Why all the hostility?

Our newsround today left us wondering what the Brontës have done against the world to cause so much negativity. Hmph!

An article on 'Ultimate Summer Fun in Philadelphia' includes this:

Female book nerds have a rough time of it in the summer, what with the season's trend toward puny beach reads and a general atmosphere of carefree abandon that the Bronte sisters would surely shun.

Well, it's not as if the bookshelves of bookshops are emptied of all sensible reading once the heat arrives, is it? 'Female book nerds' have plenty to choose from - and there's always rereads, you know :P So not valid.

That previous statement constrasts strangely with the following affirmation though:

Mr. Lundquist chalked up audiobook ambivalence to snobbery. "There's still a resistance on an abstract, moral ground," he said. "It's elitism. There's a sense that only people with a certain level of education should have access to some literature, or that you should only read 'Jane Eyre' if you have time do it leisurely on a beach in the Hamptons."

Well, there's the beauty of the Brontës for you. They can be read anywhere - both a summer reads and as more scholarly books :D So not really valied, either.

More hostility:

"Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights," two of the tomes Brooks fingered on Sunday as the kind of dastardly girl books that make boys hate reading. Reading them, says Brooks, causes boys to drop out of school in greater numbers.

But then again we know of boys who really like the Brontës. And - despite what some surveys may say - if more boys did get round to reading the Brontës they would see for themselves that there is more to the romantic story they have been sold. The boys that cross the line to see for themselves hardly ever come back! Not valid.

And this is where the worst comes. This entry on the Catallarchy blog is scary:

Even our teacher admitted to us, after we read Wuthering Heights, that the book didn't make much sense to her, either.

Great teacher you had there... It goes on:

It could be that biology makes me dislike Jane Austin and Emily Brontë. Or, the social constructivists might be right, and it could very well be the case that I dislike Jane Austin and Emily Brontë because the culture and society in which I live teaches me to dislike Jane Austin and Emily Brontë.

That teacher probably told you to spell it 'Austin', didn't she? Good thing the Brontë has the umlaut! As for that - again - why not try and see for yourself and stop listening to both biology and social constructivists? It's easy. Not valid at all.

We will finish off with more - if not positive - indifferent comments on the Brontës:

Christopher D. Sessums thinks the structure of Wuthering Heights is somewhat similar to videogames:

Games are often built around specific components such as character traits, game rewards, obstacles, a narrative or story line, competition, and in some cases collaboration. This oddly sounds like a Tolkien novel or even Wuthering Heights to a large extent. Similarly, when a reader becomes engrossed in a novel, they able to empathize with the feelings and emotional states of the characters they are reading about (engaged with, if you will). In turn, emotional reactions generated through video games include such feelings as curiosity, fear, power, aggression, wonder, joy, and frustration. (I am curious to know if feelings of helplessness, futility, and dominance also exist among video game players?

Hehe, the Brontës are so techy lately.

And finally at The Independent they think Rufus Sewell is a Heacthcliff look-alike:

With his unusually large, light-green eyes and his dark, wild hair Sewell looks - in his thick black overcoat - more like the living incarnation of Heathcliff. "The chances are that when I get sent scripts, a few pages in, it is going to have a lone figure on a horse," says Sewell wryly.

But then again apparently he also gets mistaken for Colin Firth so judge for yourselves!

Categories: In_the_News