Poring over our Brontë shelf

The Scarborough News reviews the current Jane Eyre production at the Stephen Joseph Theater: 

Passionate and vibrant new stage version of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre opens at Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre.

Think of the Brontës and images of stormy, windswept, rain-drenched moors, consumptive characters and passionate lovers spring to mind. (...)

With the aid of a minimum of props and set, a cast of six brings the love story between landowner and the not-so handsome Edward Rochester and governess, plain Jane Eyre from the page to the stage.

That is not my disparaging descriptions of the characters but the opinions of themselves and each other.

The set is not the only thing pared down about the new adaptation of the classic novel.

Director Zoe Waterman and Chris Bush, who has adapted the book for the stage, ensure the plot is moved on a pace – with none of the eulogising, endless internal soul-searching, religious zealotry and debate and musings on the lot of women and their lack of equality in the early 19th century which bulk out the book’s central love story. (Sue Wilkinson)

A nice story in The Smart Set begins with several Brontë references:

Home alone one night, I pored over my Brontë shelf: beautiful editions of the novels, an assortment of biographies, the complete letters, and various books on Brontë lore –– of which fans all over the world never seem to tire. I soon reached for one book in particular: an edition of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights together that my father had given me for Christmas when I was 14 years old. It’s bound in plush red leather with gold writing on the cover and gold-edged pages. Opening it, I read the inscription:  

To Kristin,  

for her 14th Christmas  

Read with delight and pleasure, my dear.  

Love, forever and  

ever,  

Dad 1983 

Tears sprang to my eyes, for my father had recently died. Seeing his handwriting again and his lovely inscription was like getting a little “hello” from him when I least expected it — and when I most certainly needed it. (...)

I read Jane Eyre in that volume shortly after he gave it to me, but it would be another ten years before I’d read Wuthering Heights, in a graduate course on the novels of the Brontë sisters, which sparked my Brontë mania. My mother shared my delight and pleasure in the Brontës, and we enjoyed talking about their lives and works. Of the countless things I miss about my parents, exchanging and discussing books with them might be what I miss the most.  (Kristin Czarnecki)

The New York Times reviews Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson:

There are letters, calls to action, song lyrics, aphorisms, annotations, unearthed journal entries, a theory of minstrelsy. There are excerpts from Charlotte Brontë, Katherine Mansfield, Ida B. Wells, Czeslaw Milosz; allusions to Beckett, Robert Louis Stevenson and Dante. (Molly Young)

The Forth Worth Star-Telegram uses a combination of terms which is somewhat arbitrary:

We all agree full-bodied, Brontë-era patriarchy is bad for women. (Nicole Russell)

Downbeat intervies Cécile McLorin Salvant about her new album release:

Besides the Proust, she was delving into some of the weightiest novels from the European canon: Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. (...)
The sean-nós line, for instance, introduces Kate Bush’s baroque pop hit “Wuthering Heights,” a direct descendant of the Brontë novel and an eerie tune regardless of setting. (Spoiler: the song’s protagonist is a lovelorn spirit). In an inspired moment, Salvant chose to record her version in the open space of a Neo-Gothic church in midtown Manhattan, without digital enhancement. Thus, the echo and distance in her vocal performance are real, all the more spectral for their acoustic provenance. (Suzanne Lorge)

The Global Times's crossword includes a Brontë-related question. Four letters:

Author Moody or Brontë

Forward talks about the Israeli TV comedy New Hebron:

Finally (talk about cultural resonances!), I don’t want to ruin what happens with Meir and Ruth, but do you remember what had to happen to Mr. Rochester at the end of “Jane Eyre” to bring him down to poor Jane’s level? Think that 19th century classic but subtract the madwoman in the attic and add some ski slopes. (Karen E.H. Skinazi)

 De Groene Amsterdammer (Netherlands) interviews the writer Marijke Schermer:

Maria Van Dordrecht: Wat is het meest romantische boek?

M.S.: ‘De herinnerde soldaat van Anjet Daanje. Een heel romantisch boek, en ook een goed boek over liefde. Het is heel intiem. Zowel in de alledaagse zin als in de grotere zin dat zij hem het verhaal van zijn leven vertelt, en hem daarmee een plek geeft in het bestaan. En het is romantisch omdat het ook noodlottig is. En natuurlijk Jane Eyre. Alles van de Brontë-zussen is romantisch, omdat het heel hartstochtelijk is.’ (Translation)

Harz Kurier (Germany) publishes a lukewarm review of the current Jane Eyre. The Musical performances in Nordhausen:

Gut gemeint ist das Gegenteil von gut gemacht. Diese alte Weisheit gilt zum großen Teil für das neue Musical am Theater Nordhausen. „Jane Eyre“ verharrt im Mittelfeld. Die Inszenierung hat wenige Höhepunkte und einige Schwachstellen.

Dabei waren die Erwartungen hochgesteckt, denn das Musical nach dem gleichnamigen Roman von Charlotte Brontë erlebte in Nordhausen seine deutsche Erstaufführung. Am Ende überwiegt die Freude, endlich mal wieder Theater vor großem Publikum erleben zu können. (Thomas Kügler) (Translation)

If you like Bridgerton, Ze.nl (Netherlands) thinks that will enjoy Jane Eyre:

 En last but not least dé klassieker die je wilt lezen als je fan bent van Bridgerton: Jane Eyre van Charlotte Brontë. Het perfecte boek voor op je lijstje als je graag klassiekers leest of er meer wilt lezen. Jane Eyre speelt zich af in 1847, iets na Bridgerton, en heeft dezelfde sfeer van grote landhuizen, geheimen en verboden liefdes. Heerlijk! (Paula) (Translation)

Nerdando (Italy) interviews the authors of the book Indomite in Cucina:

Claudia 'Clack' Falcone: Indomite in cucina ci mostra figure femminili forti e indipendenti: secondo te l’emancipazione femminile può passare (anche) dai fornelli?

Silvia Casini: (...) Infatti, in Indomite in cucina abbiamo scelto tutte eroine ingovernabili, che offrono anche insegnamenti di vita molto importanti, come Jane Eyre, simbolo di indipendenza, di passione e di femminilità. Una donna che non si è mai arresa, nonostante a volte si sentisse del tutto inadeguata. (Translation)

A quote from Wuthering Heights in Soy Carmín (in Spanish).