Jane Eyre's connections to Soul Surfer and King James Bible

First of all, we have a few new reviews/commentaries of Jane Eyre 2011.

The Daily Gazette's Foss Forward reviewer admits to not being a fan of the novel:

And yet, even a crank like me can find much to admire in the new “Jane Eyre.”
For the most part, director Cary Joji Fukunaga distills what’s good about the book, creating memorable characters, delving into issues of class and gender and spinning a tale that’s elegant, mysterious and brimming with repressed passions and barely concealed eroticism. [...]
Regardless, “Jane Eyre” is compelling; even when I was rolling my eyes, I couldn’t look away. (Sara Foss)

Spin News Magazine:

The recent adaptation of Jane Eyre, starring Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, 300) and Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), has whet my appetite for the Brontë sisters. The story of Jane and Mr. Rochester is a classic, brooding love story, but director Cary Fukunaga brings so much more to this latest film version. The shadowy cinematography, and the gorgeous locations (near Derbyshire in England) lend to some of the darker themes of the story. But perhaps even more appealing is Fukunaga’s focus on Jane’s development, as she blossoms from an impetuous young girl into a sharp-minded and independent woman. The film, full of heartbreak and redemption, is guaranteed to satisfy any craving you may have for a period piece. (Amanda Winters)

The Davidson News finds two role models on the big screen at the moment: Jane Eyre and Bethany Hamilton (on whose life/strength is based Soul Surfer).

One wears bikinis and rides surfboards. The other wears corsets and walks on Victorian moors. But both are strong young female characters showing courage and resilience beyond their years. I’m not a movie critic, but please indulge my high praise and recommendation for recent releases, “Soul Surfer” and “Jane Eyre.” [...]
My 16-year-old said [of Jane Eyre], “She seems dull and shy but on the inside she is smart … and sarcastic.” And strong. (Jaletta Albright Desmond)

And now an alert for today included in the internation conference The King James Bible and Its Cultural Afterlife, which takes place this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by the English Department of The Ohio State University. According to The Lantern,

The keynote speaker David Norton, an English professor at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, said in an email to The Lantern that he will be speaking about "ways in which the Bible is present in our culture, language, and literature."
Norton said he will focus his speech on "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë because of the novel's use of the Bible and religious imagery.
The conference plans to incorporate classic English novels while also including biblically-influenced contemporary literature. (Kit Lewis)

This is where the talk will take place according to the conference's website:

THURSDAY, MAY 5
Shuttle service from hotel to Thompson Library, times tba.
Conference Registration from 5:00 p.m.
Thompson Library
Rare Books and Manuscripts Exhibition
Thompson Library Gallery
“Translation… openeth the window, to let in the light”:
The Prehistory and Abiding Impact of the King James Bible
6:00 p.m.
Thompson Library, Buckeye Reading Room, 2nd floor
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Richard Dutton, Chair, Department of English, The Ohio State University
Keynote Lecture
Introduced by Hannibal Hamlin, The Ohio State University
David Norton, Victoria University of Wellington:
“The King James Bible’s Presence, Use and Influence in Literature”
Champagne Reception, immediately following
Shuttle service from Thompson Library to hotel, times tba.

This would of course chime in nicely with this year's Brontë Society Conference (to be held in Homerton College, Cambridge University, 26-28 August 2011) and which will focus on The Brontës and the Bible: Influences both Literary and Religious.

The Arty Semite has an article on the Morgan Library exhibition The Diary: Three Centuries of Private Lives and the Bristol Evening Post announces that Shared Experience's revival of Polly Teale's Brontë will arrive in Bath on May 17 (until May 21). The Stage reviews another play, Amanda Whittington's Be My Baby, currently on stage at the Derby Theatre. The reviewer mentions

Jenny Hulse as the tragic Norma, crying like Cathy for Heathcliff. (Pat Ashworth)

And finally a letter from a reader to The Telegraph and Argus on Haworth's Main Street cobbles:

Memories of cobbled street
Your photograph of Haworth’s cobbled Main Street revived many memories — of being upset when Charlie Ibbotson whipped his horse, with cart, up the steep incline; of “Kingy” Fred Markam, the local bookmaker, being pursued by our Labrador dog as he fled the Black Bull and of the Muffin man trudging up the street with his basket of goodies.
In the hot summer days of the 40s we dawdled home from school immersed in carefully extracting the tar from between the cobbles as it softened in the heat — our own kind of play dough. Only the rumble of the old Brontë bus chugging up the hill brought us to a halt Boys raced down Main Street, propelling their iron hoops which clattered and bounced on the cobbles — some lads with iron clad clogs adding to the racket. That was before all iron was given up for the war effort.
I lived at the very top of Main Street and in my teens those cobbles were the bane of my life. Stiletto heels squeaked ominously as they became trapped between the stones as I teetered down the street with the constant fear of heel decapitation.
What a pity most cobbles have been obliterated. They make great speed inhibitors with not a pothole in sight.
Muriel Crook

On the blogosphere, Penelope's Romance Reviews is currently reading Jane Eyre, Teachers Read Books has just finished it and TT Movie Reviews posts briefly about Cary Fukunaga's adaptation. Words, Words, Words discusses physiognomy and Villette. Butter tar ordet writes in Swedish about Jessica Amanda Salmonson's 1979 anthology Amazons! with special attention to Joanna Russ's text The Death of Augusta, based on Emily Brontë's juvenilia. Finally, Postcards from Preston has a post on Haworth and Wycoller.

Categories: Alert, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Scholar, Talks