The emotional experience of reading the book

The Spenborough Guardian has an article on the Heritage Open Days and the buildings that can be visited in the area, some of them with Brontë connections:

Oakwell Hall in Birstall will be celebrating with a Living History event from noon-5pm both days, when entry and all activities are free.
There will be historical demonstrations, a beekeeping display, knitting and stitching in the museum, while outside there will be a birds of prey display with a griffon vulture – which has an 8ft wingspan – an American bald eagle, harris hawks and an eagle owl.
In addition the Friends of Oakwell, who organise the museum's monthly Living History events, will demonstrate butter making and painting. On the Saturday visitors can make God's Eyes – a hanging decoration originally made in South America to ward off evil spirits – and on Sunday they can have a go at quill pen writing.
Visitors to Red House in Gomersal will see the period house, former home to Mary Taylor, which was the model for Briarmains in Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley.

Charlotte Brontë herself enjoyed visiting houses such as Abbotsford, home of her childhood idol Sir Walter Scott. The Border Telegraph lists her name among those of other famous visitors fo Abbotsford:

Mr Dyer said: "Abbotsford is a real treasure trove of historic objects collected both by Sir Walter Scott and his descendants. In addition to Cardinal Newman, visitors to the house have also included significant literary figures including Wordsworth, Byron, Dickens, Charlotte Brontë and Oscar Wilde."

And Charlotte certainly enjoyed her visit. On 30 July 1850 she wrote to her friend Laetitia Wheelwright,

. . . and as to Melrose and Abbotsford the very names possess music and magic.

The National Post has an article on screen adaptations of book and Moira Buffini is quoted:

“It’s never going to be the same as the book,” says Tamara Drewe screenwriter Moira Buffini, who also scripted a new version of Jane Eyre, to be released in 2011. “What you’ve got to be faithful to, I think, is the emotional experience of reading the book.” (Mark Medley)

We wholeheartedly agree. And of course that's at the root of the problem as to why not all fans of a novel will ever agree on the merits of an adaptation: because their 'emotional experiences' are different.

Speaking of adaptations, the Sherwood Gazette mourns the loss of a member of their community and a Jane Eyre-BBC anecdote is recalled.

The Faster Times gives advice to freshmen on how not to look like a freshman. Judging by it, many of us Brontëites look like freshmen:

No freshman in their right mind would ever want to be easily identifiable as a freshman. One easy way to avoid that is to stop carrying around / actively discussing books that scream, “I am a freshman and I miss my AP English class.” A short list of such books would include: The Great Gatsby, anything by Salinger, 1984, Beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird, Things Fall Apart, Jane Eyre. All great books in their own right, but you will soon discover new books. As a general rule of thumb, the more depressing the book and the older it is, the better it probably is, especially if you’re reading it in the original French or Russian. By the end of the book, the main character should do one of the following things: shoots himself in the face, is murdered, murders someone or group of someones, jumps in front of a train, goes mad or dies trying, dies of consumption (very popular!), swallows a bottle of poison, swallows a bottle of poison and then regrets it, embarks on a quest to return home (nostos) but dies trying, struggles with welfare checks and attempts to raise a newborn baby but dies trying, challenges social mobility norms but dies trying, and/or finds god before dying (we call this: spoon-fed didacticism). If this is not the case, you’re not reading serious literature and no one will ever love you. (Joseph Cassara)

The Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen comments on the recent BBC programme In Their Own Words, quoting Jean Rhys.

The Wide Sargasso Sea author Jean Rhys said she only wrote when unhappy: “When I was excited about life, I didn’t want to write about life at all, and when I was happy I had no wish to write.
“I have never wanted to write about being happy. You cannot describe it.” (Andrew Mosley)

And now we have two Heathcliff impersonations. One of them is - at least partly - Don Draper (from the TV series Mad Men), according to TV.com:

Heathcliff
Heathcliff was adopted by the Earnshaw family after being discovered on the streets of Liverpool. Draper was taken in by his father after his real mother, a 22-year-old prostitute, died during childbirth. Not only do Heathcliff and Don share an inopportune welcome to the world, they're both a 10 on the dark and brooding scale.
Heathcliff is described as a gentleman in dress and demeanor and his appearance resembles a "Roma or Gypsy." Can you say "Draper?" Also, Heathcliff and Draper share a secret army stint, a doomed love story with women who want someone more well-bred and mannerly, and a famous line or two:
"I am Heathcliff."
"Who is Don Draper?"

Don Draper has also been likened to Rochester, which we find more fitting somehow, actually.

The Times mentions Wuthering Heights and teens:

And can’t a girl love the classics and still have a penchant for the literary equivalent of Dawson’s Creek or even the much-derided Vampire Lit? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve pressed a copy of Wuthering Heights into the quivering hands of an R-Patz (actor Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame)-obsessed Year 9 and silently thanked Stephenie Meyer, the Twilight Series author, for helping to inaugurate another girl into the joys of 19th-century fiction. (Catherine Bruton)

This is how the National Post describes the attitude displayed by Olivia Newton-John's husband, John Easterling, recently:

. . . he spent much of the evening with his arm around his iconic wife’s back, telegraphing “I will take care of you” Heathcliff-vibe. Oh, and a Let’s Get Physical vibe. Maybe a tad. (Shinan Govani)

Les Brontë à Paris posts (in French) about Edmund Robinson, Anne and Branwell's employer at Thorp Green. Linda Without Borders: Literary Supplement has read and loved The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Frisbee: A Book Journal comments briefly on Villette.

Categories: Brontëana, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights