The Last Little Bit of Jane Eyre.

When I'm reading, I keep a small stack of post-it tabs next to me so I can mark passages as I go. Often, I look back at the places I mark as I am drafting posts and wonder, "why did I mark this?"But going back to see what I have marked is a whole other journey. I can tell what kind of mood I was in when I was reading. Sometimes, words of inspiration were marked. Other times, I mark things that made me chuckle, or appreciate the skill of the writer in placing together such perfect phrases.

Sometimes I don't mark anything in a book. Sometimes, the idea of stopping to mark something hinders my enjoyment of it, so I just keep reading. It is an imperfect system, but it works for me.

I am talking about my marking skills to bring you back to a conversation about the lovely Jane Eyre, which I feel I need to write just one more post about. There was a particular passage that I loved so much that I have randomly picked up the book multiple times since finishing it just to read it. It is a passage that I posted on facebook out of love, discussed with my husband, and have simply savored over the last couple of weeks since setting Jane Eyre back on the shelf. This is the passage I am talking about;

"I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest - blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character - perfect concord is the result."

There is something so real in this passage that is simply speaks to me. I have not been married for ten years (a few months over a year now), but I feel like I completely understand what Bronte wrote here. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. Shouldn't all couples feel that way?

I know that I am an extremely lucky girl, to have a man like my husband. He truly understands me and while we do have our differences, we have a great marriage that rests firmly on our love for one another. When Bronte writes, To be together is for us to be at once free as in solitude, as gay as in company. *sigh* I KNOW that feeling, and I love the Bronte captures that connection between two people who love each other so clearly.

I think that is what I loved most about Jane Eyre. Even with all of the twists and turns in the novel, it was, at its core, a novel about two individuals destined to fall in love and be with one another. The romantic in me loves that notion. I did feel that Rochester and Jane were suited and their passion fit their story. It makes my heart swell when I read that passage-knowing that through struggles and pain, they managed to remember the one thing that brought them together: love.

I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine.

Just another example of how powerful literature can be, and why we should all cherish these words.


Has there ever been a passage or line in a book that has stuck with you? What was it?

Book 84: Wide Sargasso Sea and Book Stats.

Title: Wide Sargasso Sea

Author: Jean Rhys (1890-1979)

First Published: 1966

My Edition: Norton Paperback Fiction (No images of my version were available)

Pages: 190

Other Works Include: Voyage in the Dark (1934), Sleep it Off Lady (1976)

I had a roommate in college who was originally an English major (she later switched to Criminal Justice). She took a class on Post-Colonial Lit (it wouldn't fit in my class schedule), and we had long conversations about the things she was reading in class.

I can remember the conversation where this title came up. We were talking about the canon and why we read it, which was all related back to her class. They were in the middle of reading this, but since I had never read Jane Eyre, I didn't want a lot of details about it.

I figured that now is as good a time as any to dive into this one. Coming right out of Jane Eyre, why not read the "prequel?" All I do know about this one is that it gives details about the life of the mad-woman in the attic before any of the events in Jane Eyre take place. I have a feeling that I am either going to love or hate this one, but who knows. I'm a little worried it is going to ruin my feelings about Bronte's novel, but since this one is so highly regarded, I know it won't be a mash up.

How many of you have read this one? What did you think about it?

Book 83: Finished/Reflections on Reading.

I'm always amused by my feelings towards certain titles. When I was first discovering reading, I had very strict feelings about the types of books I read. Obviously as a young girl, I read a lot of classic children's literature, like The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I also read The Babysitter's Club, The Boxcar Children, and random titles from other big names.

Moving into middle school, I began to discover other things that captured my interest. I don't ever remember the young adult section being as big or as diverse as it is now, so I had a hard time finding interesting things for my age group. That is when I began to branch out (one of my friend's and I loved to read Mary Higgins Clark and would share our books). It was only after some great English teachers that I began to venture into the classics, and I did so with great trepidation.

When our English teachers passed out lists of classic titles, I always searched for titles similar to what I already enjoyed-I read a lot of H.G. Wells, Orwell, etc. It was only after some gentle nudging that I started to read and enjoy other classic pieces.

But during all the time, I never had any interest in reading anything by any of the Brontes. I equated Brontes with stuck-up, old school literature that I had no interest in. And while I loved Homer, Austen, Eliot, Fitzgerald, Woolf, and Faulkner, I just skipped right over the Brontes and moved on.

I don't know why I held that prejudice for so long. When I finally read Wuthering Heights last year, I loved it. And then I loved Villette, but there was something inside of me that stayed far away from this title. Something about Jane Eyre spooked me.

At first, I was worried it wouldn't be any good. But after reading Charlotte's other title, I knew that the writing would be excellent. Then I was worried that I would be the one person who wouldn't like it. I would find some fatal flaw that would ruin it.

I was also worried that I would be too dumb to understand the story. I wouldn't enjoy it because I wouldn't get it.

All silly thoughts.

It also became a game as I resisted. There were many tweets going on about the fact that I needed to just dive in and read the novel. I resisted out of fun, but mainly fear.

Now I realize that was silly.

There is nothing to fear about reading a book, and especially a classic. What I have learned throughout this entire process is that classics are far more accessible than we realize. The story of Jane Eyre IS timeless and something we can all cherish and love. Who doesn't want a gruff Mr. Rochester to love? (I tried to call Matt Rochester. He didn't like it).

The story is beautiful and captured me from the beginning. And when Jane left Thornfield, I found myself freaking out. Would she return? Would Rochester take her back? Will the crazy lady die so they can be happy? I was invested and hooked. I flipped through those last 150-200 pages quickly, sucking in the story as fast as I could. By the end, I held the book closed in my lap and just sighed.

I love the adventure that literature takes us on. I love that it takes our emotions and scrambles them up so we can see all sides to an issue. I love that it can make us change our minds about the way we approach reading and what we truly enjoy. But most of all, I love that no matter how much I read, I am constantly moved in new and deeper ways. I am in love with literature, and my experience of reading Jane Eyre perfectly explains why.

I like to look back at the beginning of this journey here and see myself as a 5 year-old clutching her Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. I was curious, but cautious. I started out slowly and approached each new novel with fear and excitement.

Now, I still approach them with fear and excitement, but I also feel hopeful, that the book I am reaching for will take me on that same journey.

So thank you to those pesky few who continually nagged me to pick up Jane Eyre. I can honestly say that it is now a favorite and I cannot wait to read it over and over again.

Favorite Lines:

"I can live alone, if self-respect, and circumstances require me so to do. I need not sell my soul to buy bliss. I have an inward treasure born with me, which can keep me alive if all extraneous delights should be withheld, or offered only at a price I cannot afford to give."

"I have little left in myself -- I must have you. The world may laugh -- may call me absurd, selfish -- but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame."

"Good-night, my-" He stopped, bit his lip, and abruptly left me."

"I have now been married ten years. I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth. I hold myself supremely blest - blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine. No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am: ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. I know no weariness of my Edward's society: he knows none of mine, any more than we each do the pulsation of the heart that beats in our separate bosoms; consequently, we are ever together. To be together is for us to be at once free as in solitude, as gay as in company. We talk, I believe, all day long: to talk to each other is but more animated and an audible thinking. All my confidence is bestowed on him, all his confidence is devoted to me; we are precisely suited in character - perfect concord is the result."

Book 83: Love.

Oh dear.

I am so totally in love with Jane Eyre that I just can't help it.

I love the drama of her life at Thornfield, her conversations with Mr. Rochester, the mystery of what lives upstairs. It is all so beautifully wonderful. And if you haven't read the novel, please STOP READING this here because I am totally going to spoil it for you.

Jane just left Thornfield and has escaped after the disaster of her wedding day. I had to set the book aside to record my thoughts, because there is so much to talk about.

First, I absolutely adored the scene with Rochester playing the gypsy. So fun and enlightening. I think that as readers, we really got to see him interact with Jane in a different way.

I also love their interactions leading up to that moment of the wedding. It is passionate and truthful-something I find so necessary in love. Here is a piece of what I love:

"I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."

*sigh* Just let me swoon over here...

Really, the novel is full of passion and hope, something very different from what I found in Villette. In this one, it so much more...youthful. It is so full of hope for what the future will bring these two, that the wedding day disaster tears them all apart. I can understand why Jane would leave.

I am sure I am saying nothing new about this. Everything I could say, has been said, and probably much more eloquently. But seriously, this is a such a beautiful novel. I know that Jane must return to Rochester, she must!

I am off to find out!

Book 83: First Impressions.

I really think there is some value in reading an author's works in the order in which they were published. For present-day, living authors, we eagerly await their newest titles and read them as they are published. Of course we read things from the middle, but I always find it fascinating to see how writers grow as they mature and perfect their craft. A perfect example of this is J.K. Rowling. The first couple of Harry Potter novels seem very youthful and fun. Granted, the subject matter wasn't as dark as it gets in the later novels, but you can also see a sense of growth as she continues Harry's story.

So when I read an author "out of order," it sometimes leaves me wondering if I should grow in knowledge about that author through their work. When I made the decision last fall to read Villette over Jane Eyre, I did it mainly because I was worried Jane Eyre wouldn't live up to all the hype. I wanted another experience with Charlotte Bronte to get me into her writing. And I was told, at the time, that the two novels are different in scope and style.

And my first impressions of Jane Eyre?

Charlotte Bronte was a different person when she wrote this novel. There is a sense of...beauty and hope in life that wasn't always clear in Villette. And from the little I know about her life, she went through some major life experiences between the publications of these two novels. Where Lucy Snowe hid information from the reader, kept secrets, and seemed distant, Jane Eyre is rather...strong in her opinions and thoughts. I have a firm grasp of who she is from the beginning. I sense that she also has a strong handle on who she is and what she wants to accomplish. Unlike Lucy Snowe, she has not let the circumstances of her life completely take over her identity. Jane is still optimistic in so many ways, even with the grimness of her situation. Lucy just seems wistful throughout her narration.

But I am loving younger Charlotte just as much as older Charlotte. There is something insanely refreshing about the character of Jane Eyre. She is bright, ambitious, and seems to have a strong sense of identity. I am through the portion where Jane is at Lowood and she is about to embark on her journey to her new situation as a governess. But during these opening scenes, I can see that Jane is one of those people who does not let their misfortune in life dictate who they are. That is an admirable trait, and I love that in characters.

And I am not sure what I was expecting from this novel, seeing as I knew nothing about the plot when I began, but I don't know if this was it. I know there will be a love connection (with that Rochester fellow when he shows up), but he is no where to be found just yet. I am anxious to see what kind of man is a match for Jane.

In any case, I am looking forward to my adventure with young Charlotte Bronte. I am already half in love with the novel, the writing, and the ability Charlotte has to create a perfectly likable character, who is strong and independent. We will just have to see if that feeling continues as I move forward.

Book 83: Jane Eyre and Book Stats.

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

First Published: 1847

My Edition: Penguin Clothbound Classic (seen at left)

Pages: 578

Other Works Include: Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), The Professor (1857)

I read Villette back in September/October and many of the comments I received mentioned that it was odd I wasn't started with Bronte's more famous novel, Jane Eyre. When I was deciding between the two, I was extremely hesitant to pick up this title, so I grabbed Villette first. To be honest, it looked more interesting and suited my mood. I ended up loving the novel and have wondered ever since how this one could possibly top it. That might be the reason I have been so hesitant to begin reading it.

Here are links to my posts on Villette if you are interested:

• Book Stats/Intro Post
• On Part One
• On Part Two
• On Part Three/Finished

In any case, with the new movie out and all the hype, I realized I should probably read the novel to avoid spoilers. Somehow I have managed to avoid any knowledge of the plot of the book during my lifetime. Impressive, isn't it? All I do know is that there is some fellow named Rochester, a girl named Jane, and that she is an orphan. There is a lot missing to make that a story.

As I start this, I am nervous and hesitant. I am worried it won't live up to my high expectations, or that it will be overshadowed by the beauty of Villette. Another part of me is a little sad that I am reading this so soon. Once I finish it, I won't have any more Brontes to look forward to on my list (Obviously they have more novels between the three of them, and I haven't read any of Anne's work, but none of their other titles are on my 250 list). But, I am excited and I can't wait to see what all the fuss is about.

How many of you have read this one? How does it compare to the other Bronte titles you have read?

Book 59: On Part Three and Finished.

This is a heavy book. And I'm not sure how it does compare to Jane Eyre since I haven't read it, but I loved it anyway.

While it was certainly a chunker of a book, it was beautiful and required every word and moment to accomplish its purpose. And when it came to its end, I was in love.

Lucy Snowe and M. Paul Emmanuel eventually did come together in the way I thought they would, even if obstacles were thrown in their way. It was a love that grew slowly during their conversations, and I could see it long before Lucy admitted it.

The result is a climax that I was yearning for, but Bronte still left it to the imagination...

The fact is, Villette has an ambiguous ending. As a reader, you aren't sure what direction Bronte is heading. Is Lucy happy? Did it end the way I wanted it to? I'm not sure, but I still liked it.

As a person, you are unsure of who Lucy is-her purpose, her goals. She floats through her life and the experiences chronicled here with little significant care for the direction her life took. And while she befriends Emmanuel and seemingly falls in love with him, I have to wonder of she merely fell in love because he was there and he cared. Don't get me wrong, I feel that he loved her and wanted the best for her, but I am not sure how she felt. Lucy was never overly emotional about the men in her life.

So Bronte left us a puzzle at the end, and a way to figure it out for ourselves what happened after the last page. Sometimes this can annoy me in a book, but that open-ending worked here. It fit the mood and the purpose.


Overall, I am left feeling like I found a very deep friend in Lucy Snowe. I related to her, felt her pain, and understood many of her mannerisms. This was certainly a novel I will have to revisit.

My only concern is how I will feel about Villette's big sister Jane Eyre. Will I love it as much? Will I remember this novel with as much fondness? Will Jane Eyre ruin my love for this particular Bronte?

Only time, and more reading, will tell.

Book 28: Book Stats.

Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte (1818-1848)
First Published: 1847

My Edition: Penguin Classics Hardcover (one of the new fabric bound editions)
Pages: 353

Emily was the second of the three Bronte sisters. Her big sister was Charlotte (author of Villete and Jane Eyre). Her younger sister, Anne, was also an author and wrote Agnes Grey. Emily also wrote poetry as well, but Wuthering Heights was her only known novel. When it was first published in 1847, it was published under the name of Ellis Bell. In 1850, Charlotte decided to republish the novel using her sister's actual name.

I have never read any of the work of the Bronte sisters. Surprising, isn't it? I suppose it has been fear that has kept me away. I am mostly afraid of not liking novels that I "should."

Eventually I will be reading Charlotte Bronte's Villete and Jane Eyre.