big old drawing room to be Dramatic in, just a plain-looking lower-class girl trying to get by on her own merits. I like classics which give a bit of an insight into what an Average Joe of the time might have gone through.
And of course, since I read it in childhood, the first chapter made a big impact on me - I related a bit much to this awkward little girl in a hidden corner with a book!
Welcome Rachel and Jessika! Jessika, I'm glad you're still with me after _Moby Dick_ on my heavy reads list!
OH! I think I'm going to like it! Thank you Cendaquenta.
Rachel, why do you love _Jane Eyre_?
I liked _Wuthering Heights_ by Emily Brontë. I wonder if Charlotte has a similar style?
I’ve read it at least four time, but the last time was probably more than a decade ago. Like Cendaquenta, the main reason I love this book is Jane herself. She’s strong, independent, with an uncompromising moral compass. She’s not the wealthy village beauty. She’s plain and small, but God is she fierce and spirited! I love her and this is her story. This is also, in many ways, a classic Gothic novel, or at least has strong Gothic elements, and I LOVE late-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century Gothic novels. I don’t want to say anything else and risk spoilers. :)
Alright, I'm in! Love Jane Eyre. It's been on my re-read list for about a year and it's always fun to read with other folks.
SOLD! I was heading into this read with a some level of dread... after _Moby Dick_... I'm not sure any of the folks who joined me on that read was thrilled with it.But, with so many re-readers joining in on _Jane Eyre_, who LOVE it, this is going to be wonderful!
Yea!!!!
Jessika wrote: "July wrote: "Jessika, I'm glad you're still with me after _Moby Dick_ on my heavy reads list!"Haha, you didn't scare me off! Especially with classics, I struggle to even pick them up by myself, s..."
=) =) =)
I'd like to join, if that's okay. It's part of one of my TBR books (a collection of condensed classics) and I started it a while ago but didn't finish it.
July wrote: "Hello to Everyone who will be with me on my second Heavy Read of 2018 _Jane Eyre_ by Charlotte Brontë. It's been on my TBR list for over a decade. It is one of the books from the Waterstone's "50..."
With a move in the not-to-distant future, I can’t commit to this re-read but I am cheering all of you on👍🤩
Hi Everyone! We officially start _Jane Eyre_ in a week! However, with the holiday next weekend, I'm gong to get a jump on things starting tomorrow. ;) Let's try to touch base on April 7 to see how the first week goes.
Please, drop a line if you've jumped the gun like me... I just couldn't wait any longer.
July wrote: "Hi Everyone! We officially start _Jane Eyre_ in a week! However, with the holiday next weekend, I'm gong to get a jump on things starting tomorrow. ;) Let's try to touch base on April 7 to see ho..." I might start early too, but that will depends on whether I have to work on the holidays or not.
Cendaquenta wrote: "Going to start this now as a relief read from Alexander Hamilton."My mother tried to read that, and she couldn't get through it.
Finished the first section of the novel now, wherein Jane details her childhood. Love the writing, a bit less enamoured of the content than I used to be - the preachiness rather gets in the way of the story, especially when it comes to Helen, who is really not much more than a cardboard conduit for said preaching. Slightly bothered by the downplaying/romanticizing of (view spoiler) too.
Hello-So, to start, what are your thoughts on the fact that Brontë wrote under a pen name? And, from the introduction, is anyone else interested in reading _Vanity Fair_? I figure if she loved it, and it inspired her, then maybe I will too.
A) If the Brontës hadn't used pseudonyms, their books might never have seen the light of day, so I suppose I'm glad they did.B) Yeah, I forgot VF was mentioned in the introduction and that did pique my interest in it. Been languishing on my TBR shelf for years, maybe JE will get me to read it... eventually...
Hello all! It is the end of the first week, how far have you gotten?I'm just over the half way mark, and am thoroughly enjoying the read.
How do you feel about books that don't list their settings? I find that a lot of 19th Cent. Lit does things like "--shire" or "--town," why didn't they simply list the location "Devon-shire" or "Every-town?"
Just a curiosity of mine as I read Jane's story.
What are some of your thoughts?
I finished it already... I loved it still. I forgot how feminist (or protofeminist) the book is. Jane is powerful. She will not compromise herself for anything!I think the "--shire" thing in older books is to keep up the conceit that they are true stories, like how Jane Eyre is framed as an autobiography. It's something that horror films/books still do nowadays - put a fake disclaimer at the start along the lines of "this is based on real events, names have been changed to protect identities". The Blair Witch Project does it, if memory serves.
I'm done also. I didn't want to put it down! I agree, Jane is POWERFUL. She knows her mind and her heart and won't back down or compromise. She was ahead of her time... I see why this is a classic and a "must read."
How's everyone doing? For those of you who are joining the read who are rereading Jane, is it as good as your first (or second... or third...) reading?
I'm 40% done with it...it's been slow going mainly because I'm not having as much time at home to read it, but I'm enjoying it a lot. Jane is FIERCE! But so far I'm not liking Mr. Rochester much...he's a bit rude and aloof and while I understand that some things in his past made him that way, I haven't reached that explanation yet so it's hard to sympathize with him yet.
Natalia- I have a hard time with Mr Rochester, too. There's something about him that rubs me the wrong way for most of the book. I don't like him until the last chapter or two... it does get better.
At the 50% mark and I'm more intrigued now about Mr. Rochester's past and what Grace Poole had to do with anything.
It bothers me so much that Rochester left Adele in that house. There's neglectful guardianship and then there's just plain endangerment. How was he to know that her bed wouldn't catch fire one night? ... Or did he not care?
Cendaquenta wrote: "It bothers me so much that Rochester left Adele in that house. There's neglectful guardianship and then there's just plain endangerment. How was he to know that her bed wouldn't catch fire one nigh..."This is what happens when we look critically at a Victorian Gothic (1870s) through 21st Century “helicopter parent’lenses. This wasn’t even thought about then; in fact women weren’t thought about as much more than bargaining chips. Girl children were property, especially if you were a guardian.
Andrea wrote: "Cendaquenta wrote: "It bothers me so much that Rochester left Adele in that house. There's neglectful guardianship and then there's just plain endangerment. How was he to know that her bed wouldn't..."Thing is though -
(view spoiler)
I just got a copy of Juliet Barker’s “The Brontes”. I have read other biographies of how belittled and neglected the siblings were. If I find any clues I’ll share if you’d like.
SPOILERSAs we are all discussing Rochester and how he "bothers" us in various ways, is anyone else bothered by how much older he is to Jane?
Maybe it's my own hang up, but 20 years is a huge amount of age between people (he could be her father!). But, because of this age difference he does "mess" with Jane a bit with the pretending to court Blanche Ingram... what gives? Why does he feel like he has to play with her youth and inexperience like that? That's just mean.
July wrote: "SPOILERSI remember the “hue and cry” when my 35 year old mother married my 32 year old father....I never knew she was older until he died and she filed for SS for my underage sister.
Yea July, it was scandalous in the 1950s but not in the 19th Century when men married for money/Power/sex and sometimes even love
As we are all discussing Rochester and how he "bothers" us in various ways, is anyone else bothered by how much older he is to Jane?
Maybe it's my own hang up, but 20 years is a ..."
I think there is a "reasonable" amount of age difference, somewhere around the 10 years older or younger. Three years? No big deal (like with your folks). Like I said, I'm aware it's my own issue and that reflects how I read and feel about Rochester. No doubt about the love between he and Jane, and that does help.
I feel like the age gap would be less problematic if R wasn't one of the only men Jane had ever met. That's... one of the more offputting aspects of the story. But of course it was a different time period.
Cendaquenta wrote: "I feel like the age gap would be less problematic if R wasn't one of the only men Jane had ever met. That's... one of the more offputting aspects of the story. But of course it was a different time..."I don't mind the age gap so much...but I agree with you there.
I've finally reached the wedding part and the whole reveal of Mr. Rochester's secret and I like him even less. The way he's been treating Jane after he 'secured' her love, how he dismisses and treats the other women in the house (especially Adele, who is only a child, and Mrs. Fairfaix) and especially the way he handled his secret (and the person it is about) just bothered me a lot and I can't understand the fuss about their romance. Honestly, Jane is such an amazing character, so strong and smart and independent, she could do better. I hope he can somehow redeem himself at the end, since I have 100 or so pages left to go.
Natália wrote: "Cendaquenta wrote: "I feel like the age gap would be less problematic if R wasn't one of the only men Jane had ever met. That's... one of the more offputting aspects of the story. But of course it ..."It’s interesting to focus on R when Bronte focuses on Jane. Are her reactions “learned” from her lack of knowledge or is she just a pawn in a much bigger game?
The truth is R is sketchy, but Jane stands up to him and for HERSELF. She won't be forced into a situation just because of love. That's what makes Jane so incredible.
July wrote: "The truth is R is sketchy, but Jane stands up to him and for HERSELF. She won't be forced into a situation just because of love. That's what makes Jane so incredible."And why I’m Team Charlotte and NOT TEAM Emily ;). I’m 61,I read both books in school. When everyone was gaga over Wuthering Heights, I think I read Jane Eyre four or five times. Just something practical about her. But,I think Alan Alda is sexier than Robert Redford and EL James is a lousy writer, so shoot me
July wrote: "The truth is R is sketchy, but Jane stands up to him and for HERSELF. She won't be forced into a situation just because of love. That's what makes Jane so incredible."Yes!!! On this reread Chapter 27 struck me the hardest.
Jane's Brain: "Go on, throw your morals away and live in "sin" with this man, who cares about you?"
Jane: "I BLOODY DO!"
That's my girl.
July wrote: "The truth is R is sketchy, but Jane stands up to him and for HERSELF. She won't be forced into a situation just because of love. That's what makes Jane so incredible."EXACTLY, and that's what I love the most about this book - not the romance, but Jane herself and how she put herself first and didn't let people get all over her.
I HATED Wuthering Heights, it's not beautiful or romantic at all.
Natália wrote: "July wrote: "The truth is R is sketchy, but Jane stands up to him and for HERSELF. She won't be forced into a situation just because of love. That's what makes Jane so incredible."EXACTLY, and th..."
Love that younger people get this
Jessika wrote: "Yay, I finished today! Overall, I enjoyed it, but in general I struggle with this era of writing. Very slow at some points. But I agree, Jane is a great protagonist."Which is why the book has had rewrites upon rewrites....”updates”. I’ve read a few. One is a trio of books by Lizzy Ford
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It's been on my TBR list for over a decade. It is one of the books from the Waterstone's "50 Books to Read Before You Die" It will be my 30th book from this list. I'm looking forward to it.
I ask that you check in at least once a week and leave a comment on your thoughts, wherever you may be in the book.
My personal rule is 200 pages before I "tap out" on a read, if I'm just NOT enjoying it. If you have a similar rule on books, just let us know when you've "tapped out."