Celtics of Brontë

The Herald publishes the obituary of the Scottish footballer (and also teacher) John Divers (1940-2014). He played for Celtic and Partick Thistle and has another passion:

He played football for 12 years, nine with Celtic, before a career in education beckoned and he went to Strathclyde University. He'd been a teacher for more than 30 years, much of that time at Our Lady and St Patrick's High in Dumbarton, formerly St Patrick's High and Notre Dame High, where he was principal teacher of guidance and economics - "And nobody ever wants to talk about that time." He was also a member of the Brontë Society, along with Elizabeth, and a regular visitor to Yorkshire. Life was sweet and the crises were small.  (Michael Tierney)

The Bookseller publishes the results of a survey questioning more than 900 young people in the UK about their book habits.

[Luke] Mitchell [director of Voxburner] also asked the respondents to name their favourite book. Big name children’s and YA writers came up several times, including Roald Dahl, Cassandra Clare, JK Rowling, Anthony Horowitz and Malorie Blackman. However, adult novelists such as Nicholas Sparks and Cecilia Ahern were listed several times, as were classic writers Charlotte Brontë, George Orwell, Jane Austen and F Scott Fitzgerald.
Mitchell revealed the results of the survey at The Bookseller Children’s Conference taking today (25th September) at the Southbank Centre in London. (Charlotte Eyre)

The Weekly Standard remembers that Charlotte Brontë was not a Jane Austen fan:

But for all the fanfare and elation, and the intense reactions—E. M. Forster said that he read Austen with “the mouth open and the mind closed. Shut up in measureless content”—there have been those who don’t comprehend what the fuss is about. Charlotte Brontë’s criticism is scathing:
"I had not seen Pride and Prejudice till I had read that sentence of yours, and then I got the book. And what did I find? An accurate daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face; a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses." (Judith Ayers)

The Las Vegas Review-Journal follows the singer-songwriter Lorde tour and compares her single Royals with Charlotte Brontë:

Lorde’s ubiquitous No. 1 single “Royals” overruled any concerns about a spring break throwdown centered around a teen with a spare sound and a mysteriously elegant air, a modern goth girl fused with a Charlotte Brontë O.G. (original Goth). (Mike Weatherford)

The Times talks about the dead of the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, the last of the Mitford sisters:

In literature, only the Brontës have formed a similarly intense and creative family atmosphere. (Ben Macintyre)

Also in The Times, Kevin Maher criticises those stupid pseudoscientific approaches based only on the power of statistics like the ones discussed in his column:

Well, like the the child who didn't do vocabulary lessons with his parents when he was an infant (I didn't), I am almost lost for words here. In fact, while we're on the subject, I had no interest whatsoever in words, vocabulary, reading, books or literature until I was lucky enough to have a passionate teacher who managed to transform Hardy, Brontë and Keats into living, breathing things. But, hey, the professional-childcare-industrial complex says that it all happened when I was an infant. So who am I to argue?

The Tufts Daily is delighted with the new season of Sleepy Hollow:

While enjoyable on many counts, the second season has a continuing weak link: Ichabod’s wife, Katrina (Katia Winter), who is trapped in purgatory. The first season of the show hardly took any steps to establish Katrina as her own character beyond Ichabod’s wife. While she is described as being a very powerful witch, all evidence points to the contrary; Katrina can often be seen crying out for her lost husband while wearing a dramatically cut black dress with her hair blowing in the wind, looking like a lost extra from a bad adaptation of a Brontë novel. (Grace Segers)

Around the Town Chicago reviews the LifeLine Theatre production of Jane Eyre:

Highly Recommended **** (...)
Given all this, TimeLine Theatre’s production of Christine Calvit’s play is a remarkably successful and faithful production of Brontë’s classic. Ms. Calvit captures all the dialogue and dramatic tension, and really draws out the gothic. (Lawrence Riordan)

The Guardian interviews the actor Andrew Lincoln:

I read books like Wuthering Heights out loud to my mum’s mother in her flat while she smoked a cigarette. I remember her being very enthusiastic about me going into acting. (Roz Lewis) (Translation)

Web.de (Germany) remembers the dangers of hyperemesis gravidarum:

Bis zu neun Monate lang Übelkeit und häufiges Erbrechen: Hyperemesis gravidarum ist die Extremform der Schwangerschaftsübelkeit. Englands Herzogin Kate litt bereits während ihrer Schwangerschaft mit Baby George darunter, Schriftstellerin Charlotte Brontë soll sogar an der Krankheit gestorben sein. (Petra Lichtenberger) (Translation)

vozpópuli (Spain) lists Emily Brontë as a one-hit-only writer:

Publicada en 1847 con el pseudónimo Ellis Bell, la novela de Brontë se considera actualmente como un clásico de la literatura. En el comienzo btuvo duras reacciones de los lectores y los críticos, que vieron en sus páginas una historia deprimente. El tiempo sin embargo hizo justicia. (Karina Sainz Borgo) (Translation)

Librópatas (Spain) chooses Jane Eyre as the book of the week;  D.N. Aloysius posts about Wuthering Heights. The Brontë Parsonage tweets a picture of the Haworth graveyard.