Big selling point: 'the space screams Jane Eyre'

Ian Crouch from The New Yorker's Book Bench doesn't agree with David Barnett from the Guardian when it comes to comparing Frederick Colting's sequel of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye to Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.

At the Guardian books blog, David Barnett used the Colting news to consider other unauthorized sequels or prequels to literary favorites, including the rush of Austen fan fiction, popular follow-ups to Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca,” and the Jean Rhys novel “Wide Sargasso Sea,” which imagines the life of the mad Mrs. Rochester from “Jane Eyre.” He ends the post by musing, “Maybe America should give a septuagenarian Holden Caulfield a chance.” It is unjust and rather oblivious, though, to lump Colting’s novel with “Wide Sargasso Sea,” which is not only a hard, glimmering gem of a novel, but was borne out of Jean Rhys’s own obsessions and precise knowledge of colonial life in the Caribbean. Fan fiction is surely not a new phenomenon, nor is it an uninteresting one, but it is different in kind and quality from a work like Rhys’s, or, to take a recent example, Cynthia Ozick’s remarkable new novel, “Foreign Bodies,” which reimagines the particulars of “The Ambassadors,” by Henry James. Not only do these books interpret texts in the public domain (“Catcher” will not lose its copyright for decades) but they do so with an admirable combination of respect and originality.

The Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster looks back at the FCLO's cancelled adaptation of Jane Eyre a few months ago.

Griff Duncan, who has run FCLO (formerly Fullerton Civic Light Opera) since 1972 with his wife, Jan, said King's decision to pitch in is a dividend of having done it up royally last fall in what turned out to be FCLO's last full production for a while: a new musical adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre."
The Times review noted that "FCLO commits wholeheartedly to this sprawling, "Les Miserables"-like venture, giving it a big set, a big cast (36) and a pretty big orchestra (20)." Evidently, the effort was much-appreciated by the show's creators, composer Jerry Williams and book-writer Patricia York, and their manager, Karl Engemann, who happens to be Larry King's father-in-law. Not to mention Larry and Shawn King, who caught the opening night performance and, says Duncan, plugged it to their friends. (Mike Boehm)

Because We Said It Review is looking forward to watching the new adaptation of the novel, though.

What do you think? Is Mia Wasikowska a household name yet? She was your Alice in the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland reboot and one of the title kids in The Kids are Alright, which felt the love at last weekend’s Golden Globes ceremony. She’ll also appear in the remake of Jane Eyre. That’s a film I hope will be wonderful. Everyone needs a little epic romance now and again. (Sasha Nova)

And Screen Junkies picks the 1939 film adaptation of Wuthering Heights as one of the ten best old Hollywood movies.

"Wuthering Heights." Considered the epitome of romance, "Wuthering Heights" follows a highly-born woman as she decides between two men: one wealthy and one poor. The movie is lauded as showing the restrictions society places on individuals due to their economic background. For depicting the unbreakable bonds of true-love, "Wuthering Heights" is a great old Hollywood movie.

The New Statesman takes a look at Alexander Baron's novels, now being rediscovered. One of them is partly reminiscent of Wuthering Heights:

In 1969, King Dido emerged, the most accomplished of Baron's historical novels, based on his long-standing admiration for Arthur Morrison's 1896 classic social reform novel, A Child of the Jago. Baron transmutes this slum melodrama into a fast-paced revenge tragedy. Dido Peach, a dockworker of suggested Romany or Jewish origins, dominates the novel from start to finish. There is something of the Heathcliff figure about him, a complex, mysterious man whom it is hard to like but who represents some kind of vital force in the backstreets of Bethnal Green, matched and eventually defeated only by the equally frightening Metropolitan Police inspector Merry, his archetypal class nemesis, whose literary origins are clearly based on Victor Hugo's ruthless Javert in Les Misérables. (Ken Worpole)

Philly Mag's The Philly Post is glad that the One Book, One Philadelphia 'citywide' book club doesn't go for the (so-called) easy options:

What is great about this program is that the Library doesn’t play it safe. While it would be easy to simply choose some old classic by Brontë or Austin [sic], the selections are much more bold and complex. (Aaron Mettey)

And Toronto Life has come across a house for sale with a room that looks straight out of Jane Eyre to the writer:

BIG SELLING POINT: Still in a book club? There is no better place to offer excuses for not reading Pride and Prejudice (or any of the books by neighbour Margaret Atwood) than the sitting room in this house. Complete with deep red walls, an oversized Persian rug and an upright piano, the space screams Jane Eyre. The only thing missing is Mr. Darcy (but we’ll take Graeme Gibson in a pinch). (Fraser Abe)

Here's a couple of views of the 'Jane Eyre' room: one, two.

The Independent reports that Yorkshire might 'returns to the age of steam for commuter service'.

It is hoped that the return of regular peak time trains to the five-mile stretch of track between Keighley and Oxenhope, built in 1867, could take hundreds of cars off the increasingly-congested village roads and allow workers direct rail access from the heart of Brontë country to cities such as Bradford, Leeds and Manchester every 45 minutes. (Jonathan Brown)

ScribbleManiac recommends a 2009 article from The Times where Juliet Barker 'explored' said Brontë country. Reading with Grandma and Native Audio Grrrl share their opinions on Jane Eyre. The SharonB writes about Villette and links to this 2009 Villette trailer made by Acacia Movies.

Categories: Books, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, References, Theatre, Wide Sargasso Sea, Wuthering Heights