Jane Eyre

Hey! I am about to begin reading Jane Eyre as part of my 11th grade English studies. I was wondering what others though about the book. Comments would be helpful!

Congratulations on starting a really amazing book! I'm sure a lot of people would be willing to discuss it with you.

Maybe it would be more useful once you're well into the book or when you finish it. I wouldn't want to spoil or bias your own experience! Would you like to keep us posted on your progress and questions?

I think I've read Jane Eyre three times. Like DoctorRobert, I really enjoyed it, but don't want to spoil any of it. :) All I will say is that once you've finished the book and if you enjoy it likewise, try Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair. This is another wonderful book! :)

Wow you are in for such a treat. I read it first when I was about your age. After I read the last page I turned back to the front page and began reading it all over again.

But I don't want to hype it up too much you might find the language and writing style a bit difficult to get into at first. Persevere and you will soon be in full flow.

I just loved the banter between Mr Rochester and Jane.

But look out for that Grace Poole! All is not what it seems.

At some point this summer I plan to read Jane Eyre, The Eyre Affair and Wide Sargasso Sea all for the first time. I'll come back to this thread at that time.

Yes! I would love to keep you posted about my progress and I will most definitely have questions. Thank you so much!!

Jane Eyre must be the most "adapted into film" novel. I can't count the number of "Jane Eyre" TV films I've seen. My favorites are the ones done by British TV. But I always stop and watch whatever version is on TV. I can't help myself!

I was just revisitng a Classics Book Group last week and we discussed Jane Eyre over a chocolate mousse torte and good wine. I can't tell you how many times I've read this book but each time I notice something different. This time I thought that the whole part with her at the school seemed so short. I also thought Rochester's initial conversations with Jane more humorous than I had before...but I mustn't say too much...you're reading (and no doubt you probably have a paper to write also...).

haha. yeah. i have to write a paper on the alienation of a character. i am dreading it.

The internet archives.org has Jane Eyre available for free download.

I love the internetarchives.org...I've downloaded tons of stuff from Naropa Poetry Archives, Democracy Now! and Buddhist Lectures, etc.

The recording of Jane Eyre by Libri-Vox is here:
http://www.archive.org/details/jane_eyre_librivox

You probably want the MP3 version, unless you have software to allow you to play Ogg Vorbis or other versons.

Enjoy!

I'm just about to graduate with my undergrad degree and I still have not read Jane Eyre. I'm not too big a fan of old Victorian classics, I'm afraid, though I've heard such good things about this book that I finally bought myself a copy (hardbound, to encourage me). So it looks like I'll be reading it soon too, literaturegirl09.

If you search Jane Eyre here at LibraryThing, you'll find lots of conversations about the book. There is a fairly recent one over at the Awful Lit. group. (Not to say that Jane Eyre is awful, just that the group of people who like to diss books picked that one to discuss).

I liked Jane Eyre a lot. Have fun!

Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books, but I'll just warn that when my class read it in high school, many people felt that the first third or so was a bit slow-moving. I disagree, but that's personal taste. Also, try not to let anybody spoil it for you if you do not yet know what happens.

I can't stand Jane Eyre.

It has always annoyed the daylights out of me. I'm not sure if it's the writing or the conventions of the time but reading it always leaves me cranky. Even Sharon Shinn's reworking in a SF setting (Jenna Starborn) didn't make a difference. Mostly it's the aspect of women (and men) having no control over their own lives that bugs me the most and this story has that many times over.

#14: I can't stand Jane Eyre.

It has always annoyed the daylights out of me. I'm not sure if it's the writing or the conventions of the time but reading it always leaves me cranky.

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So does that mean that you can't stand most 19th century fiction? I think you could use that description for a lot of it. Or is there something specific about Jane Eyre that you find pernicious?

I liked Jane Eyre, but I can see why others wouldn't. I don't think the Brontes speak to the current reader very well. To enjoy them, I think the reader has to ignore modern expectations. While more happens in the Bronte's books, I think Jane Austen remains more relevant to today's reader. My opinion, yours may differ.

Edited to correct silly spelling error.

I read Jane Eyre in eighth grade, and the entire time I thought that I hated it. I didn't like most of the characters, and hated Jane's demeanor.
Then, when I finished I realized that I loved it- weird, I know! I love the questions it made me think about- please update me on your progress, I would love to talk about the book!

Nickelini - Good question, but, no, I've read other books written from that period and enjoyed them. It's just Jane Eyre that I have a problem with. I'm not really sure why and I know I'm not expressing myself well in regards to this.

Obviously it's a story that speaks to many others, otherwise it wouldn't be as loved as it is :)

Just bought Jane Eyre after reading about it in this thread. Would start reading it after finishing my current book (Twenty thousand leagues under the sea).

I don't like Jane Eyre but it is certainly more entertaining reading the 20000 leagues. The 'action' parts have all the same dullness as Jane, but between the action bits you get endless descriptions of fish. this is actualy worse. I know its hard to believe but its true.

It is probably close to 40 years since I read Jane Eyre but this discussion is inspiring me to read it again.

When I had to read it for school, 25 years ago, I referred to the book as 'Jane Eyre Head'.

Reading it again, 15 years later, it is one of my absolute favourites!

I need guidance on Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and specifically whether World Publishing’s “Rainbow Classics” edition (1946) was abridged or unabridged. Please see my detailed post at http://www.librarything.com/topic/111617#4055656 . Any help you can offer is appreciated. Thank you!

I looove Jane Eyre. I collect illustrated hardbound editions and for me it just gets better every time I read it. I read Wide Sargasso Sea recently and really disliked it. You have to be able to get really worked up over the treatment of one of the characters in Jane Eyre to get into WSS in my opinion. I felt like it was really amateurish. But I love Jane Eyre. There's a modern re-write called The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey, which I enjoyed as well.

Another fan of Jane Eyre. Some of it seems a bit over the top to me, but it doesn't detract from a great read (and re-read).

I don't read it as realistic fiction but more as a fairy tale of a kind. It borders on fantasy with its supernatural elements too.

Just finished it the other day and loved it, it is an amazing book. x

My adoration of Jane Eyre is pathological. Mr. Rochester is just--oof. What a man. Some young girls worshipped boy band members as teenagers. I worshipped and searched aimlessly for my own Mr. Rochester. I didn't care that he --edited not to give away any spoilers. He was tormented and dark, and he needed me, I mean, Jane, to save his soul.

I read JE when I was fourteen, and I've read it over twenty times. Sometimes I'd read it and flip back to the beginning and start the book all over again. It is about time to read it again, in fact. Whee!

In a speech class in college, we had actual show-and-tell (ha!) to warm us up to the idea of speaking in front of other people, and I brought in the old, ragged copy of Jane Eyre that my mother bought me way back in 1990. I probably bored my classmates silly gushing over a classic novel, but I scored major points with my instructor. I'm a great apple polisher.

I reeeally like Jane Eyre, it's one of my fav books! I love jane's character: she is so strong and she always respects her self and other people feelings!

I'd written it off early in life as "romance for girls" until a couple of years ago as an adult, when I saw the recent movie adaptation and thought that was brilliant. Then it became a must-read, and I'm glad I did. Even after the movie it was still fantastic. Had I been able to read and absorb its message in high school I would have been a much better date, lol