Education, connections and Toby Stephens in his frock coat

The following is taken from Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly:

Since he won a seat in parliament for the Delta Governorate of Gharbiya in 2000, Laban has been an outspoken critic of USAID projects within the education sector. In The Role of USAID in Modernising Education: Between Reality and Delusion, Laban's 128-page book on the subject, he alleges that USAID has acted to distort Islamic curricula and impose "sexually explicit" English novels on secondary school students. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights are cited among the latter. Laban now plans to direct an interpellation taking Sheikh Tantawi to task for allegedly bowing to American pressure, especially after 11 September, to revamp curricula.
The sheikh of Al-Azhar's deputy, Mahmoud Ashour, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Laban's statements about education and Tantawi "do not deserve a comment". (Gamal Essam El-Din)

Indeed they don't.

So on to something else. We have posted so many reviews on The Thirteenth Tale that we are actually wondering whether the staff at some newspapers are borrowing the book from one another and reviewing it yet again :P This is how The Independent review begins.

The moorland romances of the Brontës and Daphne du Maurier are never far away from our vision of the perfect Christmas read. (Emma Hagestadt)

Remember the Brontës and Daphne du Maurier are connected by more than just that. Rebecca was largely inspired by Jane Eyre and Daphne du Maurier herself published a biography on Branwell Brontë, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë. Not just that, Justine Picardie - who also wrote the introduction to the latest edition of The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë - is working on a novel that will probably see the light in May 2008 called Daphne uniting the Brontës and Daphne du Maurier too.

And finally, an article in the Property section of The Times has made us laugh.

Perhaps I’ll take a bit of fresh air after that . . . The dramatic scenery of “Brontë Country” is a few miles away [from Bradford]. Just don’t expect the shade of Toby Stephens to be roaming Haworth in his frock coat. Most of the BBC’s recent Jane Eyre was filmed in Derbyshire. (Susan Emmett)

Oh, who knows? But Heathcliff does roam the moors ;)

Categories: In the News, Books, Fiction