Fathers, zombies and secrets

The Gulf News included Mr Rochester to its list of '10 famous fictional fathers'.

The generous guardian
Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
He’s usually portrayed solely as a romantic figure, so it’s easy to forget that the whole reason Jane and Mr Rochester ever meet is because she’s the governess for his young ward, Adele. It’s unclear whether he is her biological parent – Adele has been abandoned by her French mother and her father’s identity is in doubt – but he takes responsibility for the little girl and she wants for nothing, being pampered and spoilt by the servants. Just like Jane, Adele has been rejected by the people responsible for raising her, but her kind treatment at the hands of the generous Mr Rochester makes her the ebullient, free-spirited child that Jane never had the chance to be. (Tabitha Barda)

While the Grimsby Telegraph features wrestler Big Daddy:

His T-shirt emblazoned with Big Daddy, he said he was not so proud to advertise his real name Shirley. His grandmother loved the book Shirley by Anne Brontë and vowed to give her child the name, whatever the sex. Big Daddy's father then passed on the name to him.

If his grandmother really loved the book, the poor woman must be turning in her grave at the sight of that blunder. Charlotte and Anne, too, of course.

Mmegi Online (Botswana) reviews Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights:

There is much to adjust to in this film, as it differs from the elegant interpretations of the past or what you might expect. Class and race are both issues, and it appears perhaps were so for Emily Brontë too in her original conception of Heathcliff. What is hard is to observe that a mature Cathy looks nothing like her adolescent self that you first identified with, and the same applies to the older, more mysterious Heathcliff, who is darker and more reserved. [...]
The cinematographer is Robbie Ryan. The editor is Nicolas Chaudeurge. There is no real music in this film, except the sounds of nature and the occasional old ballad sung by Cathy or others. This works well, as he words of the songs are so mournful and replete with tragedy. (Sasa Majuma)

Criterion Cast also mentions the film in passing:

With a new adaptation of the legendary novel “The Great Gatsby” still playing in theaters around the world, the world has put the spotlight back on various classic novels and their big screen adaptations. Be it the various previous adaptations of Fitzgerald’s breathtaking work or a film like Wuthering Heights (which recently finally got a fantastic Blu-ray release from Oscilloscope), the film and literary worlds have bred some of the greatest pieces of visual narrative ever. (Joshua Brunsting)

The Gulf News discusses zombie movies and reminds readers about the fact that

for Val Lewton’s eerie 1943 production of I Walked with a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur, screenwriters Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray updated the plot of Jane Eyre and transposed it to the West Indies, thus demonstrating that mash-ups of 19th-century English literature and zombies didn’t begin with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

The Independent looks at an event taking place in the last week of October at the Manchester metropolitan University:

In the last week of October; mystery, horror, suspense, and possibly the odd ghost or two are set to descend on Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) will be celebrating the launch of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies which coincides, appropriately with Halloween. [...]
The gothic is a fabulously rich field for postgraduate research, both for exploring its historical context and the wider cultural linkages between literature and associated fields such as art and film. Units of study offer a wide and varied menu from post-colonial gothic to female gothic, American gothic and much more.
Here you will find everything from Thomas Middleton and William Rowley's 17th-century play The Changling, Matthew Lewis's 18th-century spine-chiller The Monk, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The theme is continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries through a study of important works such as Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and Henry James's Turn of the Screw. (Stephen Hoare)

Rather more 'innocently' (for lack of a better word), CBBC Newsround asks 9-11 year-olds about reading and one of them says,

"I read all the time. At school, at home, and when I go on a car journey. I like reading Anne Frank, Jacqueline Wilson and Jane Eyre. Reading is an addiction!"
Hira, Scotland

The Washington Post refers to Jane Eyre in a review of Anton DiSclafani’s The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls.

Spoiler alert: Mr. Rochester is keeping a horrible secret from Jane Eyre, and the longer he delays telling her what it is, the more horrible his secret had better be. After months of anguished sighing, we don’t want to find out that he cheated on his taxes or ripped the tag off his mattress. We want to be appalled.
That’s the challenge Anton DiSclafani sets up in her first novel: A dreadful secret keeps accruing our compound interest, but can the author pay off the debt of suspense when the bill comes due? Trust her — she can. “The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls” is a 20th-century gothic tale that reads like a lusty cousin of Brontë’s classic. (Ron Charles)

The Green Car Website discusses noise pollution.

As a romantic at heart, turning away from the fumes and noise of the traffic, the meadow affords me the chance to be Tess of the D'Urbervilles or Catherine of Wuthering Heights, imagining myself in some bygone era where young maids could take carefree wander across fields and dream of their love, astride his steed-I know I'm making myself want to vomit too-but it is true that this journey allows me a chance to turn away from modern, hectic urban life. (Faye Sunderland)

Here are a couple of things worth listening to: Ann Dinsdale recently discussed her book At Home with the Brontës on BCB radio (beginning at about minute 22:50 into that podcast). And Rebecca Chesney from the Brontë Weather Project tells about her and Ann Dinsdale being interviewed by BBC Radio York a few days ago (40 minutes into the show).

Too Nerdy Girls posts about Wuthering Heights 2011 and other Wuthering Heights-related things. Daisy Dolls is now working on the skirt for the Jane Eyre doll.