Always the other side

Susheila Nasta picks her top 10 cultural books for the Guardian and quotes Jean Rhys's 'motto' when writing Wide Sargasso Sea:

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys was one of the first books to take me on such a voyage, throwing me into the haunted landscape of Emancipation Jamaica and the hidden Creole history of Bertha, the so-called 'madwoman' in Jane Eyre. 'There is always the other side, always', Rhys tells us, long anticipating John Berger's vision that 'Never again can a story be told as though it were the only one'.

On the topic of reading, The Index-Journal has an article on the National Banned Books Week.

Fourteen books are behind bars at the Abbeville Library this week to illustrate National Banned Books Week. [...]
“Then we took a lot of books that we now consider classics 'Wuthering Heights,' Shakespeare plays that either for political reasons or cultural reasons have been challenged. The world would be a worse place if we couldn’t read 'To Kill a Mockingbird.’” (Jennifer Colton)

And yet more bookish things. According to Booktrade, Penguin Classics on Air will be broadcasting the following on October 6th:

· Vampires on Paper: The Enduring Appeal of Vampires in Literature
Elda Rotor interviews Twilight expert Donna Freitas about the appeal of Stephanie Meyer's vampire series and how it compares to Emily Bronte's enduring classic Wuthering Heights. Elda then speaks with Dacre Stoker, a direct descendent of Bram Stoker, and Ian Holt, authors of Dracula: The Un-Dead, who explain why Dracula and other vampires are such popular characters in literature. Alan Walker introducers listeners to The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham on "Reading the Classics from A to Z." Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Bram Stoker's Dracula in his segment, "First Pages." (to air 10/6)

And The Epoch Times points also in the direction of books on the waves:

In our times, not all “books” consist of printed pages. At the festival were two promoters of audio books on Sirius XM Book Radio. Program Director Maggie Linton and Kim Alexander, who hosts “Fiction Nation,” were educating people about the books that satellite radio is broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Now they are broadcasting (Sirius 117; XM 163) contemporary works like Steve Berry’s The Alexandria Link and Debra Webb’s Investigation 101 as well as classics like Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre and Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (Gary Feuerberg)

On another format, School Library Journal has info on the Wuthering Heights 2009 DVD:

Wuthering Heights (Masterpiece Theatre Series). DVD. 2:21 hrs. Prod. by Mammoth Screen and WGBH Boston. Dist. by PBS Home Video. 2009. ISBN 978-1-59375-896-7. $24.99.
Gr 7 Up—Both devotees and those who are new to Emily Brontë's classic tale of gothic star-crossed love and obsession will be captivated by this lush and dark adaptation. Cathy and Heathcliff are tormented lovers torn apart by convention and deceit, leaving a tangled legacy of hatred and love. In her television debut performance, Charlotte Riley embodies Cathy with an uncommon beauty and fiery deposition. Tom Hardy is appropriately brooding, if a bit wooden, as Heathcliff, her adopted brother with whom she falls in love. An excellent supporting cast includes Burn Gorman as Hindley, Cathy's snobbish older brother who despises Heathcliff, and Sarah Lancashire as the servant Nelly, who sees the whole thing happening and is helpless to stop it. Three tastefully shot consummation scenes (no nudity) define relationships and keep the heat on high. Set and filmed in the lush moorlands of Yorkshire, the scenery is startling, desolate, and beautiful. There is a bonus "Behind the Scenes" featurette about the filming; two introductions provided by actress Laura Linney give brief biographical background on Brontë as well as reaction to the first publication of the "shocking" novel in 1847. A teacher's guide and further behind the scenes information is available online at pbs.org. A worthy purchase for both public and high school libraries.—Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI

We have our doubts about the following statement read on Recordnet.com:

"We're still not so far from (Emily Bronte's 1847) 'Wuthering Heights,' with a woman screaming," [Joyce] Cooling said. "We have a long way to go from the Elizabethan age in knowing what mental illness is. (Tony Sauro)

While we praise the initiative and efforts we can't help but wonder whether she really means Bertha in Jane Eyre. Cathy was quite unhinged towards the end of her life, but if there is a connection between the Brontës and madness then the most obvious is through the famous 'madwoman in the attic', right?

And incidentally, the blog A Question of Mindfulness touches on the topic of madwomen.

Brief: The Selby Times has an article where the unfortunate driver who accidentally crashed against the two Wuthering Heights horses tells his story. And The Telegraph and Argus informs about the forthcoming event at the Parsonage on October 10th, when the Museum's writer in residence, poet Katrina Naomi, will interact with the visitors.

On the blogosphere things are widely varied. There are a few reviews: With Words Unsaid and Thoughts Allowed on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Reading Life on Daphne du Maurier's The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë, and Passionate Booklover on Laura Joh Rowland's The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë. Distributorcap NY posts 'The Classics Updated: Cathy and Heathcliff in GOP America' and Sobre Inglaterra writes in Spanish about reaching Haworth on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

Categories: Alert, Audio-Radio, Books, Brontë Parsonage Museum, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights