August: The Bronte sisters

For August, we'll be delving into the works of the Bronte sisters: Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, & Anne Bronte.

Has anyone read any of these classic novelists before? What are you planning to read in August?



edited to fix touchstones

So when I was in college, I read Charlotte's Jane Eyre and loved it even more than I thought I would. One of these days, I also want to read Wide Sargasso Sea because I like the premise of focusing on a lesser-examined character from Jane Eyre and letting her story be known.

A couple of years later, I read Emily's Wuthering Heights and was disappointed in it. It was an engrossing read but I disliked all the characters so much that it took away from my enjoyment.

I haven't read anything by Anne, so hopefully I'll get to one of her works in August.

Jane Eyre a favorite of all time. Could not finish Villette Thought Withering Heights was overly romantic. Would take recommendations!

I haven't read as much as I feel I should have so will definitely join in.

I read Jane Eyre a couple years ago and loved it. (Wide Sargasso I didn't care so much for. I can appreciate Rhys' intentions and feelings on the matter but, I felt like she went kind of the opposite extreme. If it had been a story of its own, without those connections, I'd have thought it fine, but...)

I plan on reading Wuthering Heights next month, and maybe I'll get to another one in August.

Also just to note, their name is with an ë, not e. ;)

>5 .Monkey.: I'm with you on Wide Sargasso Sea. Glad I read it though.

Also just to note, their name is with an ë, not e. ;) Of course, but it's too much work to bother with on a keyboard, let alone a smart phone. So Bronte it will be for most of us.

I read Jane Eyre and liked it a lot, and then had to read it about a year later at university. When I had to study it and write about it, I discovered there is so much depth to the novel and it's really an amazing literary accomplishment. I also listened to the audio book of CB's Villette which I found overly long.

I love Wuthering Heights. I read it the first time about 15 years ago after I'd suffered through Emma by Jane Austen. I found WH absolutely refreshing in contrast (I have learned to love Austen since though). I reread Wuthering Heights a couple of years ago and it was quite different the second time around. I still loved it though. One of my top favourite books of all time. Yes, the characters are terrible people, and you pretty much have to skip any of Joseph's dialogue, but it's still great.

I didn't get on as well with Anne Bronte's Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I'd be willing to give it a second try. Mixed feelings on that one, but I have to say she is the only one of the lot who actually knows how to write a believable male character.

There's a really interesting old thread on LT comparing Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre that you can read here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/22087

>5 .Monkey.:, 6 Interesting to hear, everyone else I know who read Wide Sargasso Sea loved it. Now I know to go into it with more tempered expectations.

And, yes, I'm just too lazy for the umlaut... :) especially as I've been sans computer since mine broke.

>6 Nickelini: As I mentioned, I read Jane Eyre in college, so it was definitely great to explore it on a deeper level, but I also just absolutely loved it as an entertaining, engrossing read as well. It was one of those books where I was reading it much faster that was required for weekly assignments.

Well, you're probably in good company there as Charlotte Bronte famously despised Jane Austen's works for lacking emotion. Not sure how Emily felt, but based on Wuthering Heights being even more emotionally wrought than Jane Eyre, my guess would be she felt similarly. Me personally, I prefer Austen any day.

Just one article of many on the Bronte/Austen divide: http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/articles/2013/10/09/why-the-brontes-hated-jane...

Thanks for the link, I am going to have to check out that thread when I have a little more time for it.

>6 Nickelini: Also just to note, their name is with an ë, not e. ;)
--Of course, but it's too much work to bother with on a keyboard, let alone a smart phone. So Bronte it will be for most of us.

>7 sweetiegherkin: And, yes, I'm just too lazy for the umlaut... :)

Well, silly me. Just hours after posting my comment "let alone a smart phone," I needed to type an accented letter e on my phone to distinguish between a French word and an English one, and my 19yr old showed me how . . . and I'm embarrassed how easy it is --On a smart phone, when you type the e, just hold it and a choice of accents appears, including the umlaut. So now I know and no more excuses.

>8 Nickelini: Yep, it's usually ridiculously easy on mobile devices. It's also incredibly easy with a Linux compose key, Windows with EN-Int setting, and I'm pretty sure Mac has a simple method too. :P

>6 Nickelini: thanks again for the link to the previous thread -- a lot of thoughtful discussion there. It does seem like Wuthering Heights produces a great deal of mixed feelings, people either seem to love it or, well, maybe not exactly hate it, but certainly hate the characters. In hindsight, I think part of it for me was the build up of it being such a great romance -- even though I'm not a romance person, it's definitely a jarring shock to go into a novel expecting a romance and getting Heathcliff and Cathy's tormented relationship instead. If you at least expect to have awful characters, you can deal with them better...

Anyway, that previous discussion thread also brought up another point worth exploring -- there have been numerous movie/TV versions of the Brontes' works, particularly Jane Eyre. Has anyone seen any of these? If so, what were your thoughts?

>10 sweetiegherkin: Film versions . . . I've seen three or four Jane Eyres. For some reason, the only one I remember is the 1996 version starring Charlotte Gainsbourg. I rather liked it, except Rochester is played by William Hurt which just irritates me to no end. I just see "American Movie Star" and don't see a character at all. I prefer unknown or lesser known actors in historical movies. They just look like modern people playing dress up. Otherwise the casting was very good.

As for Wuthering Heights, I adore the Ralph Fiennes-- Juliette Binoche version (1992). Yes, you could pick apart about a million things about it, but I don't care. I don't even care that Binoche can't hide her French accent. I also liked the 2009 mini-series starring Tom Hardy, but I've only seen it once. And finally, I even liked the 2011 version with James Howson, a Brit with African heritage, as Heathcliff. It's beautifully filmed, although the second time I watched it I found it very s l o w. Depends on the mood, I suppose.

Hope that helps! There are lots of other versions to discuss.

BTW - I was just on YouTube and many of these movies are available to watch for free.

Ha! The first book I started was Sense and Sensibility because apparently Austen is the long lost Bronte sister. Once I finish, I will perhaps focus on the correct author. :)

I did read Wuthering Heights last month and was rather surprised to find that it isn't the great romance novel I always thought it was.

>13 Yells: Ooops! Well, we did talk a bunch earlier in this thread about the Bronte-Austen "feud" so that could have thrown you off. :)

Sounds like we're on the same bandwagon re: the lack of romance in Wuthering Heights. I did enjoy the book, but it definitely wasn't what I expected.

I haven't even thought any further about picking up a Bronte this month, but I'll see if I can squeeze one in at some point. How's everyone else doing with their August read(s)?

I haven't started yet, but since I've read a Charlotte (Jane Eyre) and Emily's (Wuthering Heights), I'm planning on reading an Anne, so Agnes Grey it'll be.

A fun little Bronte-related story that someone posted elsewhere on LT (I'd love to give credit, but I can't remember who or where, sorry!):

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2016/07/important-bronte-assoc...

That's pretty cool. And now that I've finished The Castle, I'll be starting in on Agnes today. :)

Still playing at catch up with you all.
For your August Bronte read, I chose one of my very favorite books of all time: Jane Eyre by Charlotte.

My thoughts & comments:

A 5 star read for me, this is one of THE best books I have ever read or in this case reread.

Jane is a poor orphan fobbed off at a very early age on a nice uncle & a bitchy aunt who have 3 abominable children. The uncle dies but makes his wife promise to always keep & care for Jane. That lasts a few miserable years until the aunt, through correspondence, finds a poorly run boarding school for Jane that will keep her holidays as well. She wants never to see her again.
So Jane goes to the boarding school where she works hard, learns well, is always hungry & often cold. She remains there, studies hard & becomes a teacher for an additional 2 years at which time she posts an advertisement for a position as governess.
She is hired by a Mrs Fairfax of Thornfield to become governess to a young girl, Adelle, who is a ward of the owner of Thornfield but the Master is rarely there. Jane is very happy in her new position but when the Master returns home she cannot help falling in love with him. She keeps this close to her vest. Little does she know that he has fallen in love with her as well.
In her room at night, Jane begins to hear strange cries, howls & noises from overhead. She knows that there is someone up on the 3rd floor but is told that it is a servant who keeps mainly to herself and indeed she does see Mrs. Poole occasionally going to & from that floor carrying items.
When Jane learns who is actually living in that upper abode she is heartbroken and feels she cannot remain. So the girl takes the poor things she arrived with and the few pennies she has and leaves, catching a coach that will take her as far away as her funds will allow. As she is let off the coach she forgets her little bundle and now all she has are the clothes on her back.
Jane walks & forages for food for about 3 days. She looks for work, finding only rejection. She begs food and is given bread crumbs. Finally one stormy night when she is so poorly she feels she can go no further she sees a light in the distance. She follows the light and comes upon a cottage in the wood where as she looks through the window she sees 2 young ladies that she is sure are sisters, for they look so much alike, and an elderly lady that she assumes is their mother, guardian or servant. She knocks on the door, is turned away & the door shut upon her. Jane is so ill, weak & weary that she collapses on the stoop.
The next thing she is aware of is a gentleman coming upon her, & helping her into the warm kitchen where now she is fed some warm milk & bread & is taken up to a warm bedroom, changed into dry sleeping clothes and put to bed where she remains ill & out of her head for several days. She is cared for by all of the inhabitants of the house. As she begins to get stronger she is allowed to sit up and eventually she feels well enough to get up, dressed & go downstairs where she joins the servant in the snug, warm kitchen.
She is accepted by this family and kept there for some time. The gentleman, who is a brother to the girls, finds work teaching for her along with a wee cottage of her own.
She lives thus for some time.
I will stop here, dear reader, for to go on would tell you more than you would wish to hear at this point.
This is one of the best books I have ever read and I very highly recommend it to young and old alike.

Oh, I never came back and posted about Agnes. I enjoyed it, it was a nice sweet story, though I kind of had the idea of what would happen from fairly early on, haha. But it was a nice read, good for a smile. I like a quaint little tale like that every so often. ;)
I also read Villette, which I liked a lot (though I also was pretty sure where it was going as each character entered the stage lol), although the ending made me crazy! It also made clear to me that Charlotte was very much the solid lead writer amongst them. Her stories & characters have so much more depth and substance to them, they're just excellent. Definitely a Charlotte fan!

>18 rainpebble:, 19 Thanks for sharing your impressions of these reads. I also loved Jane Eyre when I read it. Agnes Grey sounds like a good read also, something light and peaceful would be nice right about now :)

Yes, I'd say it'd definitely work for that. It's nothing nearly so heavy as Jane or Wuthering Heights, though as with all their novels there is of course a bit of character-driven drama.

I actually just finished Wildfell Hall this morning, and damn, that was amazing! The writing itself I think wasn't quite as good as Jane, but it's up there, I was hooked from the first, and the story she told, man that is the sister I'd wanna hang with! So outspoken, (sadly) even Charlotte scorned it and kept it from being reprinted after Anne's death. Charlotte still wins on writing, but I have switched my fandom to Anne! XD Lol.

Anyway I'm also now continuing on to The Professor, the last of their novels in this collection (because for some abominable reason it leaves out Shirley). :D