Elizabeth Gaskell is Shocked, SHOCKED That There is Gothic Romance and Intrigue Going on Here!

[waywardbard]

Just finished reading Elizabeth Gaskell's original Charlotte Bronte biography, and overall it was good, as long as you're willing to patiently bend back the literal text every time Charlotte does something that makes Mrs. Gaskell reach for the smelling salts. Like when she claims that Charlotte and Madame Heger's relationship suffered a break

Comments

[teaandcows]

My personal favorite Bronte sister is somehow Anne. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" was an excellent read. Actually, now i think I want to go pick that one up again... I wasn't too big a fan of Wuthering Heights, which is surprising given my inclinations towards that whole period of women writers, but I had such difficulty latching on to any of the characters as any kind of heroine. Perhaps reading more on the sisters themselves could enlighten some of my reading and make it more worth the plunge into them again. That and getting them free on Kindle!

Also, I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Not as cool as it sounds. I kept reading and reading, but then I figured I was mostly just reading because I really wanted to be reading the Pride and Prejudice parts, which would be easier if I just read that book instead. Bummer, because I was thinking Android Karenina might make wading through that book a little easier...

[waywardbard]

It's ok to not latch onto any characters in Wuthering Heights because nearly across the board they are terrible human beings. I mean, you can have the hots for Heathcliff, but he's a sociopath. I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall recently and was pleasantly surprised. I think Jane Eyre is still my favorite, but I never knock people for not being as enthusiastic because I think it took me at least three complete readings through it to arrive at that place. As it is, it took me two full readings to find the place of respectful peace I'm at with Wuthering Heights, and one of those was in a college-level course.

PaPaZ is ok - very much harmless fluff. I read it, was reasonably entertained, but it pretty much flew out of my head the minute I finished reading. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is basically the same way. Might eventually get around to Android Karenina, but if I going to spend time on a mash up, I'd rather it not be a riff on a book as long as Karenina.