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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
A literary triumph, 23 Aug 2005
By A Customer
I was slightly reluctant to read Jane Eyre. In the past I have had bad expieriences with what people would deem 'intellectual' books and wrongly dub as 'contemporary classics', but I can honestly say that Jane Eyre deserves to be referred to as a classic.
It is written in an autobiographical style and tells the story of Jane Eyre (obviously), who was orphaned at an early age and taken in by her uncle, Mr. Reed, who shortly also died, leaving her in the care of her cruel Aunt, Mrs. Reed, and at the mercy of her malicious cousin, John Reed. However, at the age of ten Jane Eyre leaves the Reed household to attent a charity boarding school known as Lowood where she befriends the mild mannered Helen Burns and gains the education that allows her, at the age of eighteen, to take a position as a Governess at Thornfield Hall. Here she meets the 'dark and sardonic' Mr. Rochester and falls in love with him. But alas, their union is not to be when Jane discovers a dark secret of Mr. Rochester's that forces her to leave Thornfield Hall and her chance of happiness as a married woman.
I will not go into the plot any longer, in case of spoiling the ending, but there are many aspects of the book that I was shocked to see in a novel written back in the 1800's. One that was not so surprising however, was the religious and moral references that frequently crop up, but don't be deceived into thinking that Jane Eyre, Mr. Rochester and all other lead chracters are pious and preachy with the shared desire to 'do the right thing'. Jane does try to do what's right, but Mr. Rochester is often sly and occasionally seems cruel. He is far from a typical 'hero'.
And Jane is far from the typical heroine. This is what I believe makes the book so refreshing despite the fact it was written such a long time ago. Bronte takes pains to impress upon the reader that Jane is no beauty (and nor is Mr. Rochester) and while Jane eventually forgives Mrs. Reed and those who did her wrong, she is often wilful and passionate in her search for independence. While reading the book you really get to know Jane and start to care about her. The whole way through this book all I wanted was for Jane and Mr. Rochester to finally get together. You can fully understand Jane's dismay when she comes up against obstacles that hinder this.
The book is divided into three volumes. The first two volumes are absoultely exquisite, and so it the end of the third volume, however the beginning of volume three does drag on a bit.
I would recommend this book to anybody who loves classics, and to the rest who are scared (such as I was) to start reading them. Jane Eyre was my gateway into the world of old English literature.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Real and inspiring Jane Eyre's life story, 24 Jun 2006
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" tells a story of a very likable personage - orphan girl Jane Eyre who, after her parents' deaths lived in a house of her aunt and three cousins who heartily hated her, then being of the age of 10 she was sent to a special school-orphanage where after spending 8 years she became a teacher and later a governess in a rich people's house...The fun part of a story starts exactly where Jane is felling in love and the reader is able to know more of the special Jane Eyre's character...
It is an excellent literature work, an amazing story and real pleasure to read. Having never read any works of Charlotte Bronte before I was quite sceptical about "Jane Eyre" at first thinking it is going to be another Cinderella like story about an angelically kind orphan girl who lets other people be cruel to her. Anyway Jane Eyre is a very strong, brave and independent personage as well as kind and all the other novel characters seem to be very realistic and believable too.
The story itself was very enjoyable and powerful, it didn't have any clichés, I couldn't expect it to end the way it did and what I liked most (and what surprised me most) that the author's goal did not seem to make all the story personages perfect and polished like in other works of that time but we may encounter with a great variety of REAL characters. Charlotte Bronte's "Jayne Eyre" is a brilliantly written story of young girl's life and real earthly love. I love it very much and recommend it to everyone because it was an amazingly written book.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Jane Eyre, 15 Mar 2006
Definitely one of my 'Desert Island' book choices. I have read this novel dozens of times and the beauty of it never grows dim.Jane is not your typical heroine; other characters view her plain and small and insignificant but not Mr Rochester. Then again, he is hardly the dashing hero either! This book is as relevant today as it has always been. People are people. That will never change. There are some cracking lines in it too which show Bronte's humour: Rochester[after the fire]: "Am I hideous, Jane?" Jane:"Very, sir: you always were, you know." A true classic!
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