Jane Eyre

Just wondering if anyone else has read and loved Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte before now. It's got to be one of my favourite books of all time and I think the BBC adaption from last year was brilliant. Before seeing that I'd tried to find a film of it and I bought one from 1994 I think it was? Anyways I thought it was terrible!

I read somewhere that Ruth Wilson for the BBC adaptation had to squeeze herself into a ridiculously tight corset to be thin enough to play the part of lithe little Jane (even though she was a perfectly normal size 10 to begin with).

Sigh...every girl should have a Rochester, don't you think? :D

I'm reading the book as we speak :o) So far I love the narrative, and I've seen the adaptation but the book is so much better. Bit annoyed I watched the film because I know what happens...

i've read it a couple of times, and--honestly--i think it pales in comparison to a lot of other victorian lit.  too much pathos and melodrama for me.  and i'm definitely not looking for a Rochester - i think he's an arrogant ass.

but if you like the story, you should read The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.  it's the story of Rochester's mad first wife.

Love that book, and the Brontës, in general.  If you like that one, you should definitely read Villette by Charlotte B. and Wuthering Heights by Emily B.

Edit: didn't see the post before me, but yes, if you've read Jane Eyre, then you should read Jean Rhys, because she refers to "the mad woman in the attic"...But Jean Rhys is really good, aside from that...she was a bit "before her time" as they say, but what I've read, I found phenomenal.

I'll definitely look into that book then. Thanks for the recommendation!

Read it for school, loved it.

Well, I've not read the book for many, many years, but I LOVE the 1944 movie version with Orson Wells as Rochester, Joan Fontaine (SO believable) as Jane and a very young Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Burns.  A MUST SEE!!

Read it umpteeeeeeeeen times... and loved it every time. Yes, I totally agree, every girl should have a Mr. Rochester ... sigh... I even remeber some of the exact lines from the novel.

Saw a movie some time back, don't know it's name as saw it from the mid. It was on the story of Mr. Rochester's first wife and his marriage in Africa. Catherine Zeta Jones had played it, liked that one too, but nothing close to the novel Jane Eyre.

Ah well the film I saw had Charlotte Gainsborough as Jane and I thought it was really dreadful. They changed bits and the ending was all wrong. I think it's because it was directed by a man and they tried to squash a storie that needs a lot of time into under 2 hours...however the BBC adaptation was 4 hours long which gave it enough time to unfold and for the 'love to kindle', and it was directed by a woman which I think is important. Plus Toby Stephens makes a great Rochester :)

How wonderfully refreshing to hear from (apparently) young people who are discovering the classics!

Just one warning, once you start reading really good literature, you will not want to waste your time on lesser authors.

Check out Jane Austen's books.  Some don't like her as much as I do, but if you liked Jane Eyre, you should like Austen.

Keep reading the good stuff!!!

If you like Jane Eyre then you need to read Pride and Prejudice.  *sigh* Mr. Darcy can get my blood boiling and make me melt all at once.

I second the recommendation of Wuthering Heights as well. 

Another good one, rather off topic, but a classic that I loved was Catcher in the Rye. 

I love Jane Eyre...*sigh*

But strangely enough, Kallie, I'm not a huge Jane Austen fan... Strange, no? I like her work for what it was, but.... I could take it or leave it.

 I love Wuthering Heights as well. Much love to the Bronte sisters.

Love Jane Eyre...love those archtypical dark heroes, at best they are haughty and imperious, at worst they are Heathcliff :)..

little handful of fire...

Love the book!  I second the others, in recommending Wuthering Heights. It is quite good.     Although, I agree with Kallie67 - I loovved Mr.Darcy! Pride and Prejudice is my ALL TIME favorite!!!

Okay, doesn't anyone else think that Mr Rochester is a horrible person? Or is it just those of us who have read Wide Sargasso Sea?

You can't count that version of Rochester's character, because it wasn't written by Bronte..IMO

Jane Eyre is my alltime favorite book!  I was an English Major in college and have read a good number of novels...but Jane Eyre is my all time fav!

Hey, I was an English major too :)  Jane Eyre is awesome.  Not my all time favorite but a really terrific book, definitely up there.  I also love Jane Austin.

I agree with Kathy, you can't really count a different author's version of the character when forming your opinion, though it's always interesting to get someone else's take on a classic story...If you like reading books like that another really interesting one is The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall, it's a different take on Gone with the Wind.  Basically, it's the story retold from the point of view of Scarlett's half sister who is a slave on the plantation.

Kathy, you're right, but my view of him was tainted by that book. I can never read Jane Eyre the same way again...

I adore Jane Eyre...it was the first "real" novel I ever read.

Definitely read Pride and Prejudice...it is great.

Also, give Thomas Hardy's novels a try...Return of the Native is very good.

JJ

That's a shame, tigerlily, must have kinda spoilt it for you :( I had a much more terrifying mental image of Bertha before seeing any films of Jane Eyre, does anyone else agree?