Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The book was surprisingly good, though it certainly wasn’t what I thought it was. I don’t know why, perhaps the last major motion picture that was released, but for some reason I thought this book had an element of the supernatural to it. It certainly doesn’t. Its definitely a gothic romance. Thus, when I say surprisingly good, I mean that it surprised me that I liked it. This is clearly the kind of book that they would (and apparently actually did) assign in English class, both for the beautiful prose but the fact that the thing is chock full of all kinds of literary references and techniques. Setting reflects theme. Characters are dynamic and yet comprehensible. The plot moves forward at an interesting yet methodical pace. I could argue that Ms. Bronte’s work could be released today and would actually be competitive on the market. To be sure, certain elements might seem a little stereotypish today, but even then, they’d still be successful. Despite the antiquity of the language, I found it intellectually stimulating and, like all truly great books, it made me think and had a little bit of it linger with me long after I was done reading it. I highly recommend this book.