Happy Birthday, Charlotte Bronte!

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."

With those ten words, I'm catapulted back in time to when I was thirteen years old, reading Jane Eyre for the first time. I fell in love with the novel's heroine, at once passionate and rational, and with the eloquent way she told her story, addressing me as "Reader." I felt like she was reaching out to me through the pages, teaching me about what it means to be a strong, smart, independent woman.

Greetings, fellow readers! Today we celebrate Charlotte Bronte, born 198 years ago today. Although the literary achievements of her and her siblings are complex and manifold, I'm going to focus today on the novel I have loved since the day my mom bought me my first copy seven years ago: Jane Eyre. It's the book I have loved most consistently to this day, the one I return to when I'm in need of comfort or advice, or when I just want to wrap myself in a familiar story.

I still remember that day now--my mom and I were at a homeschool convention in my hometown of Jacksonville, and we had stopped at the Usborne publishing booth, which was selling a variety of fiction for all ages. The book that caught my eye had a picture of a woman with her hair in a bun sitting at the window, her silhouette standing out against a background of pink and grey. Slate blue calligraphy spelled out the title: Jane Eyre. I remember asking my mom to buy it for me, and I will always be grateful she said yes.

When I read the book as a child, I was captivated by the suspenseful, Gothic aspects of the story. Who was the mysterious figure laughing in the night? Why did Rochester keep so many secrets? Would Jane ever find a family of her own? These questions burned in me and kept the story going. I would stay up long past my bedtime, flipping covers under the sheets to find the answers.

I try to read the book once every year, and as I've grown older, I feel like Jane has grown with me, too. I really look up to her: she's intelligent and independent, and she survives in an indifferent, often unfriendly world. As someone who was bullied and/or shunned throughout middle school and high school, I found a much-needed friend in Jane, who stood up to her abusive cousin, John Reed, who held her ground when Mr. Brocklehurst quizzed her on her virtue, who insisted upon speaking the truth even when it meant risking the wrath of those in power. I admired her strong sense of self, her thick skin, and her adherence to an intensely personal moral code.

As I grew older, I gained a new appreciation for the way Jane handles her relationship with Rochester. When they first meet, she refuses to let him catch her off guard. By behaving as his equal, she commands his respect. When their love is threatened by the revelation of Bertha's identity (no plot spoilers here--go read the book!), Jane has to choose between happiness with him and staying true to herself, and the beautiful thing about Jane Eyre is that she refuses to sacrifice her principles, even for the man she loves more than anyone else in the world. She knows their happiness would always be tainted, and even though it breaks her heart, she would rather leave him than cause irreparable damage to their relationship. That's a woman I can look up to, someone who refuses to compromise who she is to make someone else happy.

My test of a good book is that you can always find something new each time you read it. Though my original copy of Jane Eyre fell to pieces long ago, I still carry so much of that book within myself. Each year, when I pick it up, I notice something I never marked before. With any luck, I'll continue to read this book for many years to come, each time finding some new morsel to feed my hungry imagination. So happy birthday, Charlotte Bronte: thank you for making this woman's life richer because of your book. And thank you, Jane.

Until next time, readers,

Anna

Check out my haul!

Greetings, fellow readers! This weekend marks the semi-annual Alachua County Friends of the Library Booksale, an event which inspires near religious fervor among the bibliophiles of Gainesville. This year, I went with my friend Jordan, who has never been before. We ended up having a mini-Shakespeare in the Park cast reunion, as we ran into Ashlyn and David, our director and stage manager/god of thunder (aka special effects), while we were there.

There's something about books that brings people together like nothing else does. When you see someone reading one of your favorites, that's a book recommending a person. Though we bookworms are a solitary bunch--how can we get any reading done if we're surrounded by people?--when we do venture out, our best friends are those who also love to read. We divide ourselves into little cults and factions, worshiping poetry here, adoring stream of consciousness there. Like I said, it's almost religious.

As I said in the title, I came away with a fantastic haul this time, all for the grand total of $20.25. I'm most looking forward to reading Will in the World, a biography of William Shakespeare which comes highly recommended by both my mother the English professor and Ron Lit, booktuber extraordinaire. (See my previous posts for more about her.) I also got some poetry by Margaret Atwood, Mary Oliver, Seamus Heaney, Emily Bronte, and Charles Baudelaire, as well as my third copy of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land and Other Poems and a funny little paperback full of limericks. I scored a copy of Anna Karenina bound in red leather for $1.50 and Harold Bloom's Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human in hardcover for 25 cents. IN HARDCOVER!!!!! Add in some more works about Shakespeare, some more poetry, and a couple of intriguing novels, and you have my haul for Spring 2014. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of reading to do!

Until next time,

Anna

YouTube, the Book Lover's Best Friend

Greetings, fellow readers! It's that time of the semester where I am so burned out from reading books for all my classes that I have resorted to watching YouTube videos as a means of simultaneous procrastination and entertainment. Some of you may remember fall of my freshman year when I went a little haywire on Disney movies in foreign languages and Sherlock dubbed over with silly songs. Since this was before I started blogging, let me give you a little sample below:

Yeah, my productivity hit an all-time low that finals week. Since then, I have discovered a more cultured side of YouTube, beginning with the I F***ing Love Science channel (which many of you watch, I know) and also the various vlogs about/adaptations of classic literature.

Let me begin with my new personal hero, Ron Lit. This woman has it all: she's a Canadian graduate student studying English literature, and she does videos about books, feminism, and cats. CATS!! All very good things, to be sure. I first found out about her through a feminist Facebook group I'm a member of, and I quickly watched all of her videos and even read some of the books she talks about. I am seriously in love with Ron Lit--her analysis is so sharp, she's funny and gorgeous, and she doesn't apologize for going on "feminist rants." I cannot wait until she makes more videos. Here's a link to her most recent one, which is an excellent analysis of the role of women in detective fiction:

Once I ran out of Ron Lit videos to watch, I went into a severe YouTube withdrawal and was only able to recover with the help of . . .

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries!

My friend Jordan has been trying to get me to watch these for ages, but it wasn't until Maria, a friend from my computer science class, also recommended them that I began to watch the series. Oh. My. Goodness. First of all, imagine this: Lizzie Bennett of Pride and Prejudice fame as a 21st century grad student with her own video blog. Not only that, but Jane, Lydia, and Charlotte all appear on the vlog, too. This adaptation is hilarious and sticks to the spirit of the original novel. There are a few small changes to update the book when necessary (instead of being a rich landed gentleman, Mr. Bingley is transformed into Bing Lee, a young medical student), but the basic plot is still the same. To whoever came up with this, yours is an ingenious idea. I've also heard there's a series called "Emma Approved," which reimagines Austen's Emma--I'm looking forward to starting it once I finish LBD. Here's a link to the first episode, in case you're interested:

That's all for now; I hope this post leads you to some great new literary YouTube channels of your own!

Until next time,

Anna