Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Publisher: Top Five Books (2014)

545 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $0.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

Jane Eyre is an orphan, dependent on her aunt’s fulfilling a promise given to her husband on his deathbed that she would raise his niece as her own, but her aunt resents her presence and she is soon shipped off to boarding school where she endures hardships of another kind, and upon graduation takes a governess position in an isolated manor house with mysterious occupants and an intense master, Mr. Rochester.

My Thoughts:

The story of Jane Eyre is part coming-of-age story and part gothic romance. Jane struggles through so many hardships in her young life, and she just keep plodding along. The contrast between Jane’s two suitors, Mr. Rochester and St. John Rivers, and Jane’s two cousins, John Reed and St. John Rivers, was something that really captured my attention and it was fun to make the comparisons as I went along. I’ve read this story at least four times, and I had always questioned Jane’s decision to leave Thornfield, feeling the noble action unjustified, but this time through, I truly understood her reasoning, and consequently the story as a whole a lot better. Mr. Rochester's behavior had always baffled me as well, especially as concerns Miss Ingram, but I think I got that worked out this time around as well. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a dark character; brooding, enjoys playing cruel games with people, and he's prone to insecurity at times, but he's just the sort of tortured man that you have to love. The book ends with St. John and his fate, and it was interesting to compare how his ambitions and motivations compared to Jane’s, and his fate perhaps provided a glimpse of what may have become of Jane had she made different decisions. Great story, with such a complex and thought-provoking construction!

Edition Notes:

This Top Five Classics Illustrated Edition was nicely arranged for easy maneuverability within the text, included annotations at the end of each chapter for translations of any passages within the text written in French or German, and includes a biography of the author at the end of the text for those with an interest. This edition also includes the illustrations of M.V. Wheelhouse and Edmund Dulac. Great value for the price, and the best ebook edition of Jane Eyre that I’ve found!

Cover Art Favorites:

Quotes:

“The two ships becalmed on a torpid sea, I believed to be marine phantoms.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I was conscious that a moment’s mutiny had already rendered me liable to strange penalties, and, like any other rebel slave, I felt resolved, in my desperation, to go all lengths.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“They will have a great deal of money, and you will have none: it is your place to be humble, and to try to make yourself agreeable to them.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Say your prayers, Miss Eyre, when you are by yourself; for if you don’t repent, something bad might be permitted to come down the chimney and fetch you away.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I felt an inexpressible relief, a soothing conviction of protection and security, when I knew that there was a stranger in the room—“-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—such dread as children only can feel.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I begged her to fetch Gulliver’s Travels from the library. This book I had again and again perused with delight. I considered it a narrative of facts, and discovered in it a vein of interest deeper than what I found in fairy tales: for as to the elves, having sought them in vain among foxglove leaves and bells, under mushrooms and beneath the ground-ivy mantling old wall-nooks, I had at length made up my mind to the sad truth, that they were all gone out of England to some savage country where the woods were wilder and thicker, and the population more scant.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I was not heroic enough to purchase liberty at the price of caste.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—glancing round occasionally to make sure that nothing worse than myself haunted the shadowy room.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Breakfast was over, and none had breakfasted.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—that wind would then have saddened my heart; this obscure chaos would have disturbed my peace! as it was, I derived from both a strange excitement, and reckless and feverish, I wished the wind to howl more wildly, the gloom to deepen to darkness, and the confusion to rise to clamour.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“It is far better to endure patiently a smart which nobody feels but yourself, than to commit a hasty action whose evil consequences will extend to all connected with you.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—it is weak and silly to say you cannot bear what it is your fate to be required to bear.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrongs.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—it agitated me to pain sometimes.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquility: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—you have rather the look of another world.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—you have secured the shadow of your thought.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“His changes of mood did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with their alternation; the ebb and flow depended on causes quite disconnected with me.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“‘Yes, there is your ‘boite’ at last: take it into a corner, you genuine daughter of Paris, and amuse yourself with disembowelling it—And mind—don’t bother me with any details of the anatomical process, or any notice of the condition of the entrails: let your operation be conducted in silence: tiens-toi tranquil, enfant; comprends-tu?’” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—he looked preciously grim—” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I mentally shake hands with you for your answer—“-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“A woman who could betray me for such a rival was not worth contending for.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—just one of your tricks: not to send for a carriage, and come clattering over street and road like a common mortal, but to steal into the vicinage of your home along with twilight, just as if you were a dream or a shade.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“It is always the way of events in this life—no sooner have you got settled in a pleasant resting-place, than a voice calls out to you to rise and move on, for the hour of repose is expired.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—don’t struggle so, like a wild frantic bird that is rending its own plumage in its desperation.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“You strange, you almost unearthly thing!” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Come to me—come to me entirely now—Make my happiness—I will make yours.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“You, sir, are the most phantom-like of all.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“I lay faint, longing to be dead.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Friends always forget those whom fortune forsakes.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“—for never may you, like me, dread to be the instrument of evil to what you wholly love.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“And why cannot I reconcile myself to the prospect of death? Why do I struggle to retain a valueless life?” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“If he were insane, however, his was a very cool and collected insanity.” -Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Movie Adaptations: 

Jane Eyre (2011)

Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

Jane Eyre (TV Mini-Series 2006)

Ruth Wilson, Toby Stephens, Lorraine Ashbourne

Movie Rating: NR

Jane Eyre (TV Movie 1997)

Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds, Gemma Jones

Movie Rating: NR

My Rating: 4 Stars

Jane Eyre (1996)

Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Hurt, Anna Paquin

Movie Rating: PG

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma by Jane Austen

Publisher: Starbooks Classics Publishing (2013)

657 pages, eBook (Purchased Myself for $1.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

Emma, is a rich young woman who finds it entertaining to try and play matchmaker with the unmarried people of her acquaintance, but her efforts don’t turn out quite as she imagined they would.

My Thoughts:

Emma isn’t a very likable character for much of this story, she is self-important, arrogant, meddlesome and judgmental. But, apparently Jane Austen meant her to be this way, wanting the challenge of taking just such an unlikable character and turning her around by the end of the story into someone the reader could care about. Mr. Knightley is the brotherly voice of wisdom throughout, trying to get Emma to see the error of her ways before it comes to a worse end. As with most of Jane Austen’s stories, we are quite in the dark as to the hero’s thoughts and feelings on many of the events, and only at the end are we finally admitted to Mr. Knightley’s confidence. I’m not sure why Emma was so fortunate as to have Mr. Knightley’s focus, but she was a lucky woman indeed to have the devotion and attention of so patient and tolerant a man. It was clear by the end of the story that Emma had very little ability to read people correctly and had no business whatsoever messing with others affairs, which they could have much rather dealt with on their own without her interference. A nice story of a young woman learning from her mistakes and growing into a mature lady who was more deserving of her social position.

Edition Notes:

This Starbooks Special Illustrated Edition with Literary History and Criticism is the best ebook version of Emma that I’ve found. It is organized for optimum maneuverability, is prettily arranged, very readable, includes illustrations by the Brock brothers combining the illustrations from their various editions, and includes the literary history and criticism section from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. For a standalone copy at a very reasonable low price, this is it, but if you are looking for an ebook collection of Jane Austen’s novels, I’d recommend The Complete Illustrated Novels of Jane Austen by MobileReference.

Cover Art Favorites:

Quotes:

“The real evils, indeed of Emma’s situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself—” -Jane Austen, Emma

“—she had then only to sit and think of what she had lost.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“At any rate, it must be better to have only one to please than two.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“Success supposes endeavor. Your time has been properly and delicately spent, if you have been endeavoring for the last four years to bring about this marriage.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“—depend upon it a lucky guess is never merely luck. There is always some talent in it.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“Mr. Woodhouse hoped to influence every visitor of the newly married pair; but still the cake was eaten; and there was no rest for his benevolent nerves till it was all gone.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“She was a great talker upon little matters, which exactly suited Mr. Woodhouse, full of trivial communications and harmless gossip.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“—a real, honest, old-fashioned Boarding-school, where a reasonable quantity of accomplishments were sold at a reasonable price, and where girls might be sent to be out of the way, and scramble themselves into a little education, without any danger of coming back prodigies.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“—they must be coarse and unpolished, and very unfit to be the intimates of a girl who wanted only a little more knowledge and elegance to be quite perfect.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“I think they will neither of them do the other any good.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“In her mother she lost the only person able to cope with her.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“Hartfield will only put her out of conceit with all the other places she belongs to. She will grow just refined enough to be uncomfortable with those among whom birth and circumstances have placed her home.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“I wish Jane Fairfax very well; but she tires me to death.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“It was a delightful visit;—perfect, in being much too short.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“There is one thing—which a man can always do, if he chuses, and that is, his duty; not by maneuvering and finessing, but by vigor and resolution.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“Why not seize the pleasure at once?—How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!” -Jane Austen, Emma

“—in being in the same room at once with the woman he had just married, the woman he had wanted to marry, and the woman whom he had been expected to marry, she must allow him to have the right to look as little wise, and to be as much affectedly, and as little really easy as could be.” -Jane Austen, Emma

“Emma made as slight a reply as she could; but it was fully sufficient for Mrs. Elton, who only wanted to be talking herself.” -Jane Austen, Emma

Movie Adaptations:

Emma (TV Movie 1996)

Kate Beckinsale, Mark Strong, Samantha Morton

TV Rating: G

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

My favorite adaptation and will always be for me the classic adaptation.

Emma (TV Mini-Series 2009)

Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon

Movie Rating: NR

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

Wonderful mini-series! Certainly the most faithful and complete adaptation of any of them, along with a great cast.

Emma (1996)

Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Alan Cumming

Movie Rating: PG

My Rating: 3 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This is my least favorite adaptation, though Sophie Thompson did make a perfect Miss Bates.

Clueless (1995)

Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Brittany Murphy

Movie Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This is a modern adaptation, in which Emma is a rich valley girl; very humorous and clever.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Publisher: Top Five Books (2014)

375 pages, eBook (purchased myself for $0.99)

Book Rating: 5 Stars

Content Ratings:

Violence: Mild-Moderate-Brutal

Swearing: Clean-Light-Filthy

Sexual Content: White-Pink-Red

Summary:

The arrival of a wealthy, young, single man and his friends into the neighborhood brings great excitement and anticipation for all, including the Bennets who have five daughters in need of husbands, but misplaced judgements, inaccurate information and a healthy dose of pride complicate Mrs. Bennet’s efforts to get her daughters married off.

My Thoughts:

Written with a witty, perceptive view of people and their interactions with others, especially between family and friends, Jane Austen weaves a great romance, while poking fun at society in general and, in her own quiet way, challenging the ideals of her time. This story is told largely through narration, a few letters, and only gives way to dialogue when there is something important to say. I found the preference for narration refreshing, the short chapters bite-sized, and enjoyed the all-inclusive viewpoint of being able to see the story from many characters point-of-view, here and there, in the course of the story, though for the most part it centered on Elizabeth’s point-of-view. A great story about the many ways in which first impressions are not always right, and the mixed blessings afforded by a close association with one’s family and residence in a small community.

Edition Notes:

This Top Five Classics Illustrated Edition is the best ebook version of Pride and Prejudice that I’ve found. It is organized for optimum maneuverability, boasts of adhering closely to the original 1813 text, is very readable, and includes 36 illustrations by the Brock brothers combining the illustrations from their 1898 and 1907 editions. For a standalone copy, this is it, but if you are looking for an ebook collection of Jane Austen’s novels, I’d recommend The Complete Illustrated Novels of Jane Austen by MobileReference.

Cover Art Favorites:

Quotes:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 1

“Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 5

“If a woman conceals her affection with the same skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him; and it will then be but poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6

“We can all begin freely—a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6

“Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar before-hand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6

“But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she had hardly a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 6

“If my children are silly, I must hope to be always sensible of it.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 7

“He has always something to say to everybody.—That is my idea of good breeding; and those persons who fancy themselves very important and never open their mouths, quite mistake the matter.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9

“I wonder who first discovered the efficacy of poetry in driving away love!” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 9

“‘Nothing is more deceitful,’ said Darcy, ‘than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast.’” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10

“‘Nay,’ cried Bingley, ‘this is too much, to remember at night all the foolish things that were said in the morning.’” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 10

“—pride—where there is a real superiority of mind, pride will be always under good regulation.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 11 

“—though he belonged to one of the universities, he had merely kept the necessary terms, without forming at it any useful acquaintance.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 15

“‘I dare say you will find him very agreeable—Heaven forbid! That would be the greatest misfortune of all! To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate! Do not wish me such an evil.’” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 18

“—resignation is never so perfect as when the blessing denied begins to lose somewhat of its value in our estimation.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 20

“It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us. Women fancy admiration means more than it does.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 24

“What are men to rocks and mountains?” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 27

“—not a day went by without a solitary walk, in which she might indulge in all the delight of unpleasant recollections.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 37

“There is but such a quantity of merit between them; just enough to make one good sort of man; and of late it has been shifting about pretty much—One has got all the goodness, and the other all the appearance of it.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 40

“Upon the whole, therefore, she found, what has been sometimes found before, that an event to which she had looked forward with impatient desire did not, in taking place, bring all the satisfaction she had promised herself.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42

“—never had she so honestly felt that she could have loved him, as now, when all love must be vain.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 46

“—there is nothing so bad as parting with one’s friends. One seems so forlorn without them.” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 53

“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?” -Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 57

Movie Adaptations:

Pride and Prejudice (TV Mini-Series 1995)

Colin Firth, Jennifer Ehle, Susannah Harker

My Rating: 5 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

This mini-series comes very close to following the book exactly. There are a few changes in wording with some of the dialogue and some rearranging of the timeline of the story, but overall it is a very faithful adaption with excellent acting. A classic production of a classic work, and a must-see for anyone looking to see a movie adaption of this story.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike

Movie Rating: PG

My Rating: 4 Stars

Adaption: Verbatim-Tweaked-Veiled

Eye Candy: Plain-Pretty-Sultry

While this adaption stays close to the spirit of the book, it is fast-paced and a bit like an abridged version compared to the 1995 mini-series, and there are a few invented scenes. This version is visually luscious, but I didn’t care for a few of the casting choices, and the way in which some of the characters were portrayed I didn’t feel matched the representation in the book (in this adaption Bingley was a bit more of an air-head, Darcy more subdued, Jane more self-assured, and Mr. Collins more sympathy-inspiring). While different, this version is enjoyable in its own way, and well worth seeing, particularly if you are short on time and can’t spare the time for the mini-series.