One of the great mysteries of Wuthering Heights

The Guardian asks the judges of the 2012 Wellcome Trust book prize for medicine in literature about 'the greatest death scenes in literature'.

Erica Wagner chose the death of Helen Burns in Jane Eyre. "A typhus epidemic is raging through Lowood school, but Helen actually has consumption, which leads Jane to believe she won't die (she thinks if you just take it easy your consumption will go away). So the death is an extra shock." (Tim Lott)

A reader of the Yorkshire Post writes local authors and book-to-to-film adaptations:

I have not seen the most recent film version of Jane Eyre, therefore I cannot make a personal comment regarding the quality of the adaptation, but I empathise with her adoration of a story which contains no violence, sex and bad language. When I read about yet another adaptation of Jane Eyre being screened, I must admit that I could not refrain from stifling a yawn.
During my adulthood there seem to have been numerous adaptations of Jane Eyre, as well as adaptations of the most popular novels by Jane Austen – namely, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. I have read the Brontë sisters’ and Jane Austen’s novels, including the lesser known ones, and their command of language was excellent.
However, there are lesser known regional writers whose works have never been televised or made into films. [...]
Escapist fictional works are fine for those who seek to be transported from their contemporary everyday life, but lesser-known authors should be given the opportunity for their work to become better-known and to shine.
Variety is the spice of life and focus upon the same historical periods as well as the same authors and texts leads to a general feeling of boredom.
My advice to those who possess the resources to produce first-class entertainment is not to be bland and repetitive, but to be bold and adventurous! (Jennifer Hunter)

The Vancouver Sun is somewhat confused when it comes to the timeline of Mia Wasikowska's filmography:

She proved it in Jane Eyre, where her very screen presence brought every dramatic scene into specific focus, and she did it again in Alice in Wonderland, anchoring Tim Burton's grotesque fantasies in real emotion. (Katherine Monk)

Alice in Wonderland was first.

The Seattle Times Popcorn & Prejudice thinks she will actually get a nomination for her role in Jane Eyre.

The Stillwater Gazette comments on the fact that Jane Eyre is a frequently downloaded book at Washington County Library.

Macleans reviews The Orchard by Theresa Weir and sums it up as follows:

It’s Jane Eyre meets Green Acres, a stunning memoir with page-turner pace.

The Periscope Post discusses break-ups.

One afternoon, I caught part of a radio adaptation of Wuthering Heights. After Cathy died, Heathcliff roared: “Do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!” Lucky Heathcliff, I thought; nobody suggested to him that getting some highlights or having his nails painted would help. But my ex and I weren’t Cathy and Heathcliff: we were two professionals who’d bought a flat together and enjoyed pub quizzes. (Hannah Davies)

An alert for today from the Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada), as reported by The Telegram:

Award-winning author Jane Urquhart will examine houses and their interiors in fiction, and the process of visualizing them, when she delivers Memorial University’s annual Pratt Lecture on Saturday, entitled “Inner Lives: Fiction and the Visual Imagination.” [...]
Books Urquhart plans to reference include Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Last September,” Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” as well as poetry by Brendan Kinelly.
Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” will also be referenced, since Urquhart feels it’s a particularly great example of what she’s discussing.
“In that case, there was very little description of either landscape or the house itself, and that is one of the great mysteries — how Emily Brontë was able to evoke such a stunning world or a profoundly strong world without using all that much in terms of description,” Urquhart said.
“There are instances when the dialogue itself or the actions in a book will call up visual imagery in a way that maybe 16 paragraphs of detailed information about the sky or what the views out the window are might not.”
The English moorland setting of “Wuthering Heights” is the only novel setting in which Urquhart wasn’t shocked upon seeing in real life, she said. (Tara Bradbury)

Further information on the University's website.

Friday, September 30, 2011
Jane Urquhart reading
Time: 1 p.m.-2 p.m.
Location: A-1046
Description: Don't miss Pratt lecturer Jane Urquhart reading selected passages from her award-winning fiction. Open to all.
Sponsor: Faculty of Arts

And of course her novel Changing Heaven is heavily influenced by Wuthering Heights.

Writer Jerrica Knight-Catania, however, denies on the Second Wind Publishing Blog being influenced by Jane Eyre when writing her book More than a Governess.

Much to most people’s surprise, I was not inspired by Jane Eyre. I had no idea what Jane Eyre was about until about two years after I’d written More than a Governess.

Film Splatter reviews Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre. Ideiasentrelinhas writes in Portuguese about Wuthering Heights.

Categories: Alert, Books, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Talks, Wuthering Heights