Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Brontë

Published: May 5, 1992  (first published 1847)

Publisher: Wordsworth Editions

Genre: Classic Literature

Pages: 409

Source: Purchased

Ranking: 5 stars

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“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Synopsis
Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor - qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? (Goodreads)

My Thoughts
You would think that after reading or listening to Jane Eyre four, maybe five times, I would have grown tired of this story, but I don’t think that’s possible. If anything, I've grown even fonder of the story with each reading. I love revisiting Thornfield Hall, and meeting Mr. Rochester all over again, and watching as this all too familiar tale unfolds. Every time I read Jane Eyre, I feel like I've returned to a place near and dear to me, like I've ran into an old friend and we’re catching up, and it’s a lovely feeling. I know everything that happens, there are obviously no surprises, but I'm always deeply affected by this story nonetheless.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Book Review

Title: A Farewell to Arms 
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Published: 2003 (first published 1929)
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Historical Fiction, Classic
Pages: 332
Source: Purchased
Rating: 2 stars
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“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

Synopsis
The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.

Hemingway’s frank portrayal of the love between Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, caught in the inexorable sweep of war, glows with an intensity unrivaled in modern literature, while his description of the German attack on Caporetto—of lines of fired men marching in the rain, hungry, weary, and demoralized—is one of the greatest moments in literary history. A story of love and pain, of loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms,written when he was thirty years old, represents a new romanticism for Hemingway. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts
Oh Hemingway. Oh you. Why did you have to write this? Why couldn't you return home from being a WWI ambulance driver and leave it at that? It pains me to criticize any classic because classics are classics for a reason. They have remained untouchable for decades, standing the tests of time because of their popularity and how deeply they have resonated with a variance of audiences. And I have always loved classics. My favorite books fall in the classic literature genre. I eat classics for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But Hemingway, I had to spit A Farewell to Arms out. I couldn't stomach this infuriating drivel. This is why I dreaded writing this review because this book frustrates me beyond belief and I don't even know how to rip apart a classic.

Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Title: Rebecca 
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Published: 1938
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Classic Literature
Pages: 410
Source: Gift
Rating: 5 stars
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“We can never go back again, that much is certain. The past is still close to us. The things we have tried to forget and put behind us would stir again, and that sense of fear, of furtive unrest, struggling at length to blind unreasoning panic - now mercifully stilled, thank God - might in some manner unforeseen become a living companion as it had before.”
― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Synopsis
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."

With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter recalls the chilling events that transpired as she began her new life as the young bride of a husband she barely knew. For in every corner of every room were phantoms of a time dead but not forgotten, a past devotedly preserved by the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers: a suite immaculate and untouched, clothing laid out and ready to be worn, but not by any of the great house's current occupants. With an eerie presentiment of evil tightening her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter walked in the shadow of her mysterious predecessor, determined to uncover the darkest secrets and shattering truths about Maxim's first wife the late and hauntingly beautiful Rebecca. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts
Rebecca is a book that will last throughout the ages; it's that good. In fact, when I was reading this, everyone I mentioned it to kept saying that they had read it and loved it (including my boss). So what took me so long to finally read it? I have no idea. There's just no excuse.