Thursday, April 28, 2011

One of the Many Books That Has Changed My Life

In 10th grade I thought I was pretty cool. If anyone asked what my favorite book genre was, I would immediately respond with "the classics," as if appalled anyone would think anything else. For all my claiming to love classic literature I had really only read a handful of them. I struggled through to the end and was not really interested or engaged, but read them for the sake of being able to say I had.

One day my English teacher, I think she was on to me, suggested I read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I was, of course, excited that someone had noticed my supposed obsession with classic literature. I began to read it eagerly in places where I could be easily seen, but as I continued reading I was quickly drawn into Jane's world. I pictured myself at Thornfield getting to know Mr. Rochester along with Jane and trying to figure out the secret of the mysterious Grace Pool. I was obsessed. It was the first of many times in my life that I wanted to read rather than sleep. Charlotte Brontë made her characters come alive for me in a way Jane Austen never had. I really felt a connection to the characters and wished for everything in their lives to work out wonderfully by the end. I liked it so much I promptly reread it when I was finished.

Once I discovered how great the classics really were I went back to the ones I had neglected and reread them with a zeal never seen before. Jane Eyre opened the door for me to explore many pieces of literature that are staples in our society.      

2 comments:

  1. I love feeling like reading is most important on your temporal needs list! :) ha ha. Thanks for your post... I also like Jane Eyre :)

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  2. I wanted badly to like Jane Eyre, but it bothered me that her happy ending came as a result of circumstance, not of choice. If Thornfield had not happened to burn down and Rochester's wife die, then Jane would have probably married St. John Rivers, and that would have be tragic...but at least realistic. If it's an idealistic book, couldn't the ideal be that happiness comes as a result of choice, not chance?

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