Not-so-wicked Mrs Fairfax

Judi Dench briefly mentions her role as Mrs Fairfax in Jane Eyre 2011 in The Times:

She has just returned from filming a new Jane Eyre in which she plays the housekeeper. Isn’t that character rather wicked? “No, she wasn’t very wicked.. alas,” says Dench, somewhat forlornly. “That was the housekeeper in Rebecca.” Not only have I mistaken evil Mrs Danvers for the more benign Mrs Fairfax, but so had Dench, probably because she didn’t bother to read the script. Which is her usual working method. She never reads the parts sent to her, and turns up at rehearsals with the play unopened, which would be unforgivable in anyone less talented.

Newsweek reviews the film The Romantics by Galt Niederhoffer:

Laura spends the movie trying to get Tom to admit he’s marrying the wrong L, to which end she recites snippets of a Keats poem they both liked in college that Tom now claims not to remember. In a fit of passionate frustration, Laura looks up the poem on her iPhone, then sets out in search of Tom, holding her phone’s lit screen like a beacon. And there, across the massive lawn, is Tom, striding toward her with his own outstretched iPhone, Heathcliff by way of the Apple Store. (Jennie Yabroff)

Stuff.tv reviews the iRiver Cover Story e-reader with a Brontë experience:

Occasionally, there’s some nasty glare from the eInk panel, too, particularly if you’re reading under strip lighting. Catching a vague reflection of yourself in the words of Wuthering Heights is a mildly chastening experience and one that makes the Cover Story slightly less alluring than its predecessor.

The Daily Gleaner publishes a salute to teachers, including governesses by the way:

They also figure large in history, literature and lore. Jane Eyre, the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's book of the same name, was a governess.
And while she possesses none of the external beauty one expects of Victorian heroines, she has intelligence, wit and morality; in short, an inner beauty that Mr. Rochester finds so appealing.

Paul Fraser Collectibles suggests investing in first editions of books:

In the same month [December 2004], a first edition of Charlotte Brontë's similarly seminal novel Jane Eyre sold for £74,000 ($114,000) against a target price of £32,400 ($50,000). (...)
Given the unrivalled global appeal of Rowling, a holding period of 10 - 30 years on an investment in rare Rowling books and first editions could see returns to match those of Austen, Shelley and Brontë.

Spike posts about YA Covers:

One tactic that’s been evident lately is of course to rip-off the ever-popular Twlight franchise. Now for the record, I actually think the original Twilight covers were quite clever; the bold contrast between white, black and blood red – a snapped ribbon or dying flower – was slick, dark and eye-catching. Lately though, the trend has extended to revamps of Wuthering Heights[.](JA)

El País (Spain) quotes P.D. James talking about the importance of the context in a novel:

"El contexto es donde esas personas viven. Se mueven y desarrollan su existencia, y nosotros necesitamos respirar el mismo aire que ellos, ver a través de sus ojos, recorrer los caminos que transitan y habitar las estancias que el autor ha dispuesto para ellos", sostiene en el capítulo. Una identificación tal que explica el que muchas novelas compartan su título con el lugar en que acontece: Cumbres borrascosas o Howard's End. (Elisa Silió) (Microsoft Translation)

The Cuban artist Gólgota recalls his youth experiences in Juventud Rebelde:

Pero llegó el período especial y con él un amor tormentoso para Gólgota. «De esos de novelas, al estilo de Cumbres borrascosas, donde a mí me tocó ser Heathcliff. Regresé a La Habana cabizbajo y maltrecho, mas en lugar de tirarme a morir, a mi llegada me dirigí al Taller de Manero, donde había estado antes de partir hacia San Cristóbal. (José Luis Estrada Betancourt) (Microsoft Translation)

Il Recensore (Italy) reviews the Italian translation of Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden:

È il romanzo di due mondi: la giovane Australia e la vecchia Inghilterra con i suoi riti secolari. La storia ricorda i libri di Charlotte Brontë dominati da forti passioni, quelli di Charles Dickens dove l’infanzia è un triste, desolato e breve rito di passaggio verso l’età adulta e le atmosfere dei romanzi gotici pieni di castelli, dimore avite e misteri da scoprire. (Microsoft Translation)

Parutions (France) reviews the French translation of Sadie Jones's The Outcast:

Il y a des drames qui couvent, inévitables, le mal s’insinue peu à peu dans les âmes candides et fragiles, dans une atmosphère, une tension se rapprochant de celles qui imprègnent les romans des sœurs Brontë. (Frédéric Bargeon) (Microsoft Translation)

John Irving quotes Charlotte Brontë in an interview on Polityka (Poland):

Pisze pan w „Ostatniej nocy”, że historie opowiadane przez pisarzy są intensywniejsze od tego, co przydarza się ludziom.
Tak. Fikcja literacka to coś w rodzaju zintensyfikowanej rzeczywistości, w której uwypukla się najważniejsze momenty. Jedna z sióstr Brontë powiedziała, że powieści są czymś na kształt zintensyfikowanego zdrowego rozsądku. (Krzysztof Cieślik) (Microsoft Translation)

Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) reviews the recent performances of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in Stockholm:

Med Ana Laguna som guvernanten Charlotta­ får också den ryska balettens överlevnad genom epokerna en skönt bisarr hälsning. Hon är stram som Jane Eyre och vild som den galna kvinnan på vinden i sina danssolon­. (Ingegärd Waaranperä) (Microsoft Translation)

Helsingborgs Dagblad (Sweden) reviews an exhibition of Bob Dylan paintings and finds the reasons that lead to creativity:

Men jag vet varför han målar och ritar. Folk skapar konst utifrån en vilja att tillfredställa ett av två sorters behov, antingen, som de författande systrarna Brontë, för att skriva fram dramatik i sina liv eller motsatsen – för att komma till ro. (Jenny Maria Nilsson)

Natalie Gorna concludes her three-part (1, 2 and 3) Jane Eyre post in the Fresno Literature Examiner; Variety reports that Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights will be released in Australia by Paramount Worldwide Acquisitions; Engeplus Telecom (Brazil) recommends Wuthering Heights; Tellus in Love posts about Emily Brontë's love in Italian; The Book Dissector reviews Jane Eyre; Luxury Reading reviews Denise Giardina's Emily's Ghost; Bibliopunkk writes (but not so positively) about Clare B. Dunkle's House of Dead Maids and, finally, Literary Thoughts and Criticisms of Amber Arndt posts a good review of Villette.

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