"In Yorkshire, we don't need to watch period dramas"

The Yorkshire Post has an article on 'forgotten heritage' and the Brontë Birthplace is aptly mentioned.

"Sometimes it's the seemingly unremarkable buildings in which you find the best stories," he says. "In Thornton, near Bradford, there's a terraced house which looks like hundreds of others. However, when you realise it was the birthplace of the Brontës, it gives it a whole new dimension. "How fantastic is it to be able to sit in the living room of the house where the Brontë children were born and look out and see the same views they saw? In Yorkshire, we don't need to watch period dramas on television, we can go out and live and breathe it." (Sarah Freeman)

We would honestly like to know what's to become of it, now that's been a good while (over two years) since it was bought in an auction.

Now for the ever-present Twilight zone. Mark from Buzznet is reading Twilight (so that you don't have to). He's in chapter 11 of Eclipse:

Also, she quotes Wuthering Heights again. Please stop.

And of course the second installment, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, has just been released in cinemas and spoken of in the press. And they don't quote but mention Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and the Brontës. Again.

San Diego News Network says:

For me, these books have been a modern day combination of the unrequited love of Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff and Catherine from “Wuthering Heights,” and Wendla and Melchior from “Spring Awakening.” Only, the “Twilight” books have elements of all of these classics, with the added bonus of a happy ending. Alright, I’m stretching the comparison between historic, compelling literature, but even at my age (late 30s), in the middle-place, the captivating “Twilight” books have given me a vacation from stress, finances, my jelly belly muffin top, and my daily activities with my two energetic boys. (Maryann Castronovo)

Eyeweekly says:

It may well be a psychic cocktail of the agonies and ecstasy of first love, wherein if a guy doesn’t return your phone call, you’re basically ready to throw yourself off a cliff. (SPOILER ALERT: this does happen in New Moon, thanks probably to Stephenie Meyer’s reputed love for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.) (Chandler Levack)

Western Australia Today says:

Bella - lean, glowering, in jeans and a flannie - is an offhand heroine who's never going to inspire her own clothing line. Not quite a Jane Eyre, however; she can pique male interest, although her demeanour generally deflects boys' attention soon enough. But the camera doesn't linger on her: it turns to the torsos and cheekbones of the pin-up boys. (Philippa Hawker)

And Cinematical says:

What no one seems to realize is that women have been reading about idealistic lovers for a very long time. Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Elizabeth Gaskell all created paragons of male sexiness that women have been fantasizing about for centuries. (Elisabeth Rappe)

Oh, but they do realise! And they write about it quite a lot too.

Well, another much talked about film with a Brontë connection is An Education, which is reviewed by the Memphis Flyer.

And, as David takes Jenny from a classical concert to an after-hours club boasting a different kind of symphony — that of smoke and drink and Etta James covers and heady conversation — that Jane Eyre paper for English class doesn't seem quite so important. (Chris Herrington)

Curiously enough, Recorder Community Newspapers has an article about a classical concert which begins with a Brontë reference.

The evening of Saturday, Oct. 24, was worthy of a scene in a Brontë novel, chill winds whipping heavy rain and thunder in the distance. (Sheila Abrams)

At The Collegian (South Dakota State University), editor Andrew LaFrance writes about recent reads.

Also recently I have enjoyed Wuthering Heights, A Tale of Two Cities, I Capture the Castle and My Sister's Keeper. A girly good yarn or two is never harmful to anyone, but to me these books are so much more than stories; they are reasons to keep on living my own life in hopes that someday it, too, can become some sort of best-seller.

As for the blogs, The Clue in the Bookshelf has read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Project Read More is not too thrilled about Jane Eyre in comparison with a couple of novels by Jane Austen. The Film Fanatic has watched Jane Eyre 1973. And more blogs keep on joining Laura's Reviews All About the Brontës Challenge: Book-A-Rama and New Century Reading. It looks as if we can expect a good many comments and reviews in the coming months!

Categories: Books, Brontëana, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Wuthering Heights