Mistah Brett sez dis heh book is qwal'idy

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Goodbye Jane Eyre! I will miss you (though I probably won't miss her, not even a little)! We're moving on to a novel by Zora Neale Hurston titled, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The story is about a woman named Janie and takes place in Florida. I've read the book before, but that was years ago, so the details are a bit fuzzy.

Janie is the granddaughter of a slave; her mother is black but her father is white and the story details her struggle to fit into a social group and create an identity for herself. Janie is beautiful- she has dark skin and flowing hair, which may sound like she lucked out when the Creator was distributing looks, but her appearance causes problems for her. Women are jealous of her beauty, and make her the subject of gossip. Black people think she looks too white, white people think she looks to black, so to which group does Janie belong? Furthermore, in the antebellum South, neither blacks nor women have much power, so to be a member of both groups is a double whammy.

Could Jane possibly be interesting?!?!

So.... Jane Eyre became incredibly boring. Jane took a job as a governess of a little girl, moved into the family mansion, and made a new friend. Her new "friend" is Mr.Rochester, her employer and guardian of her pupil. I say "friend" because she would be his friend if it was possible for anyone to like him enough to be his friend- he is pretentious, condescending, and I find him to be flat out rude. Jane however, being a meek and courteous Victorian lady, finds his arrogant nature to be completely appropriate for a man of his status (blah). Both Mr.Rochester and Jane find it difficult to engage in conversation with the household help (because the help is, of course, not as educated and therefore as interesting as themselves), so they find enjoyment in each other's company.

I had become exhausted with Mr.Rochester and Jane's dull conversations, though they of course think themselves to be extremely witty, and was falling asleep while reading the book. No really, I did fall asleep. However, Mr.Brett tells me that Mr. Rochester's crazy first wife is locked in the attic which is who Jane keeps hearing laughing (I thought it was the intoxicated maid), so I think I will start reading again. I know that there is a large fire involved too, so I hope I'm not disappointed.

Taking a break to read Jane Eyre

I'm taking a break from Persepolis to indulge in a light and frivolous read- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. The book is told from the first person point of view of Jane, a young orphan girl who lives with her rich aunt and cousins. Jane is neglected and unloved by her aunt and cousins, who soon send her to be educated at a strict Christian boarding school.

The headmaster of the boarding school is a man named Mr. Brocklehurst- let me just say this: I HATE HIM! He practically starves the girls because he wants them to learn to live as Christ's disciples did- poorly and primitively; even though their bodies my hunger, their souls will be nourished in this type of environment. The truth of the matter is that Brocklehurst is greed and wants to save money; his wife and daughters dress in lavish clothes and are well fed.

At this point in the book, Jane has made a friend at the school, a slight but brilliant girl named Helen Burns. Helen is often persecuted by teachers at the school, but she teaches Jane to bear the punishment with dignity and love. As Helen says "love the criminal, abhor the crime". Helen is an endearing character, but Jane frequently mentions that she has a hollow cough. At this time tuberculosis was an epidemic in England, and if someone had a cough such as Helen's, it their death from the disease was almost certain.

Persepolis

This weekend I started reading a graphic novel called Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi.  The book based on the author's childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, and chronicles the chaos created from the war with Iraq, the oppression of a radical dictator, as well as her exodus from Iran to Europe.  The book is written from the first person point of view of the author as a young girl- I wonder how this perspective will influence the plot.  Will I as a reader receive a naive version of the novel's events since the story is being told by a child?  Or will her perspective be as informed as that of an adult?
      The graphics in the novel are entirely black and white; even so, many are quite grotesque.  I am interested in seeing how the illustrations enhance the novel's characterization, themes, etc.  
Also, I would like to learn more about the Islamic Revolution because I don't know much about the history of the Middle East.  
     This novel has been turned into a movie, so I'd like to see how it compares to the novel.