Peeling human hearts

George Packer's play Betrayed is now being performed in Berkeley at the Aurora Theatre. The San Jose Mercury News mentions the well-known, for the readers of BrontëBlog, Brontë connection:

From the first moments we meet Intisar (an intense turn by Denmo Ibrahim) and her hard-working colleagues, Adnan (Bobak Cyrus Bakhtiari) and Laith (Amir Sharafeh), we see them as quirkily drawn individuals instead of collateral damage. Intisar can quote Bronte by heart. (Karen D'Souza)

More plays. The Ottawa Sun reviews Ann-Marie MacDonald's Belle Moral: A Natural History which is performed through February 14th in the NAC Studio:

A couple of ladies in the audience were comparing it to "Jane Eyre" during the intermission. And I agreed, it does indeed resemble that.
Except that "Jane Eyre" was a brutally romantic tale that peeled the protective layers off the human heart. "Belle Moral" is less interested in Pearl's heart. It's more focused on her mind, and her tenacious will. The play is just amazingly busy with contrary ideas about art and science, religion and evolution, traditional versus contemporary roles for women. It goes on and on. (Denis Armstrong)

The Toronto Star talks about movie adaptations of good books:

This also works for certain classic literary titles – which is to say books more people have heard of than actually read – which also come with the added benefit of being endlessly re-makeable: Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein, Dracula, Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Oliver Twist, anything by old Bill Shakespeare. (Geoff Pevere)

Samuel Johnson's 300th birthday and the appearance of new biographies about him are the reasons behind this article in the New York Times which also happens to mention Jane Eyre's connection to Samuel Johnson, Rasselas:

But Johnson’s “Rasselas” (1759), an “Oriental tale” whose poly­syllabic pomposity disappointed the young Jane Eyre, is the worst place for readers unacquainted with Johnson to start. (Leah Price)

The Bluff Country Reader interviews the author Amy Hahn who seems to be inspired by the Brontës among others:

Writing inspiration has come from classical authors such as Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Victoria Holt and Philippa Gregory. (Melissa Van Der Plas)

Matthew Harris in The Times makes a sort of reading biography:

The Enid Blyton phase, I think, was what really got me hooked on reading for myself. Shortly after, when I was unwell, came a couple of terms at a boarding school in the Vumba mountains of Rhodesia. The academy turned out to be pretty unacademic and I was homesick. I turned to books. There was a corridor stacked with them, mostly mildewing in the Vumba mist. By the time I left I must have read every one. Little Men. Then Dickens again. Vanity Fair (I loved it and did understand the ambivalence of Becky Sharp). The Three Musketeers, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Jane Austen, the Brontës (I missed George Eliot), John Buchan ... then, in desperation for another book, even Little Women. A biography of Viscount Melbourne. An introduction to ferns.

The Times of India reports Matt Damon's statement about James Bond ('repulsive', 'imperialist' and 'misogynist', check The Miami Herald):

If Damon's cue were taken, many imaginary would outstrip Bond as rotten tomato recipients: Milton's Satan, Shakespeare's Shylock or Bronte's Heathcliff, romantic anti-hero par excellence, would all be bashed as boors.

Certainly the Brontës are used to illustrate almost any situation. The Oneonta Daily Star Teen Talk writer answers as follows to a reader who wishes to know what is needed to be a writer:

Education is not as much of a worry as you may think. Ernest Hemingway, the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and even Charles Dickens never attended college, and their novels are very well-known. I think it is safe to say that talent may be more important than a college degree, although I'm sure classes would help. (Chad Shipman)

Now that the Guantánamo prison is finally going to be closed, Real Change News talks with a former prisoner and a former guard. The first one is Moazzam Begg who is not mentioned on this blog for the first time:

During his three years in Cuba, he read whatever he could — Wuthering Heights, copies of National Geographic with the maps removed — but the treatment led Begg to smash up what little he had in his cell on a couple of occasions. (Adam Forest)

On the blogosphere, Sumera's Blog posts about Jane Eyre 1944 (?), rotteneggstrikes posts about Jane Eyre 2006, Daisy's Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Fiction is beginning Wuthering Heights, lindsay0819 selects some of the most annoying literary characters including a varied showcase of Brontë ones: Rochester, Heathcliff & Catherine and Mr. Brocklehurst. A brief biography of Emily Brontë is posted on Meia Palavra (in Portuguese).

Finally, an alert from the The Bewick Society:

Saturday 31 January 2009 Bewick Enthusiasms Afternoon
Bewick Enthusiasms will be an afternoon of lecturettes by speakers with enthusiasms for particular aspects of Bewick’s life and work or that of his associates. Keith Armstrong will lead us off with a selection of his latest poetry inspired by Bewick and Peter Osborne would like to tell us something about Bewick and Emily Brontë. This meeting is intended to allow our members to share their passion for Bewick so do please come along and if you would like to contribute a five to ten minute discussion on something you find fascinating about Bewick we would be delighted to hear from you.
Venue: Room 1, The Quaker Meeting House (Friends Meeting House), Jesmond.
Date and time: Saturday 31 January at 2pm.

Categories: Brontëites, Alert, Jane Eyre,Movies-DVD-TV, References, Theatre, Wuthering Heights