Book similar to Jane Eyre

[mrjhale]

I'm afraid I'm one of those that love Rochester! I think his relationship with Jane is kind of romantic. He wanted to do what he felt was honorable by taking care of his first wife but then Jane made him love again.

Just finished S&S. 

In it Jane (Austen) features a 19 year old girl who finally marries a man in his mid-thirties.  And much of the attraction of this young girl, like Jane Eyre for Rochester, is similar.  Can such an age difference be appropriate?  Always and in every case where those participating are deliously happy because of it.  And again, substance--including integrity, depth, acumen--is arguably the most attractive characteristic a person of any age can possess, surpassing all physical characteristic.  This is what these 'mismatched' couples find in common which makes them happy.  Most everything else is emptiness to them, save other friends with similar value. 

Jane Eyre, Lucy Snow, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood and Emma Woodhouse and their conquests are examples.

[mrjhale]

And-by-the-way, the book--S&S--was so much better than the Emma Thompson directed movie--as good as it was.  And I forgot about Northanger Abby.  So I still have that and Mansfield Park to look forward to.  More men and women of substance sorting through a substanceless world to discover each other--and hopefully encountering as little spouse and child physical and psychological abuse as possible.  I'm just saying, if your not a 'substance romantic' you're not going to like Jane or Charlotte.  But if you're a 'tragic romantic', I can recommend Thomas Hardy and Emily Bronte, and the tragedies of William Shakespeare.

[pontalba]

Just finished S&S. 

In it Jane (Austen) features a 19 year old girl who finally marries a man in his mid-thirties.  And much of the attraction of this young girl, like Jane Eyre for Rochester, is similar.  Can such an age difference be appropriate?  Always and in every case where those participating are deliously happy because of it.  And again, substance--including integrity, depth, acumen--is arguably the most attractive characteristic a person of any age can possess, surpassing all physical characteristic.  This is what these 'mismatched' couples find in common which makes them happy.  Most everything else is emptiness to them, save other friends with similar value. 

Jane Eyre, Lucy Snow, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood and Emma Woodhouse and their conquests are examples.

 

 

Hear, hear!  I could not agree more.

[mrjhale]

Thank you Pontalba.  And forgive me for leaving out the formidable Elizabeth Bennet and her helpless conquest.  Also, again, I admit I prefer Jane and Charlotte who took lemons and made lemonade to Emily who took sewage and made deadly toxic waste.  But that's just me...  on a 'Jane Eyre fan page'...  And I'm in no real hurry cause I've got two more of Jane's on the way, (the last two I haven't read!), but I'm really relatively new to this genre of literature, so can you suggest other master romanic lemonade makers?

[pontalba]

LOL  Of the ones mentioned Jane Eyre is my favorite, by a long shot.

 

Funny thing is, I'm not usually attracted to "romantic" novels. I like a hard core of realism with my romance, and it isn't always easy to find.  And, although I do appreciate Ms. Bennet, I must admit they are not my favorite.  In reading P&P and S&S, I found myself extremely irritated with the lot of them.  

 

As to others of that ilk, at the moment I am stumped.  I'll have to think on it, and examine my shelves.

[mrjhale]

Sure, Ben Johnson and John Milton, etc., deferred to William's genius, as Sir Walter Scott deferred to Jane's, (as I defer to Charlotte's), so the laspe to discover an alternative is understandable, and, again, then, you must love Thomas Hardy.  Becasue if you have missed Tess of the D'Urbervilles, it lacks none of Charlotte's realism (read, in this case, fatalism), along with powerfully provocative romance, and I would have been won over entirely with but an ending that was not so much an ending.
    By-the-way,  I'm 140 pages into Mansfield Park and am finding it little better than the movie, and too immature, as I feared S&S would be (but wasn't).  And yes, I was irritated with my heroines here and there.  Especially with Elinor.  She just seemed 'unreal' sometimes.  I mean they were to some degree fantasies, were they not?  But it was a time past, though it was the real insights of Jane and Charlotte, (and Emily and Thomas).  And maybe a time sometime in my future?  I mean do we just fantasize, or is there any real hope?  And hope can only have a happy ending.

[mrjhale]

Just finished Mansfield Park.  Her longest work I think.  Reminded me of the odyssey of Jane Eyre in some ways--from her youth in poverty to, by a serendipidous transfer to the family and company of nobility, the flowering of virture that wins for her the most virtuous conquest in the country.  I didn't like is as well as J.E., but it was well worth the journey, and it offered more hope than J.E. really--you know--an even better fountain of lemonade from what what might have been otherwise expected to be a suffocating avalanche of lemons.

Just started Northanger Abby--apparently her first work, but not published until just after her untimely death--and the last one of hers I have yet to read.  The testimony of her sister in the introduction was no surprise to me.  The character of the "authoress" was unaminously asserted to be genius personified and detectably without flaw.  My tesimony is that I have not experienced her rival--even considering William.  (I have a degree in Lit from UCSD, but have neglected this foremost contributor to English literature until relativlely recently--this is my professional opinion.)

 

But I have also just order a copy of Lolita.  Am I being led astray?  I admit I am skeptical as to whether it will be more tragic than Tess of the D'Urbervilles, certainly more so than Wuthering Heights--as it was more random and meaningless than tragic. I mean I'm sure Albert Camus was no 'Stranger' to Emily's pre-existentialism.  Hardy portrays more a 'tragedy of errors'.  Still I will will reconnointer my way up this 'river', expecting to find a 'Heart of Darkness' maybe more inhuman than Joseph Conrad had imagined.  And I should add, in the words of a now immortal heavy metal rock band, 'Don't stop me!'

[frankie]

Mrjhale, I don't mean to be a party pooper, but perhaps you could write your Austen related comments in the Austen threads?

 

And what's more... It's interesting to read your thoughts on the books you've been reading, and I was wondering if I could persuade you to start your own reading log? There you could talk about the books you've read, and also purchased and/or acquired... If you'd like, you could also list all the book you have on your To Be Read pile... I know I'd love a sneak peek to your bookcases

[pontalba]

Just finished Mansfield Park.  Her longest work I think.  Reminded me of the odyssey of Jane Eyre in some ways--from her youth in poverty to, by a serendipidous transfer to the family and company of nobility, the flowering of virture that wins for her the most virtuous conquest in the country.  I didn't like is as well as J.E., but it was well worth the journey, and it offered more hope than J.E. really--you know--an even better fountain of lemonade from what what might have been otherwise expected to be a suffocating avalanche of lemons.

 

Just started Northanger Abby--apparently her first work, but not published until just after her untimely death--and the last one of hers I have yet to read.  The testimony of her sister in the introduction was no surprise to me.  The character of the "authoress" was unaminously asserted to be genius personified and detectably without flaw.  My tesimony is that I have not experienced her rival--even considering William.  (I have a degree in Lit from UCSD, but have neglected this foremost contributor to English literature until relativlely recently--this is my professional opinion.)

 

But I have also just order a copy of Lolita.  Am I being led astray?  I admit I am skeptical as to whether it will be more tragic than Tess of the D'Urbervilles, certainly more so than Wuthering Heights--as it was more random and meaningless than tragic. I mean I'm sure Albert Camus was no 'Stranger' to Emily's pre-existentialism.  Hardy portrays more a 'tragedy of errors'.  Still I will will reconnointer my way up this 'river', expecting to find a 'Heart of Darkness' maybe more inhuman than Joseph Conrad had imagined.  And I should add, in the words of a now immortal heavy metal rock band, 'Don't stop me!'

 

Hmmm, I haven't read Northanger Abby, only P&P and S&S (I think).  Tess is around here, and I'll put it in the closest stack.

 

Hooray for ordering Lolita!   

 

I'll second frankie's remark regarding starting your reading thread.  I'm sure it would be most interesting.

[mrjhale]

I thank you frankie and pontalba, and I don't mean to be a 'disa-pointer', (and I WILL consider Anne Bronte, nicola8989!), but my agenda is not to be a general 'pointer', (and you may have noticed and guessed by my above mentioned credentials I have little want of help with an agenda, nor am likely to be easily outranked, and I do have work that is also my passion), but here, on this page, not haphazardly chosen I assure you, it is more like, maybe with a glass of cabernet sauvignon, to 'party'.  And I know it's pushing it to classify J.E. as a 'comedy of manners', as all Jane's are more easily identified, since Charotte pushes those parameters quite hard.  But a 'coming of age story' says even less, and is less likely to be key to my personal entertainment.  And after all, any 'comedy of manners', ('manners' being the juxtaposed 'tiered relationships' of 'nobels with commoners' and the comedy, etc., that ensues) is chiefly entertainment, and my favorite entertainment at this point in my life--and one of the reasons I avoid tragedies--don't like horror movies either.  (I sware I will never read Macbeth, King Lear or Othello again!--but I love Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet!--saw them both again professionally performed, these last times 'in the park', in the last two years.)  And I find them (COM'S) tending toward meaningful substance, which IS key to my preferred entertainment (method of emphasis stolen from Jane).

So I intend to stay on page--to be entertained by gushing and reading gushes about my favorite comedy of manners, Jane Eyre, and anything well enough connected to it, 'cheering and booing' as I deem appropriate--or entertaining, though I have to acknowledge that this is a limited field.  I mean apparently Charlotte only wrote 2 full length novels, both more substantive to me than any of Jane's--another reason I camp on this page.  But the other one, Villette, contains a lot of French (another entertainment of mine), as it is set mostly in a small town in Northern France by that name, making it more difficult than just 19th century literature can be.  And I am not surprised that I have found many references to Wuthering Heights on this page (that I sware I will never read again!) but not one, besides by me, for Villette.  It is also an attack on both Protestantism and Catholicism as the "heroine" and "hero"  (as Jane directly identifies similar characters in Northanger Abbey--a true 'coming of age story'--not my favorite of hers, though more than entertaining enough) are thus pitted against each other in Charlotte's jaded representations of Lucy and M. Paul, respectively.  Talk about substance.  Still with such limited and difficult direct literary connections to Charlotte, I find Jane quite close enough, and more than entertaining enough.  (Is Anne?!--prepare to be loved or hated forever nicola8989!--only appropriate entertainment intended)  And though I had fun writing this, I'm staying on page, at least for now, thank you. (And my not directly connecting all your posts to this one is an effort to fortify my encampment, btw.)

...and laura156, you wax too brief! (again only entertainment intended)...

[pontalba]

I, for one, look forward to reading your opinions of above mentioned novels.  Not to mention Lolita in yonder thread.  

 

I believe though what frankie  and I meant was that we would enjoy catching a glimpse of your book lists.  But if you don't care to make said list, that is, of course your prerogative.  Darn it!  

[mrjhale]

but oh! pontalba, I'm sure I will be visiting you on yours soon--got Lolita and almost finished with Northanger Abbey--Jane literally fully directly defines 'substance' in it, and fairly well, for her, portrays it, though it feels like her FIRST work too, as her heavy handed naration is exposed by her later much more masterful description...

Edited November 24, 2013 by mrjhale

[mrjhale]

...just finished Northanger Abbey.  Maybe the best, "You made your bed, now you lie it it", story I've ever read.  But it has none of the power of Jane Eyre, more like the power and feel of a protracted Aesop's Fable.  But surely an enjoyable comedy of manners. ("Don't stop me!")

[mrjhale]

Just finished Ethan Frome...  not a comedy of manners...   more a educated woman's perspective of 19th century New England country-style tragedy.  But more misfortune than full-blown Greek tragedy.  She does communicate a lot of powerful emotion without the characters saying much, though it's a short novel, and not enough to inspire me to dive an to another of Edith's right away.  Besides, I just found one of Charlotte's I had overlooked, Shirley, and Anne Bronte who I had overlooked entirely (thank you, again, nicola898).  Saving what I'm guessing is the better for later, guess I'll start with Agnes Grey.

[mrjhale]

I finally read Charlotte's 'coming out' preface (originally in a subsequent printing of Wuthering Heights), on the literary and tragic experiences of the Bronte sisters, (which was also in my copy of Agnes Grey), along with the first few chapters of Agnes Grey.  It, and the opening chapters, made all the more sense to me because I had founded the education of my own 4 children on a Cornell University study from the last century. (as well as on the university educations of both myself and my wife).  None of my children entered formal education until the college level, and easily so.  This foundational philosophy to produce "genius" discovered by Cornell was: 1) provide a warm and loving environment. and 2) provide immediate answers to questions, and 3) maintain isolation from inferior social peers.  This is Agnes Grey, or Anne, as well as Emily and Charlotte too.  I knew they were geniuses; I just didn't realize that a Cornell University study that I was committed to had corroborated that a century later.  Thanks again nicola8989, turns out I will love you forever.  Anne and Charlotte can do, or write, no wrong by me.  And this has given me the motivation to reconsider Emily's precociousness too.  Bless all their souls.