Bush, Brocklehurst, Liars and Cliff Richard

On the news today:

It's not a good idea (o maybe it is, you never know) to have watched a Jane Eyre on TV and a couple of days later to write an article about President Bush's State of the Union speech:

And if George Bush thinks he can suddenly become Dr. Jekyll by throwing a few dollars at struggling families with little children, then he is no better than Charlotte Bronte's pompous, imperious, despicable Mr. Brocklehurst who placed a small Jane Eyre in ignominious isolation, yet patted the heads of a chosen few to deceitfully suggest his love for all children. (Kathleen Reardon in The Huffingdon Post)

The MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archive Council) have made a survey about how British adults lie about their readings to appear more intelligent:

A cunning 33 per cent of adults have confessed to reading challenging literature to appear well-read, when in fact they haven’t a clue what the book is about.

But 40 per cent of people said they lied about reading certain books just so they could join in with conversation.

One in ten men said they would fib about reading a certain book to impress the opposite sex according to the poll of over 4000 bookworms conducted by the Museums, Libraries and Archive Council (MLA).

Most people expand on their literary repertoire to impress a new date, 15 per cent have lied about the books they have read to a new colleague and five per cent have told porkies about their reading habits to their employer.

Both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are included in the top-ten books we lie about reading:

3. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

And now a couple of musical news. According to the Shropshire Star, we have the embryo for a new How Do You Solve a Problem like... Heathcliff?:

Three talented people from Shropshire are hoping to impress the music industry’s most famous judge Simon Cowell for a new TV show. They are heading to Birmingham to audition for Cowell’s new show Britain’s Got Talent. (...) Lisa Stevens is also hoping to impress with her singing. The 21-year-old, from Brookside, Telford, is planning to perform Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights.

And AMEInfo offers you the chance to listen this podcast where Cliff Richard talks about his 90's Heathcliff

In part 2 of this retrospective Cliff Richard talks about taking on the role of Heathcliff in his musical version of Wuthering Heights.

Categories: In the News,Jane Eyre,Music,Wuthering Heights