Staring at the horizon, I might have been looking at a vast canvas where the technique of chiaroscuro, the interplay of light and dark, was used to create a specific mood. One minute sunshine dappled the landscape; the next misty rain enveloped it.
“Don’t worry about that,” said my hiking guide Johnnie Briggs, as one of the intermittent rain showers descended upon us. “Those are just Yorkshire kisses.”
Actually, it was the rain rather than the sun that created a more fitting atmosphere for our hike. We were walking on the bleak moors above the village of Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters who through their writing, created some of the most memorable characters in English fiction.
Of the three, it was Emily who most loved the wild moors, and made them the trysting place for Heathcliff and Cathy in her novel “Wuthering Heights.”
Our hike didn’t take us all the way to Top Withens, the abandoned farmhouse exposed to the fierce elements used as inspiration for the book’s remote farm. Considering the number of “Yorkshire kisses” we experienced along the way, it was probably a good thing that we opted not to do the entire six-and-a-half mile round-trip walk.
I would have liked to have seen Top Withens and I was about a month too early for the purple heather that blankets the moors in late summer, but I did marvel at a landscape stark in its beauty, and thrilled to the sight and sound of larks, lapwings and merlins circling above me. (Read more) (Patti Nickell)
The Guardian interviews the screenwriter Sally Wainwright:
She only came to directing when her sons were nearing the end of school – they’re now 17 and 20. Happy Valley was her debut, and To Walk Invisible is her forthcoming single drama about the Brontë siblings, with whom she has become so intimately connected that she talks about them as though they’re annoying members of her own family. “Everything we know about the Brontës was through Charlotte’s eyes, because she outlived her siblings. She really tries to make out that Anne was naive, and did something similar with Emily. Really, I think she was jealous that they were so close. And one of the things I’ve come to realise is that Branwell was very talented and he was very clever. He could have been one of the Brontë sisters, in terms of his intellect and his talent. But I don’t think he could put the hours in. To write a novel is actually physically hard work as well as mentally.” (Zoe Williams)
Derbyshire Times talks about a recent Cabaret Night at the Bakewell Baking Festival:
Headlining harmony trio The Bobby Pins captured the vintage feel of the festival with beautifully sung numbers from The Andrews Sisters including Bugle Boy and Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree. They highlighted the variety theme of the night in an imaginative reworking of Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights and a delightful finale of Caro Emerald’s That Man. (Gay Bolton)
Sophia from
College Classics wonders what would happen if some literary heroines would have gone to college:
From: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
Major: Education (Minors: Fine Arts and Philosophy)
Today's bookworms would never have met Hermione Granger - first described as having big teeth and bushy hair, then revealed to be the brainiest and most talented young witch at Hogwarts - without the miraculous creation of Jane Eyre. Jane may not have magical abilities, but she does manage to survive years of unfair abuse at the hands of her relatives and a cruel headmaster at school, all while managing to stay true to herself and learning as much as she can. That's kind of magical, right?
Were she alive nowadays, Jane might put off getting a job as a nanny (and therefore her fateful romance with the roguish Rochester) for a while, opting instead to further her education. Likely inspired by her kindly teacher, Miss Temple, Jane would want to become an educator herself - maybe she'll get to help a student who is just as lonely as she once was.
But one area of study isn't enough for the highly intelligent Miss Eyre. She would also have two minors: fine arts, because she has a knack for sketching and drawing, and philosophy, because hers is a story of morals and ethics, therefore she might want to better understand her own.
Catherine Earnshaw
From: Wuthering Heights, by Emily Brontë
Major: Photography
And now for Jane's complete opposite, as well as the other most well-known heroine out of the Brontë canon, Catherine Earnshaw. (Wow, these two actually have quite a few connections - if they were roommates, that might just be too big of a coincidence.) Whereas Jane is bookish, empathetic, and possesses a quiet strength, Cathy is free-spirited, spoiled, and would likely be known around campus as a "wild child."
Catherine really isn't at college for the learning part - she's here because her dear old dad made her go. She'd much rather stay at home where she can spend day after day bumming around and causing mischief with her boyfriend Heathcliff (who would definitely be an indie musician covered in tattoos). For now, she studies photography, which she assumed would be an easy major. At least this means once she gets home, she can take moody black and white photographs of the surrounding moors, which she can then post to her Tumblr, captioned by lyrics from The Decemberists.
An alert for today, August 14th, on the Austrian TV channel
Ö1. The
ExLibris program will include a
Wuthering Heights discussion:
Sonntag, 14. August 2016, 16:00
Bücher, Menschen, Themen. Moderation: Julia Reuter
Das bewegte Leben. Klassiker des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts in Neuausgaben (4): "Sturmhöhe" von Emily Brontë und John Meade Falkners "Moonfleet"
Awesomegang interviews the writer Marcus Breathnach:
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Oh that’s not fair um, (...)
2: Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
Another alert for next Tuesday, August 16th in Baton Rouge, LA:
Book Club: 7 p.m., EBR Jones Creek Regional Branch Library, 6222 Jones Creek Road. The JCR Book Club will discuss "Romancing Miss Brontë" by Juliet Gael. (225) 756-1180. (Via The Advocate)
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/living/travel/article95542157.html#storylink=cpy
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