Jane Eyre Book Review

"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones."

This quote comes from the bold voice of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, one the greatest and most celebrated literary heroes of all time. First published in 1847, Jane Eyre follows the turbulent and tedious journey of an English girl. An orphan before the age of ten, Jane resides with her wealthy, hateful aunt, Mrs. Reed. Before her husband died, Reed promised that all responsibility for the young Jane Eyre would be accounted for. Life with the Reed family however, proved to be a terrible environment for someone born of a lower social class to live in. Everyone safe a sympathetic housemaid named Bessie treated Jane with the utmost discontent. It isn't until respected entrepreneur Mr. Brocklehurst sends a carriage for her that Jane leaves Gateshead far behind to obtain an education and an appropriate sense of discipline. Eight years of life at Lowood, a meager school for orphaned girls, leaves Jane eager to find a new home and a new set of objectives to handle. This impulse takes her to Thornfield Hall where a position as governess is available. From here, Jane meets her benefactor, Edward Rochester and lives under his shadow as mentor and teacher of his illegitimate daughter Adéle. This first part of the novel reveals Jan Eyre as a woman forced to endure a life no one would envy and only she could persevere. A coming of age story from far in the past, Jane Eyre can bring strength to any lonely struggler at any time.

Review No. 2 - Breakfast at Tiffany's

"Never love a wild thing, Mr. Bell," Holly advised him. "That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."

This universal quote from Truman Capote's beloved classic novella Breakfast at Tiffany's is from the distraught voice of the mysterious, lonely young girl called Holly Golightly. Living an exciting and stylish New York lifestyle, Holly earns her money as a companion to some very wealthy men. She lives alone in a simple apartment from which she meets Paul, the writer that moves in one floor up, and like many others, falls madly in love with her. Only Paul see's Holly for what she truly is: a wild thing. The quote above is a good representation of the girl behind the chic, the fear behind the protective wall built to keep her from getting too close and too hurt. Before she became Holly Golightly, her name was Lulu Mae and was a very poor little girl living from man to man that would take of her along with her brother Fred that eventually left to join the army. Fatefully though, Holly ended up in New York, amid a great variety of interesting characters including the frustrated old Japanese man who lives upstairs. This chaotic world of charm and style is Holly's impulsive creation, her idea of a happy life. She imagines a life in a world similar to that of Tiffany's where she is surrounded by beauty and everyone is happy to talk about it each and every day. Ultimately, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a lighthearted romantic comedy that brings a story an honest and vulnerable story to the glitz and glamour of downtown Manhattan.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, like it's ever so appropriate setting, connects very well to the time it was written. In the 1960s, something extraordinary happened to popular culture world wide. Films and television programs began to be a bit more provocative, music was overwhelmed with the concept of truth and honesty, and fashion began to really reinvent itself. People everywhere adopted a style that transformed them into a greater version of themselves. Hair styles were wild and makeup was heavy, and that didn't neccesarily coincide with what was happening in the world of folk music for instance. Holly Golightly, or Audrey Hepburn from a visual perspective, embodied a model of the era. Complete with Ray Ban sunglasses, big hats and ribbons, the simple black dress, and a french cigarette, Holly mirrored a model that would grace the cover of Vogue, straight-faced and perfect head to foot. Capote however, took this image and gave it a troubling past and a disfunction life. Eventually, Holly learns of her brother's death and breaks down. Tears began to stream down her face along with her mascara, and perhaps a stereotype was broken. Another connection that could be made to the story is to the liberation of women, another common topic in the 60's. Soon before, a woman's character in a story would often be a conventional, simple minded one. Nothing like the unpredictable Holly Golightly who picked up a ran off one day simply because it's what she wished for. A girl who kept a bleak, untidy home and never cooked was another uncommon notion. Certainly, Capote broke down several barriers with such a simple little story as this one and such a simple girl. The last connection that I can make from Capote's work is to other artists like Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra for example who incorporate the city of New York as a title character in their stories or art pieces. In Breakfast at Tiffany's, the jewelry store on fifth avenue is most likely the most notable, but the infamous Sing Sing prison makes its way into the story as a comedic aspect, Central Park shows up on a sort of date during a romantic scene, and even Holly's apartment building is classic New York style, complete with a large fire escape. The concept of Manhattan helps shape this story and like many other stories before it, would fall short without it as a muse.

The image that I chose above is of a popular super model of the era named Twiggy. I was reminded of this image because I was always fascinated by this image of her more that any of her other photos. The image of the television, a newborn fad at the time, the access people now had to other people, to stylish people like Twiggy, didn't necessarily mean that people understood each other better. The look on her face in the television screen speaks volumes when you look closely at it. This reminded of what Capote accomplished with the character of Holly. I girl who gets by on her looks and charm, but has a story that isn't quite so glamorous behind her.

Discussion Questions:

How might our perception of Holly be different if the novel was told from her point of view?

Why do you think the narrator is unknown to the reader?

Which secondary character do you thing is most important to the story?

Why doesn't Capote break up the story into such sort, quick chapters?'

Why is important for Capote to tell us that Holly is 19 so persistently?

As I expected far before picking up this book, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Truman Capote has already won me over before with his story In Cold Blood and the film version of this story has been one of my favorites for a long time now. I have always really enjoyed the setting of the book. I just relate to the pop culture of this time and place rather well, and the title character is a protagonist that is difficult not to enjoy. Above all, Breakfast at Tiffany's offers a wide range of moods. A lighthearted comedy throughout most of the book, the story takes a silly but exhilarating turn of events later on, with romance and drama in between on the way. This is a story that is essential precisely because it doesn't take itself to seriously. I certainly recommend it to all those who identify as an “old soul”.

 

Shooting an Elephant book review

“He was lying on his belly with arms crucified and head sharply twisted to one side. His face was coated with mud, the eyes wide open, the teeth bared and grinning with an expression of unendurable agony”  (23).

This quote from George Orwell’s essay Shooting an Elephant, paints the image of a dead man he found lying on the edge of a village square as a policeman in Burma.  The narrator (Orwell) is called up one morning to take care of an incident in the local village involving an escaped elephant.  The man finds the elephant destroying a market hut, and the people in a complete panic.  The man feels conflicted in his position because the Burmese villagers dislike him as a British officer, but his feelings toward Imperial Britain are just as negative.  Upon finding the elephant, the man feels pressured to carry out his duty and shoot the animal down.  The villagers gather around him to watch him enforce his power with a rifle in hand.  Although he stands aside watching the creature grazing peacefully by itself, he ultimately shoots it down, pressured by the waiting crowd.  This essay, my favorite from the collection outlines the isolation Orwell felt in Britain, and the compassion he felt for the Burmese people.  In addition to Shooting an Elephant Orwell’s essays span over the greater part of the author’s life, covering his service in the Imperial army, his exploration of other classical literature including Charles Dickens, and several political essays.

What I enjoy most about George Orwell is the symbolism that his work is centered around.  The subjects are always fairly simple, and the message sent is always strong.  One worldly connection that I kept being reminded of while reading his essays regarding his military service was to Gandhi.  It is well known that up until his death, Orwell preferred his isolation.  At a time when the English empire was a colonizing superpower in many third world regions of the globe, Orwell felt deeply for the people suppressed.  Upon being sent to Burma, a colony of India at the time, he felt conflicted in his position.  Similarly, Gandhi was a man in the wrong place at the wrong time.  An educated lawyer in South Africa, the peaceful leader was mistreated and undermined in his homeland of India.  Both men, in their respective ways, addressed the wrongdoing they saw in the world, and set out to change the world.  Another surprising aspect of Orwell’s telling of his service in Burma was the brutality, painted carefully in a beautiful way that reminded a lot of very early religious artwork I’ve seen in the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain.  The way pain and suffering like that in the quote above is made to seem romantic and so full of meaning and purpose.  The structure of the dead man, trampled by the elephant in the village was something to marvel, almost as if the elephant was an artist making a statement of his own regarding his imprisonment.  Another essay in the collection describing the dawn of spring was done in such a way that made the author of the brutal 1984 seem vulnerable.  From his work, I am almost reminded of Henry David Thoreau.  Both men saw a frightening evolution of society, removed themselves, and wrote about the ignorance they saw in the modern world.

The image I chose above is a screencap from American Beauty of the death of the main character.  I was reminded of this image because the look in the man’s eyes just after being killed was one portrayed as beautiful.  This reminded me of the quote I pulled from the essay above.  The quote was actually one that I heard before picking up the book.  I was learning different forms of diction in literature at the time and the imagery I read in the quote was remarkable.  I found the crucified image of the Burmese man symbolic in great Orwell form. 

-          What significance can the political essays wrote from the 1930’s and 40’s have for a reader in 2011?

-          What does the elephant in Orwell’s Shooting an Elephant represent in the context of the author’s life?

-          How does Orwell’s work relate and compare to that of Dickens and Smith?

-          Why do you think the last part of Orwell’s life was spent in isolation?

I have wanted to explore nonfiction work for sometime, but haven’t enjoyed a lot of the work I’ve read thus far.  I was certain I would avoid that with a great novelist like George Orwell, but many of the early political references were difficult for me to understand.  Aside from that I really enjoyed the variety of essays he wrote in this book.  I feel like a really understand much more the reasoning behind a lot Orwell’s work and the evolution of it over the course of his life.  I would have to recommend it to people who enjoy classical literature.  It might be a little less exciting than the likes of 1984 or Animal Farm, interesting nonetheless.