"The welcome side-effect of Twilight"

First of all, today a lot of news sites are announcing that they have Mia Wasikowska's first images as Jane Eyre. That's not so - they're only following suit after the Jane Eyre Movie Facebook page uploaded a couple of already-seen images.

Gapers Block reviews Lifeline Theatre's production of Wuthering Heights and concludes:

Lifeline's presentation of Wuthering Heights, as adapted by Christina Calvit and directed by Elise Kauzlaric, is an inticing interpretation that takes a classic work of literature and breaks it down into an entertaining theatre production. (Britany Robinson)

The Guardian has an article in the same vein as one recently published by The Times: 'Is the current craze for Twilight-type books bad for teenagers' brains, or do they help to teach empathy?'

[Maria Nikolajeva, professor of education at Cambridge] adds: "If they read Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights because the back covers say 'Bella's [Twilight protagonist Bella Swan] favourite book', then that's great. Anecdotal evidence from the peak of Pottermania is that it made children come to the library to ask 'have you got more books?' Also, teenagers get confident through reading a novel of 500 pages, and by writing fan fiction or blogs, they also learn to write. That's a welcome side-effect of Twilight." (Lucy Tobin)

As much as the Twilight-looking covers of the classics hurt our eyes, we can't help but agree.

PopWrap - a New York Post blog - also connects vampires and Wuthering Heights.

Case in point: Elena & Damon on "The Vampire Diaries." With the oldest star-crossed obstacle in full effect (the love triangle), we watched as Elena kissed Stefan but came alive around his brother. Yet, there have been monumental setbacks to their inevitable involvement -- I doubt Heathcliff would have snapped Hindley's neck just to enrage Catherine -- letting Da-Lena shippers know it'll be a good long while until their relationship is realized. (Jarett Wieselman)

Daily Dispatch Online reveals that writer Sarah Blake is a Brontëite.

Q: Favourite authors and books?
A: My great influences are Virginia Woolf and the Brontë sisters. I’m currently reading Elizabeth Bowen. I’ve just discovered her and now I’m trying to read all her books. And I also want to read Jonathan Franzen’s new book, Freedom. (Nicolette Scrooby)

As for blogs, Kate Kingsley has written a guest post on Elizabeth Writes where she explains 'Why Jane Eyre Is the Ultimate Teen Romance Novel'. This may be so, but Jane Eyre is so much more than just that that labelling it 'YA' is rather belittling in our opinion. At any rate, the actual novel is reviewed by Tropstylé! (in French) and Azar Objetivo (in Spanish). Fresh Off the Shelf picks Jane and Rochester as one of her favourite book couples. kroshka_moo writes about Wuthering Heights. Mary Jane's Tearoom has been to Haworth and posts some pictures of the place and Taluula's has given a ghostly look to a photograph of the entrance door to Haworth church (which wasn't Patrick Brontë's church, by the way).

Categories: Books, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Theatre, Wuthering Heights