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Monday, April 07, 2014

Monday, April 07, 2014 9:21 am by Cristina in , , , , , ,    No comments
The University of Rochester's Three Percent reviews Minae Mizumura's A True Novel:
In her prologue (which, by the way, contains what is probably the best piece of writing about writing I’ve ever read), Mizumura outlines her intent in A True Novel to execute a sprawling epic in the tradition of western classics—what in Japanese is called honkaku shosetsu, loosely translated as ‘true novel’. This form is presented in contrast to shishosetsu, or ‘I-novel’, the more traditionally Japanese novelistic form of autobiographical narrative. To this end, she employs none other than Wuthering Heights, reimagining Brontë’s classic in postwar Japan.
However, A True Novel is much more than a recasting of Wuthering Heights—and much more than simply the formula of the western novel told in Japanese. I would argue that the meat of what makes A True Novel so exceptional is contained in its prologue. At nearly 200 pages, the prologue could well satisfy as a novella in itself. Though it begins as a more or less traditional prologue about Mizumura’s decision to write the book, it quickly becomes a metafictive account of the narrator’s relationship with Taro Azuma. (Ariel Starling)
The Conversation considers 1954 to be one of cinema's greatest years. That year included Luis Buñuel's take on Wuthering Heights, Abismos de pasión.
South of the border, that irrepressible surrealist-in-exile Luis Buñuel churned out three features, each of which bears reconsideration—his take on Robinson Crusoe focused on the salvational social bond with Friday; his Wuthering Heights latched gleefully on to Brontë’s evil genius; while Illusion Travels by Streetcar was a scathing satiric assault on Mexican class society. (Julian Murphet)
This reviewer from Dallas Culture Map doesn't seem to have watched Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights lately.
English period dramas are usually full of gorgeous settings, beautiful people and prim and proper fashion. But what these romanticized Jane Austen and Brontë sisters adaptations often overlook is the reality of life for those outside the gilded bubble. 
Most of the Brontë characters were from 'outside the gilded bubble'.

USA Today's Happy Ever After finds a Brontëite in writer Charity Pineiro.
Charity Pineiro, author of To Catch Her Man
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The emotion in this story of two lovers who will never be together made me want to be able to convey the same emotion and also, always have a happily-ever-after. (Joyce Lamb)
La Stampa (Italy) reviews the Italian translation of Jane, le renard et moi.
 Jane, la volpe & io, pur raccontando una storia “ordinaria”, senza magia né particolari colpi di scena, possiede un equilibrio e una bellezza che è difficile negare, e che lascia, a fine lettura, il cuore leggero. (Mara Pace) (Translation)
On Islam has an article on visiting and staying in Haworth as a Muslim.
Haworth. A cobbled, charming timepiece village, shunted, deep into the Yorkshire Moors. Setting off in the car with my daughters, I suspect we will soon risk stares as we (Anglo-Hijabis) join, almost uniquely, ‘white’ hiking families, on secluded walks, in the North of England .
We arrive outside Ye Olde Apothecary, on the sweetly named ‘main street’ in a gloomy dusk. It is the antithesis of Disney’s glitzy namesake. An unchanged 19th century row of shops and taverns, tapering into a forbidding, grey, hillside. There is no music pumping from cars, no pub sounds - there are almost no vehicles. The silence beneath the ancient church makes us whisper as we unload our bags.
Dragging them up a winding, staircase, a disembodied, voice floats down to us.
‘Assalamu Alaykhum’.
The accent is rather proper, with no trace of heritage from warmer climes. A gentleman in his fifties, smart casual, with a kind smile, emerges from the shadows, repeating his salamat, and taking our heaviest things.
‘You’re all more than welcome here ladies. Your faith is respected and you will, I hope, inshaAllah, be more than comfortable throughout your stay.’
I mutter Allahu Akbar, under my breath, in gratitude. Here, in the midst of an English winter countryside, Allah The Merciful, has sent us a sympathetic greeting.
‘Yes Allahu Akbar indeed, that means God is Great if I remember correctly’ continues the B&B owner, Nick. Who, tells us jovially, of his decade in the Middle East, as a business man. [...]
The following days are a blissful, face stinging, hale-sodden hike across glorious Moorland. Marching our way determinedly through the heather and gorse (the inspiration for Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights) we make Thikr. Thanking God for making the environment so variable from place to place. My children’s best moment of all comes when, trying to fly a kite in heavy rain (why?) I slip into a vast puddle whose smell is an unpleasant reminder of the sheep all around.
It is a beautiful trip. No comments from hikers on our hijabs. Smiles all the way from fellow travelers at the guest house. (Lauren Booth)
The Brussels Brontë Blog has a post on Nicholas Shrimpton's recent talk about Shirley for the Brussels Brontë group. My Reading Journal posts about The Professor.

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