Why Bronte Matters... just one good reason

Remember our Appalachian fiction series and my telling you how intense and long was my struggle to select the five titles from a canon of great stories?

Lee Smith was one of the authors who did not make it on our reading/discussion list, although I did initially have one of her books listed for the program.

Fast forward to the present (I must still be in the Fford time machine, the way I am moving to and fro) and our reading of Jane Eyre and Villette. According to this paper by H.H. Campbell, Smith was signficantly influenced by the sisters Bronte.

I highly recommend Lee Smith's fiction. With which one should you start? This is a difficult question for me to answer because I enjoyed all her work. Forced to decide, I would encourage you to begin Oral History. This was one of the titles involved in my decision to use multiple narrators in Reclamation, a manuscript to which I must return for yet another edit.

Villette Discussion Thursday, August 23

Yes, it's a bit sombre, but do you agree Villette was worth reading, especially with relation to the development of Charlotte Bronte as a novelist? It will be interesting to discuss this story and to compare and contrast it with Jane Eyre.

For those of you who read from page the first to the final words, the ending was something else, eh? I will be interested in hearing your views about whether M. Paul made it back.

No doubt, we will have an interesting few hours of dialogue on August 23rd. I'll see you at the library.

More on the Merits of Harry

By far, this is one of the best articles in the blogosphere, or anywhere else for that matter, that I have read about the merits -- literary and otherwise -- of the Harry Potter series.

Conservative Writer dispels radical views on Potter

If I've said it once, I've said it at least 200,000 thousand times since the release of the first Harry Potter book: there is nothing - NADA- evil about Harry.

In more recent years, I have taken to accepting that fundamentalists will be fundamentalists: irrational and ignorant. Rather than attempt to talk to the far right about it, I've been working to teach the meaning of the series to individuals of open mind in the hope that these folks would understand and, perhaps, help others come to see the real magic of Harry.

Never, though, have I approached the argument from a purely religious point of view. I don't consider myself religious enough, Republican enough, or Democrat enough for that matter, to speak as a religious scholar. I leave this to the so-called experts. So, I was thrilled -- tickled enough to do a jig in public -- when I read this article.

Feel free to post your comments at that site or herein.

A Classic Example: Fall/Winter 07 Reading Series

Dear Page Turners and Friends:

As I compiled our comprehensive reading list, which includes titles we have read since 2003, I realized that we have done our share of diverse reading. One thing we have not done as a group is read and talk about19th Century English Fiction. So, with our discussion of Jane Eyre on July 26th, we’ll begin a five-month series of classic literature.

As we discussed in June, we are going to follow up Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre with reading and discussion of her last novel, Villette. In this book, said to be the author’s most autobiographical novel, we will struggle through the trials and triumphs of the character Lucy Snowe. One more thing about Villette, many readers have said they consider it a better novel than Jane Eyre. Authors George Elliot and Virginia Woolf hailed Villette for its exploration of women’s roles in society and for its modern psychological depth. We will discuss Villette on August 23rd. As always, our meetings begin at 6 p.m. in the Pottsville Free Public Library. You might want to take a virtual visit to the Bronte museum.

On September 20th, we will talk about Hard Times by Charles Dickens. This story, set during the Industrial Revolution in England, is a Dickensian defense of art in the age of mechanism. In this novel, we meet Thomas Gradgrind, a character who I loathe and pity simultaneously. I think you will see why I feel this way when you read Hard Times. I will be interested to know what you think about him and why you feel the way you do.

It’s no cozy, The Woman in White. This novel by Wilkie Collins, a writer whom Dickens befriended and mentored, will be the subject of our October 18th discussion. It was a bestseller mystery-thriller in the 1860s and it remains widely read in the 21st century. A frightening midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a supernatural woman dressed all in white leads us into this story of international intrigue involving crime, kidnapping and poison, among other staples of a great thriller. You can check out what some readers have to say about the book at its author by visiting this BBC group.

We will wrap up discussion on November 15th, when we discuss Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. This author was Charlotte Brontë's first biographer and Cranford is said to be her most popular work. It is a comical account of a group of refined though not extremely wealthy women who dominate a 19th-century English village.

I have ordered 15 copies of Villette and we will be sure to let you know when they arrive at the library. It will be helpful if each of you would let Fran know whether you want us to order you a copy of each of the books in the series. Ordering volume allows me to obtain a discount and get free shipping.

New members are always welcome to join us. In addition to learning through story, we also tend to have a great time during our discussions.

Sincerely,
Christine

Bronte, Dickens and a not-so-well known ...

The classics are on tap for our Fall-Winter 2007 reading series. Stop back soon for the announcement.