In favour of reading

Now this is irritating. We had heard of this book in passing but we never imagined there could be such a thing as a book against reading, but it does exist and it's called The Solitary Vice: Against Reading by Mikita Brottman. From CityPaper:

Brottman is the latest in a long line of philosophers and writers to question reading's value, and in this day of reading campaigns and self-important book clubs, the question of whether reading per se is a virtuous activity is timely. Brottman, unfortunately, is conflicted about her thesis and spends a significant portion of the book discussing other matters. But when she does tackle the issue at hand, she reminds us that earnest thinkers have wrestled with these questions: Why do we read? Why should we read? And should we ever be skeptical about this most virtuous of hobbies? [...]
At the heart of Brottman's argument against reading are her painful memories of growing up with books instead of friends. "There's no question," she writes in Chapter 1, "that, in terms of emotional development, books didn't help me at all." The only boy who noticed her growing up was the class mutant, and she holds books responsible. "Books got me into this mess. I'd been spoiled, not only by Wuthering Heights, but also by other love stories, including the plain girls' bible, Jane Eyre."
Jane Eyre ruined her love life? "Jane Eyre is the perfect book to ruin the lives of solitary girls in attics everywhere, girls who feel they've been given a raw deal, overlooked just because they're not pretty. At sixteen, with my greasy skin and tragic hair, I was immediately drawn to the inner life of the much-abused Jane, quietly watching Mr. Rochester being seduced by the empty nonsense of a frilly debutante." (Heather Harris)

Now we do seriously want to believe there is a degree of tongue-in-cheek in this, particularly considering what follows but it is hard. All we will say then is that there are two sides to every coin and the imaginary 'reading coin' tends to always fall with the positive side up.

And the fact that there are news such as the following supports as theory. The Birmingham Post announces:

Other home-grown productions on the main stage during the autumn are a new adaptation by April De Angelis of Wuthering Heights (Sep 26-Oct 18) and a revival of Peter Nicholls' Privates on Parade in a co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse (Oct 23-Nov 8).

The Times Dispatch writes about Hathersage and highlights - a little too much - its Brontë connection.

The village church of St. Michael's prides itself with having within its graveyard the resting place of Robin Hood's deputy Little John. Hathersage also boasts having been host to the authoress Charlotte Bronte when she was writing her novel, "Jane Eyre." (Rachel Shackelford)

It would take Charlotte months after her visit to Hathersage to begin writing Jane Eyre. But sure enough, Hathersage has a claim to fame on the grounds that Charlotte may have found inspiration in a few of the things she encountered there.

Book reviews time. NewCityChicago reviews The Boat by Nam Le:

Not yet 30, Le effortlessly gives all seven tales in “The Boat” a different register, structure, vocabulary and tone. “Halflead Bay,” which unfolds in Australia, where Le partially grew up, is a wind-swept, craggy love story, a modern-day “Wuthering Heights” set on the Continental Shelf. Le writes beautifully of the weather, a violent, sensual power which signals some things cannot be changed, or resisted: “The baked smells of the earth steamed open,” Le writes of one storm. “Potted music of running through pipes, slapping against the earth; puddles strafed by raindrops.” (John Freeman)

Both Parkview Reviews and Mithrile review Jane Eyre. And A Work in Progress discusses Rachel Ferguson's The Brontës Went to Woolworth's.

Gondal-girl posts a picture of her 'kitsch bust' of Emily Brontë along with a Wuthering Heights-inspired poem by Sylvia Plath.

Categories: Books, Jane Eyre, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights