The End (+ Book)

I haven't posted lately because I've been too busy skulking around the house and whining that my holiday break is coming to an end. The past few days have included errands and check ups and lots and lots of copies for the first weeks of class.

I'm not the only one whining. Loo Loo Bean has been on a "devil may care" cage schedule which basically means that she's had full run of the living room for days on end because I've mostly been around. She couldn't believe it when I actually closed her in last night. See the look on her face? We call this picture, "The Captive."

Today my writing consultant job starts up. <<sigh>> I was complaining to telling G that it's not that I dread going back to work; I really don't. I just dread the intellectual endurance it takes. My brain has turned to mush and all I'm capable of talking about is The Real Housewives of Fill-in-the-blank.

But! I managed to finish one last book (Rapper L, I owe you an email about this one):

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I wish I could take a class on the Bronte sisters. While Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) is still my favorite, Jane Eyre is much more accessible and easy to understand. Also? I feel a little weird even talking about this book because I think I'm the only person in the world who hadn't read it until recently?

Anyway. The plot is about an orphan who survives the horrors of a "charity" school system and becomes, at the age of 18, a governess for a rich family. There are weird sounds coming from the attic and hushed conversations behind her back and unexplained fires around the house. In the meantime, she is falling in love with the master, Mr. Rochester. Imagine her surprise when, on their wedding day, she finds out that he's married to a lunatic who lives in the attic.

Yeah.

I like the darkness of the Brontes. I also like the psychological realism, which is one of the note-worthy aspects of the novel. Here we have a woman who gives us access to her interior space as she thinks through difficult situations. We also have a woman who says what is on her mind despite outrageous opposition from, well, just about everyone she encounters. Jane has a moral core and self-confidence and thinks through problems to arrive at reasoned conclusions.

I'd like to study this book in order to see what Bronte is doing with Christianity because it's everywhere. But alas, that will have to wait until the summer. If, on the odd chance, you haven't already read this book, it's a good one! Be prepared for a long read, but that's what the winter is for.