And who reads “Wuthering Heights” at all?

The Telegraph publishes an article about first editions and how to invest in them. Of course, a first-hand example is this first edition of Wuthering Heights,

A first-edition of the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights printed in 1847 went under the hammer at a Bonhams auction in London last week for £114,000.
The classic Victorian tale of romance had no happy ending for Heathcliff and Cathy but for the seller it was all smiles. Books can be a great investment if you go for a first edition in hardback. These earliest print runs are often low in number as they were churned out before the book became a hit, so surviving copies are particularly rare and potentially valuable. (Toby Walne)

The recent performances of Jane Eyre at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis are seen as an example of how to attract young people to the performance halls or galleries:

“I strongly feel that at the end of the day the programming either speaks to people or it doesn’t,” says Trish Santini, the Guthrie’s external-relations director. “For me, the opportunity to be successful is to put the event around a piece of work I believe will feel meaningful and relevant to an audience.” She uses Jane Eyre, a core novel in high school English classes and now a play, as an example of a story that might just strike a chord with young theatergoers. (Kara McGuire in Minnesota Monthly)

The Clearwater Christian College Campus News publishes an account or the recent performances of Jane Eyre: The Musical:

Five performances of Jane Eyre: A Musical Drama, took place at Clearwater Christian College from Tuesday, October 30 through Saturday, November 3.
Approximately 2,100 persons attended the musical production, which was under the direction of Craig and Robin Ralston. David Fitzgerald was the technical director.
The cast of 38 featured Alisha Boley in the title role of Jane Eyre, with Luke Perrie and Ernie Severe sharing the role of Edward Fairfax Rochester. Fourteen children from the community played orphans, and Jane as a young girl.
A 16-member ensemble, acting as a chorus throughout the musical, gave the drama added depth and strength. The acting and singing were enhanced by a 28-member orchestra made up largely of CCC students. (...)
The cast performed with vibrancy and energy, displaying the type of intensity that draws the audience into the life of Jane and the lives of those around her.
Artistic staging and lighting, the use of projected video and still photography, and realistic sound effects added to the audio and visual imagery to keep the attention of the audience throughout the 2½ hour production. (Jennifer Duncan)

More pictures here.

More things: Nahomi's blog and Sense and Stupidity posts some pictures of Haworth and the Brontë Parsonage Museum. Lesertreff talks about Wuthering Heights in German. The Astor of Hever Library briefly reviews Wuthering Heights. Scaramouche's Stories is thrilled with Jane Eyre 2006.

But on the net we also found people that simply don't get it:

The Staten Island Advance publishes an article on Charles James Blasius Williams, one of the fathers of the stethoscope and says something like this:

Williams worked with Laennec between 1825 and 1826, shortly before the teacher himself died of tuberculosis, the epidemic lung disease of Europe. Williams came back to London, married a cousin and sired nine children, just like his father. It was a scenario straight out of a Bronte novel. (Dr. Dennis Bloomfield)

Maybe a Dickens novel would be more accurate.

This other article in The Walton Tribune wonders how anybody could read Wuthering Heights... Poor fellow, if only he knew...

While it was a fun list to peruse (who reads “Great Expectations” more than they have to? And who reads “Wuthering Heights” at all?) it made me wonder why I keep re-reading certain books. (Stephen Milligan)

The mentioned list is this one on the British favourite re-readings.

Categories: Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Theatre, Wuthering Heights