Horses. The Moors and a Cape

Finally, a US release date for Wuthering Heights 2011. Indiewire's The Playlist reports that it will be on October 5th:

Meanwhile, in other release date news: after spending 2011 on the festival circuit, Andrea Arnold's "Wuthering Heights" opens in limited release on October 5th. Her gritty take on the classic had both its fans and detractors (we really dug it), but either way, you're unlikely to see the story told this way again anytime soon. Newcomer James Howson stars in the movie as the tortured Heathcliff, and he’s being joined by Kaya Scodelario ("Skins") as Cathy and Nichola Burley as Isabella Linton in a decidedly different version of Emily Brontë‘s novel that puts far younger protagonists into the roles than most adaptations have to date. (Kevin Jagernauth)

The Telegraph analyses the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon:

Just like Mills & Boon, these books find their roots in the Gothic fantasies of the Brontë sisters. So many girls read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights at a formative age and founded their erotic imaginations on these classics.
The link is not far-fetched. James wrote Fifty Shades of Grey as “fan fiction”, in homage to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, and Meyer has cited the Brontës as influences. It seems half the literature-loving women in the world are locked up in some attic of the mind along with Mrs Rochester, a stray vampire and Virginia Andrews’s four Dollanganger children (of Flowers in the Attic fame). We keep on returning, for comfort and familiarity, to the same old paradigm.
However, in 2012 authors have to strive far harder than the Brontës to achieve a sense of jeopardy and the crucial “will they/won’t they” tension. In a world where adultery is common, the pre-existing married status of a principal character (even if he keeps his wife in the attic) will not provide a sufficient romantic obstacle to hold the reader’s interest. If, however, the hero is a blood-sucking member of the un-dead whose love may kill his paramour, as is the case with Edward Cullen in the Twilight series then – bingo! – you have a drama. (Rowan Pelling)

And The Guardian adds:

Books out this summer range from Eighty Days Yellow , about the sexual adventures of "passionate, flame-haired violinist Summer", to Jane Eyre Laid Bare, "an erotic re-telling of the [Charlotte] Brontë classic" from debut novelist Eve Sinclair. "I have changed very little of Brontë's original to retell the timeless story of a young girl falling for an unattainable older man and getting out of her depth in a sensual world she cannot control," said Sinclair when the title was announced. (Alison Flood)

The Huffington Post lists fictional fitties competing with Christian Grey:

Mr Rochester
Who?
The ultimate Byronic male - tough, sullen, lonely grump who employs Jane Eyre in his big ol' scary house as a Governess.

Why?
Well he's stamping around on a horse when we first meet Rochester, there's something very appealing about that. Plus, although many may see the mad wife locked up in the attic as a slight con, we take comfort that he's clearly capable to deal with *ahem* strong women.

Where for a date?
Horses. The Moors. He might lend you a cape if you're lucky.

Bonus Points For
Being the subject matter of the line, "Reader, I married him." (Alice E. Vincent)

Flavorwire chooses ten of the most powerful female characters in literature:

One of the earliest representations of an individualistic, passionate and complex female character, Jane Eyre knocks our socks off. Though she suffers greatly, she always relies on herself to get back on her feet — no wilting damsel in distress here. As China Miéville wrote, “Charlotte Brontë’s heroine towers over those around her, morally, intellectually and aesthetically; she’s completely admirable and compelling. Never camp, despite her Gothic surrounds, she takes a scalpel to the skin of the every day.” (Emily Temple)

Do you have a book for sale and/or which you would like to promote? Hilary Robinson gives you tips in The Huffington Post:

To some extent this process was probably easier for me since I am an established author but I am a great believer in encouraging everyone to have a go. What's good enough for Mark Twain, Virginia Wolff, Beatrix Potter, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling and Charlotte Brontë, to name just a few - is good enough for me. This is not a definitive guide, as such, but one borne out of experience.

The Times of India asks readers the following question:

Has the focus on professional education killed the love for language?
With academics, extracurricular activities, TV and internet taking up most of children's time these days, city schools are now encouraging students to take up reading classics like works of Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and Jane Eyre (!!!) to improve their language skills by giving them reading lists and assignments. However, when it comes to the reading habits of city kids, managers at book stores across Hyderabad said that the only thing kids want to read these days is fantasy fiction which is popularised by movies and TV shows.

No comments.

FemaleFirst on re-reading your favourite books:

Classics, such as Jane Eyre, are undoubtedly some of the most re-read books in history. Books that work far ahead of their time such as this and the love of the characters filter through each generation. Many an adaptation on the TV or in the movies supports the love of the original text. (Lucy Walton)

Valerie Strauss from the Washington Post offers advice to keep children writing this summer:

Students can make stories their own by modifying them. A story set in the past can be retold in a contemporary setting or vice versa. Characters can change from human to animal. Stories can cross cultures or genres. For example, write the story of Snow White as a Western or set “Jane Eyre” in the contemporary United States.

CineVue reviews Hit & Miss:

From its sumptuous cinematography (with the rural scenes recalling Andrea Arnold's eye-catching 2011 adaptation of Wuthering Heights) to [Chloe] Sevigny's intentional/unintentional awkwardness and destructive impulses, few would begrudge Abbot a second series, if only to right the irksome wrongs of the first. (Daniel Green)

Η Αυγή (Greece) quotes William Henry Beveridge when he quoted Charlotte Brontë in Shirley: "Poverty generates hate" (Chapter 2):

Στο σχέδιό του για την πλήρη απασχόληση ο Beveridge έβαλε ως επιγραφή τη φράση: « Η φτώχεια γεννάει μίσος ». Η φράση αυτή αναφερόταν στο μυθιστόρημα της Charlotte Brontë, «Shirley», που είχε δημοσιευτεί το 1819. Ήταν ένα από τα πρώτα λογοτεχνικά έργα που περιέγραφε το δράμα της ανεργίας, με αναφορά στην περίπτωση των υφαντουργών με χειροκίνητους αργαλειούς, οι οποίοι υπήρξαν θύματα του ανελέητου βιομηχανικού ανταγωνισμού μετά την εισαγωγή των μηχανικών αργαλειών. ( Tranos Tues ) (Translation)

The Literary Omnivore reviews Wide Sargasso Sea;  A Room of One's Own talks about Charlotte Brontë's unfinished Emma; My Reading Rainbow, Combats de coqs (in French) and realizinggrace review Jane Eyre; The Scriptorium and Por Detrás do Véu, Chata Nerd (both in Portuguese) post about Wuthering Heights; Baśnie z tysiąca i jednej nocy, Popołudnie z książką and Avoid the reality (and Stulecie literatury) (all in Polish) review Shirley, Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall respectively; V goes to Hollywood posts in Norwegian about the Brontë novels; Meaghan Walsh Gerard reviews Jane Eyre 2011; WPL Cover to Cover and Sognando Leggendo (in Italian) review A Breath of Eyre; Alice Marvels reviews Dark Companion; Cuaderno de Ruta V.2 (in Spanish) reviews Wuthering Heights 2011; Il Libro Eterno (in Italian) interviews Desy Giuffrè, author of Io Sono Heathcliff.

Finally, an alert from the Haworth Festival 2012:

Branwell and Dylan Poems and Prose
Angela Crow, Actress and writer presents “Branwell and Dylan Poems and Prose” What did Branwell Brontë and Dylan Thomas have in common? This event starts at 3.30pm.
Tickets £6.00 including afternoon tea.
Angela has been in The Royal, Casualty, Coronation Street, Heartbeat and was Lilly in the original version of Under Milk Wood.