Monday, June 10, 2013

BOOK REVIEW; JANE EYRE

Title : Jane Eyre
Author : Charlotte Bronte


Wondered where I've been, what tasks that I labor on this summer? Well I'm taking classes, up till July. And best part, I braved the intricate emotions of mine and enrolled in a literature course (19th century british fiction)! Oh, what joy! Yet how intense and tiring it is, going over plain (19th century) English in search of a hidden meaning. Believe me, closed reading can be mentally exhausting, but rewarding and in a sense, relieving. Those emotions you have stirring under your chest are vented out in group discussions with like minds. Minds who, unlike my usual crowd, dwell on the pages of literature, engrossed in the writer's world rather than reality.


Enough. On to the review.


Jane Eyre, readers (ha! note my associations to the book!) is set in the 19th century, when Britain is seen as the world's  biggest imperialist. The tale unwinds around a girl's life, where poverty and poor relations cast her into the lower rungs of society. She grows up to learn to repress and express alternately at suitable times her emotions and feelings, and this fact has helped her advance in life. From a nobody, to a student, to a teacher, to a governess, and up to a dependent, Jane learns to navigate life and its sufferings with tact. Jane finds love, only to have it flung away in most trying circumstances. 3 marriage proposals, which one had enough clarity and honesty to appeal to Jane? 



Some choice quotes that I don't use for my class discussions, but reverberates in my soul ;


"...For with him I was at perfect ease, because I knew I suited him"


"Thought fitted thought; opinion met opinion: we coincided,in short,perfectly."


"And you,sir,you are the most phantomlike of all."


"And your will shall decide your destiny,' he said' 'I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions.' 'You play a farce, which I merely laugh at.''I ask you to pass through life at my side - to be my second self, and best earthly companion.'


"Reader, I married him."



Rating : 10/10 (gothic classic romance, who would say less?)

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