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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Tuesday, February 14, 2017 11:15 am by Cristina in , , , , ,    No comments
Let's go straight to Valentine's Day mentions:

The Irish Times has several authors recommend their favourite love stories:
Hazel Gaynor
“Reader, I married him.” If these four words from the final chapter of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre don’t tug at your heartstrings then I can only assume you are made of stone. I would happily argue the case for this being one of the most romantic lines in literature; the perfect denouement to the turbulent relationship between the eponymous governess – “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me” Jane - and her employer, Mr. Rochester. Although also a deliciously dark novel, it is Jane and Rochester’s epic struggle to be together, and the honesty of the exchanges between them – especially during the final scenes at Ferndean - that makes Jane Eyre my favourite literary love story. Read it, and weep.
Mashable has listed several 'Films to watch on Valentine's Day if you're a total cold-hearted cynic' and one of them is Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights.
Wuthering Heights
Forget about Kate Bush: Andrea Arnold's gritty adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic injects a strong vein of social awareness into the work, while ignoring the naff nonsense that's defined previous versions.
Rather than being stiff Victorian lovers, in this version Heathcliff and Catherine are a fiery and formidable couple, and the film has a wind-blasted intensity all of its own. Sweet little period romance this is not. (Joseph Earp)
Espalha Factos (Portugal) suggests romantic plans inspired by books:
Heathcliff | O Monte dos Vendavais: Passeio à chuva
Se há coisa que não tem faltados nos últimos tempos é chuva, e Heathcliff protagonizou em O Monte dos Vendavais, de Emily Brontë, um momento estranhamente romântico. Um passeio com aquela pessoa só por si já é especial, mas num monte e à chuva é a cereja no topo do bolo. Uma sugestão para aproveitar a chuva que fevereiro nos tem proporcionado. (Sara Bregieira) (Translation)
CoolMomPicks recommends '10 romantic movies streaming on Netflix for Valentine’s Day.'
Jane Eyre
Full disclosure: My favorite romance is the Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice, which isn’t currently streamable on Netflix. (You can rent it on Amazon video for $3.99, however.)
If you’re sticking with Netflix — and free streaming movies for Valentine’s Day to save your pennies for better chocolate — Jane Eyre scratches the same romantic historical fiction itch, albeit with a more Gothic twist to go with the gorgeous scenery and costumes. Oh, and big bonus in brooding, tortured Fassbender. I love how they have to really earn the kiss in period dramas. (Delilah)
Bollywood Life lists some heartthrobs from Bollywood TV series:
Ranveer from Meri Aashiqui Tumse Hi
The show might have gone off air but there is no denying that it was one of the best romances of recent times. The character of Ranveer was reportedly inspired by Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights but it was far less darker than the tormentor in Emily Brontë’s classic. From unrequited love to childhood romance, it was way too literary. (Urmimala Banerjee)
 The Oxford University Press blog gives you the chance of finding out 'Who’s your literary valentine'.

As a counter-Valentine recommendation, Bustle lists '9 Overrated Classic Novels — And Which Books To Read Instead' which includes both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
2.'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë
Rochester is the worst. The wandering around the moors as an escape plan? The mentally ill wife in the attic? I have never understood this book.
Alternative:
In Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende, an orphaned Chilean woman sets off to California during the Gold Rush. She's in search of her lover, but she ends up discovering so much more.
3.'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë
The Brontë sisters simply do not do it for me, but I can't deny the impact of these books. For a modern update on their love stories, try the following.
Alternative:
Solsbury Hill by Susan M. Wyler is a love story set in contemporary times that deals with a New York girl, the moors, and the legacy of Wuthering Heights. (Zoraida Córdova)
Awesomegang has interviewed writer Sarah Hina.
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? Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (I’ve never had the patience to read it)
Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor
How to Survive on a Desert Island (assuming there is such a book!)
And Kids Book Review has interviewed writer Jodi McAlister.
6. What book character would you be, and why? I would like to think it would be Flora Poste from Cold Comfort Farm. The idea of coming in and making people’s problems go away with a common-sense, no-nonsense approach, while wearing fabulous dresses, is pretty appealing to me. Although I would quite like to be Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde’s Eyre Affair universe. I feel like this would let me use my PhD for good (ie. fighting crime in literature). (Penny)
The Morning Call has an update on the pre-production of the TV series based on Patricia Park's retelling of Jane Eyre, Re Jane.
A third show,  "Re Jane, " is being developed by TV Land,  Paramount Television,  production company Anonymous Content and [actor Daniel Dae Kim]. The half-hour comedy is adapted from Patricia Park's 2015 debut novel of the same name.
Park's book follows Jane Re,  a half-Korean,  half-American orphan,  who lives in Flushing,  Queens. The story is a contemporary retelling of "Jane Eyre."
Looking to escape her life ruled by the traditional principle of nunchi (a combination of good manners,  hierarchy,  and obligation),  Jane becomes an au pair for two  English professors and their adopted Chinese daughter. The script will be written by Maria Maggenti of "Finding Carter, " who also will executive produce with Kim and Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Doreen Wilcox Little.
Kim acknowledged on Facebook that it is a long road from development to actually airing.
"There are still a number of hurdles yet to jump,  and many shows in development never make it to air," he said.
The Film Stage reviews the film God's Own Country 2017:
Josh O’Connor is a revelation as Johnny, a 24-year-old farmhand working in brutal isolation on the family estate in the Yorkshire Moors of northern England, which is also the harsh, windswept setting of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. (Ed Frankl)
A couple of Brontë-related mentions from the New York Fashion Week: The Federalist describes the fashion industry as being 'in a “Wuthering Heights” mood this NYFW' while ABC (Spain) describes Carolina Herrera's collection as
una serie de combinados en blanco y negro, de corte austero y estilo inspirado en la «rica brevedad» de los atuendos de Jane Eyre o los uniformes de las alumnas de escuelas de monjas de la primera mitad del siglo XX. Los detalles de cuellos casi infantiles, puños delicados y faldas plisadas, combinaban con modernidad con cazadoras negras de cuero inspiradas en «la perfecto» o botines masculinos de aire mod. (María Luisa Funes) (Translation)
An alert from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii:
Kona Bookstore
February 14, 2017 Fiction Group is discussing: The Madwoman Upstairs by Catherine Lowell
This group meets at 6:30PM @ Kona Stories Book Store.
M. Miles takes a look at '7 “Romantic” Characters Who Are Actually Just Creepy' including Mr Rochester and Heathcliff while Sally Allen Books has reread Jane Eyre even though she (still) doesn't like it. Crónicas de Magrat reviews Shirley in Spanish.

And finally, here's a direct link to Simon Armitage speaking about Branwell on BBC Radio 4 Front Row.

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