A Naturalist view on Jane Eyre and Barkmore Brontë

About readers and small talk...

The Asheville The Citizen-Times publishes an article where George Ellison, naturalist and writer talks about his last readings.

Currently, I’ve been revisiting portions of Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” published in 1847. I first read the novel 45 years ago in a college course.

At that time, I concentrated on the Gothic trappings of Bronte’s tale and completely overlooked her descriptive writing. Of late, I’m much more struck by her eye for the British countryside and how the pervasive gloom of rural England in winter matches her main character’s psychological state. (...)

These days, I’m much more captivated by her evocative naturalistic descriptions. A “species of pleasure” is what we all might feel in such a grim setting. I might well think of that phrase while walking down the creek below our house this evening, when “the best winter delight” will reside in “utter solitude and leafless repose.” One way in which we learn to see more clearly and feel more deeply is through reading the impressions of others; especially, when reading someone with Charlotte Bronte’s intensity.

Micheal Heaton on The Cleveland Plain Dealer instructs how to be the king of small-talk.

But if you really want to be the interesting person at a party, I can help. It's not enough to blather on with your memorized fun facts. They need a little "sweetening." Just make sure the new information you're adding to the topic is impossible to fact check. (...)

The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, were novelists whose books captured the tone of the Victorian mid-1800s. Charlotte wrote "Jane Eyre." Emily wrote "Wuthering Heights." Anne wrote a novel you never heard of, so never mind. All three died of consumption.

Erm ! Not just one, TWO that obviously the journalist has never heard of. The second part is the funny one:

You add that there was a Bronte brother named Barkmore who was drummed out of the family because of his fondness for stamp collecting, then thought to be the height of depravity. Too bad for the sisters Bronte. He went to medical school and became Dr. Barkmore Bronte. He wrote the famous medical text, "Five Easy Ways to Avoid Tuberculosis."

AssociatedContent publishes an article about Emily Brontë. The author, Timothy Sexton, argues that Emily Brontë is probably the most well-known Brontë sister today and tries to explain why Wuthering Heights is still one of the most fascinating novels around.

Emily Bronte is arguably the most famous of the Bronte sisters; certainly only Charlotte gives her any serious competition. Her fame, like Charlotte's, rests primarily upon one single work of fiction, her gothic novel Wuthering Heights. But why should that novel serve to elevate Emily to more fame than Charlotte when her sister's own novel Jane Eyre has retained its popularity alongside Emily's book? Interestingly, the key to Emily's ascension to the near-unanimous acclaim as the premier woman of letters in her family may be found in the keen observation made by Charlotte that Emily had in Wuthering Heights created a novel that was both disturbing and fascinating to the reader simultaneously. (Read more)

More readers. We have found a couple of reviews of books that have been previously mentioned on BrontëBlog. The ubiquitous The Thirteenth Tale by LiteraryFeline. And Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading by Lesley's Book Nook.

And finaly, the curious thing of the day. This blog by a pastor of an Australian Baptist church reports Anne Brontë's Farewell Poem as one of the favourite funeral poems.

Categories: Anne Brontë, Books, Emily Brontë, Humour, Jane Eyre, Poetry, Websites