Top Ten Tuesday | All the Single Ladies

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

Happy Valentine's Day! This week's theme is all about romance, and as I talked about my favourite OTPs last year, I figured this year would be a good opportunity to talk about the characters I think should have remained single.

Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy: Sorry Peeta fans (specifically Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight), but I hate the ending of Mockingjay. My ideal happy ending for Katniss was for her to live somewhere peaceful with Prim and if that couldn't happen then I wanted her to either live alone or die. I know that sounds grim, and I understand the comfort she probably finds in Peeta because he's gone through so much of what she's gone through, but I hate the way people use Peeta against her. I wrote a whole post about it here if you're interested.

Rachel Green from Friends: The more I re-watch Friends, the more I realise Rachel should have stayed on the plane. Ross is a pretty awful person and he consistently makes her choose between him and her career and it pisses me off. When they're first dating he's constantly looking down on her interest in the fashion industry, but if someone says they're not interested in science it's like they just told him Santa isn't real. He's a hypocrite and I don't like him, and to be honest by the tenth season I think Rachel and Joey have way more chemistry.

Juliet Capulet from Romeo and Juliet: SIX PEOPLE DIED. This applies to Romeo too, I guess, but to be honest Romeo's always seemed pretty flaky to me while Juliet has all these amazingly violent monologues throughout the play and has always felt like the more fleshed-out character to me. I understand that she doesn't just want to marry some stranger her father picks out for her, but was there really no other option for her than a whirlwind romance that KILLED SIX PEOPLE? Come on, Juliet, you're better than that.

Jane Eyre from Jane Eyre: I think Jane and Mr. Rochester have amazing chemistry but let's be honest: Rochester is a problematic fave. Let's not forget that he literally locked his wife in the attic and then lied to his second wife about it. What exactly in that scenario suggests great husband material?

Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones: In no way can Sansa's marriage to Ramsay Bolton be described as a relationship because he was abusive and she was in no way able to give any form of consent. Really I'm just angry the writers gave her that storyline at all; she deserved better than to be abused in that way, especially after already spending so long at Joffrey's mercy.

Tauriel from The Hobbit movies: I love the fact that someone thought 'we can't ask little girls to sit through 9 hours of film without a single main female character', but they butchered any progress when they created Tauriel just to act as eye candy. There didn't seem to be any depth to her character, instead she was a watered-down mix of Eowyn and Arwen.

Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility and Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice: I'm putting these two together because I think they'd be good friends if they met, and I'd love to see the two of them travelling around Europe together, Marianne could play her music and Lydia could act on the stage, because frankly they both deserved better marriages than the ones they end up in. Especially Marianne, because at Lydia can hold her own and still have a bit of fun with Wickham, whereas Marianne gets a General who, while he may be lovely, is far too boring for her.

Desdemona from Othello: Othello's a prick. That is all.

Anna from Frozen: Elsa won't let her marry a guy she's known for a day, but apparently a guy she's known for two days is fine. I don't really like Frozen anyway, I think it's full of plotholes and one day I may write a post about it, and this is one of the reasons why. It tried to be witty with its 'oh isn't it funny how Disney princesses marry men they barely know?' only to repeat the same mistake.

Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Disney one's fine, albeit old-fashioned, but in the original tale the Prince carries Snow White away while he thinks she's dead, only for the apple to dislodge from her throat and wake her up. In other words, the original Snow White marries a necrophile. Poor girl.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Books Every Lover of Jane Eyre Should Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

In nine days time, on the 21st April, it's Charlotte Brontë's 200th birthday. It seemed wrong not to celebrate the birthday of one of the world's most famous authors, so today I have ten recommendations for any fans of her most famous work, Jane Eyre!

If you haven't read Jane Eyre and/or are completely unfamiliar with the story, I'd recommend you stop reading now - I don't want to spoil anything for you if it's a novel you still want to read!

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: It's practically in the title! Fforde's Thursday Next series takes place in a world in which our literary characters are very real, and when Jane Eyre disappears it's up to Thursday Next to find her.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë: Anne Brontë's often forgotten in favour of her sisters, which is a real shame considering she may actually be the most feminist of the three. One of the reasons she may be lesser known is that Charlotte decided not to reprint The Tenant of Wildfell Hall after Anne's death, so I think it's only fair she gets a mention here! Like Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey is based on the sisters' time as governesses, though Agnes Grey may be a more realistic portrayal of the job...

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: If you enjoyed Charlotte Brontë's masterpiece I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy Daphne du Maurier's. Mrs. de Winter is not quite as fiery as Jane, but I've always found quite a few similarities between Jane Eyre and Rebecca, and often wondered if du Maurier was inspired by Jane Eyre at all when she was writing her most famous novel. It's also just a fantastic book, so you should read it whether you're a Jane Eyre fan or not!

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: Samantha Ellis's memoir is all about her relationship with her favourite literary heroines, and the book actually sprang from a conversation between herself and her best friend in which they were discussing whether it was better to be like Jane Eyre or Cathy Earnshaw. If you're new to non-fiction this is a brilliant starting point - it's a great memoir.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: Yet another book you should read whether you're a fan of Jane Eyre or not because it's just that good, but this is another story that gave me some Jane Eyre vibes when I read it. The Miniaturist felt like a coming-of-age novel to me in much the same way that Jane Eyre does. Read it for yourself and see if you agree!

Lirael by Garth Nix: Plot-wise Lirael is nothing like Jane Eyre, but character-wise? There's something about Lirael that reminds me of a fantastical Jane Eyre; her sad childhood, her intelligence, her quiet strength. Jane, I believe, has influenced many a heroine.

Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale: Set in the late 19th century, Blue Stockings is a play that tells the story of four women who attend Girton College, Cambridge: the first college in Britain to admit women. There's no doubt in my mind that Jane would have attended university if she'd had the chance to.

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys: This modern classic is a prequel to Jane Eyre which tells the story of Bertha Mason: the madwoman in the attic.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: I think Sarah Waters is a brilliant storyteller, and Fingersmith is one of the twistiest, turniest novels I've ever read. As shocking to read as Jane Eyre was upon its initial publication, it also includes a love story that crosses class boundaries and is a wonderful place to start if you've yet to read any Sarah Waters.

Jane, the Fox & Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault: This graphic novel tells the story of Hélène who's being bullied at school because of her weight. The only thing that makes her feel better is reading Jane Eyre. This is a beautiful graphic novel, and one that, sadly, I imagine a lot of girls can relate to. It's not the best graphic novel I've ever read, but it's still pretty darn good.

What did you talk about this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Back to School

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is a freebie! I wasn't sure what I was going to talk about at first, and then I thought I'd talk about some of the books I really enjoyed that I had to read for school and university.

Books I Read for School

Skellig by David Almond: I don't know how well Skellig is known overseas, but it's become a bit of a children's classic here in Britain. Skellig was the very first book I had to read when I started secondary school and I loved it so much. It's enchanting and spooky and hopeful, and one that I recommend you read however old you are.

Holes by Louis Sachar: Pretty much everyone knows this book, right? It's another modern children's classic in my book, and another one I was given to read during my early years of secondary school. I don't actually own copies of Holes or Skellig, so I think I may have to treat myself soon...

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë: I was introduced to Jane Eyre when I was 14, and I've loved it ever since; in fact it's probably Jane Eyre I have to thank for my love of Victorian Literature today. It's a brilliant story, and personally I think Jane is one of the most fantastic heroines ever.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: Sadly British schools now only look at British Literature when it comes to the GCSEs, which is a real shame and just plain wrong. There's a lot of fantastic British Literature out there, but there's also a great wealth of international work that I wouldn't have known about if I hadn't encountered them during my GCSEs. Anyway. Rant over. When I was in school we were always given a piece of American Lit to read, and we ended up with Of Mice and Men. I didn't have very high hopes for this when I was first given it, but despite its short length it's probably one of the few classics I find myself thinking about quite a lot, even now. It's not a particularly happy story, but it's a great place to start if you're a bit wary of classics!

Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare: Okay, okay, so I know Shakespeare's plays are really meant to be seen and heard rather than read, but I had so much fun reading this one during my A Levels. It certainly helped that I had an amazing English teacher.

Books I Read for University

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: And now we move onto the university books. I read this in my first year of university when we were studying postmodernism, and any fans of retellings really need to pick it up. It's such a fun story and there are so many references to old stories from 1001 Nights to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: I did a course on Romanticism during my second year of university where I ended up studying Frankenstein. I now consider it one of my favourite classics, and I think Mary Shelley was a genius.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla is a pre-Dracula vampiric Victorian novella. Try saying that five times fast. I had to read it for my Victorian Gothic module and it's probably my favourite book from that module, and is now another of my favourite classics. It's so good, and great for anyone who's intimidated by classics!

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I had to read The Moonstone for my Victorian Popular Fiction module and I fell in love with it. I'm fascinated by imperialism in Victorian Literature, the representation of India and its people, and I ended up writing an essay about imperialism for this module which I got a first for! This is thought to be the very first detective novel, and it's brilliant.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: This is the other classic I talked about in that essay. I loved the 1993 adaptation of this book growing up, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't actually read it until I studied it at university. I loved the book; it's become another favourite, and it's another book that's a great starting point for anyone intimidated by classics.

What did you talk about this week?

Sci-Fi Month | Is Alien Gothic?

Sci-Fi Month is hosted by Rinn @ Rinn Reads, and this year I'm participating!

Alien is probably one of the most iconic sci-fi films of all time, but is it also a Gothic story? Well, I would argue it is!

(If you've never seen Alien and you want to, I recommend you watch it before you read this because I will be talking about things that will spoil the ending for you!)

The rise of Gothic literature began in the latter half of the 18th century, with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, published in 1764, being regarded as the very first Gothic novel. Gothic has stayed around ever since, becoming hugely popular during the Victorian period; proven by the popularity of Penny Dreadfuls, and the publication of staples of Gothic literature such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Even before the Victorian period there was Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, published in 1818, and earlier still was the work of Ann Radcliffe, author of books such as The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) and The Italian (1797).

Even Jane Austen had a go at the Gothic novel in her somewhat tongue-in-cheek friendly parody, Northanger Abbey. Though it was one of the last novels of hers to be published, it was the first one she wrote, and something of a homage to much of the Gothic literature Austen was probably reading at the time.

Later, in the 20th century, Southern Gothic emerged as a new strand of American literature; stories which took place in the American South, and include authors such as William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy and Anne Rice.

Today we have contemporary Gothic, and tributes to the older work of a genre that we simply haven't let go of. Shows like Penny Dreadful are proof of how much we still love Gothic, and Guillermo del Toro's latest film, Crimson Peak, is a homage to all of those Gothic stories that have inspired him since childhood.

That's all well and good, Jess, but where the hell does Alien come into all of this?

Well reader, let me explain!

Something can only really exist as a genre if there are tropes and similarities between the various stories. Jane Eyre is Gothic, but Agnes Grey is not, and yet both of them are Victorian novels about the life of a governess. So what makes one Gothic while the other is not?

Gothic saw the rise of the monster in literature - from Frankenstein to Carmilla to The Were-Wolf - but the setting is also incredibly important to a Gothic novel. You're not about to open a Gothic novel that's set in a quaint little country bakery, or in a busy, bustling city centre; isolation is vital to a Gothic novel, as is a character who must be isolated and, perhaps most importantly, threatened.

Naturally, that isolated, threatened character, more often than not, is a vulnerable and (probably) virginal young lady. She's Jane Eyre in Thornfield Hall; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey; Emily St. Aubert in Udolpho; Mrs de Winter in Manderley; Ellen Ripley in Nostromo.

There's a lot of cross-over between Gothic and horror, though the two aren't the same. In Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's brilliant 2012 film The Cabin in the Woods, they talk about the archetypes in horror - The Whore, The Athlete, The Scholar, The Fool, The Virgin - and how it is always The Virgin who either survives or dies last. This idea translates to Alien, too, and it must be one that's been influenced by the pool of Gothic heroines from the 18th century and beyond. By the end of the movie Ripley is the only survivor from the Nostromo, starting a franchise that has given us one of the best action heroines in film history, but only after she's fought her way free from the Nostromo and the monster lurking inside it.

The Nostromo might not be a manor house, but it's certainly an isolated, claustrophobic setting. After all, where is more isolated than outer space? The Alien might not be as sophisticated as Dracula or as tragic as Frankenstein's Monster, but she's still become one of the most famous monsters around. Ellen Ripley might not be defenceless and innocent in the same way someone like Catherine Morland is, but she's certainly a descendent of those earlier Gothic heroines; a mixture of vulnerability and capability, and downright determination, that have made her one of the most genuine heroines to come out of '70s movies.

So, is Alien Gothic? Yes - and it's brilliant!

Classics & Contemporaries | Romance (Non-Austen Edition)

On Friday I started my new series, "Classics & Contemporaries", with the first Romance installment centered around the works of Jane Austen. You can find that post here! 

Today I'm back with the second installment, which is Austen free, and finishing off the Romance section of this little series.

On Friday we began with one of the most famous love stories in existence and its 21st century retelling, and today we're going to do that again!

I have to admit for a little while I couldn't decide if I wanted to include Romeo and Juliet in this series at all, because I could write an entire post about how it isn't a love story (and perhaps one day I will!), but there's no denying that this play has inspired hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of stories.

In fact I'm so certain of this play's impact on the history of the story that I don't think I really need to tell you what it's about, do I? We all know the story of the two warring families and the star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of them - in fact the names 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' are often names we use to describe people who are in love.

Romeo and Juliet isn't my favourite of Shakespeare's plays - Macbeth has always been my favourite - but it's still worth reading. Sadly though, too many people end up hating Shakespeare because they're introduced to him in the wrong way. Usually in school.

I've always lived in Britain so while I can't speak for people elsewhere in the world, most of us who live in Britain are introduced to Shakespeare in primary school; in fact I first read Macbeth when I was 10 years old! If you have a teacher who can't make Shakespeare fun, however, you're bound to be baffled by him, and so many teachers fail to tell their pupils about all the dick jokes in his plays...

If the thought of reading Shakespeare makes you break out into a nervous sweat, I have just the story for you!

At first sight, you might think a story about flesh-eating zombies would have nothing to do with the most famous love story in the world, but Warm Bodies is nothing if not a retelling.

R (Romeo) falls in love with Julie (Juliet) as soon as he sees her. He murders her boyfriend Perry (Paris), has a best friend called M/Marcus (Mercutio) while Julie's best friend is Nora (the Nurse).

On top of all that, R is a zombie and Julie is not, which is a big problem considering all zombies and the living want to do is kill each other. Then again, all the Montagues and the Capulets want to do is kill each other, so not much has changed in 500 years!

Obviously there's a big difference between the way Warm Bodies is written and the way Romeo and Juliet is written, but at the core they're both the same story - one of them just has zombies! 

If you enjoy Warm Bodies there's no reason why you wouldn't enjoy Romeo and Juliet, but if you still feel a little intimidated by the Old English language why not try watching one of the many adaptations of Romeo and Juliet first? Baz Luhrmann's adaptation, originally released in 1996, is particularly useful, as it's set in the 21st century but still uses the Old English language.

Now we're going to travel forward 300 years, to the Victorian era, where another famous classic awaits us...

Charlotte Brontë's most famous work, Jane Eyre, was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym "Currer Bell". Upon its original release The Quarterly Review claimed it was "an anti-Christian composition", and it is a commonly held belief that Brontë wrote the novel as a protest against the Victorian lifestyle.

Gothic and atmospheric, Jane Eyre tells the story of the titular character who suffers neglect and abuse as a child, is sent away to boarding school and then eventually leaves to pursue a position as a governess at Thornfield Hall. Thornfield belongs to the mysterious Mr Rochester, whose ward, Adèle, is Jane's charge.

Coarse and gruff, Mr Rochester is the typical Byronic hero, but Jane gives as good as she gets and in doing so, enchants him, but Mr Rochester is hiding a dark secret that could ruin everything.

I love Jane Eyre, but I know plenty of people who have never been able to get through it because of the novel's slow pace and the density of the text. The truth is that most Victorian novels are very dense - it's rather unusual to come across a short one - as many novels started out serialised in newspapers (such as Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone and Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist) and in the 19th century there were no televisions or cinemas; entire families would enjoy a large novel together, over the course of a couple of weeks!

So if you have a fondness for dark 19th century tales of love that crosses the boundaries of class, I have a piece of historical fiction you just might love.

Sarah Waters' Fingersmith tells the story of orphan Sue Trinder who, under the care of Mrs Sucksby, is raised as a petty thief. One day Gentleman, a beloved thief and con man, comes to Sue with an enticing proposition. If she can win a position as the maid to Maud Lily, a young and naive gentlewoman, and help Gentleman to seduce her, the two of them can make off with her vast inheritance and condemn Maud to a lunatic asylum.

Sue wishes to pay back the kindness of those who raised her and agrees to the plan, but when she meets Maud she begins to care for her in unexpected ways...

Perhaps one of the biggest differences between Fingersmith and Jane Eyre is that while the latter tells the story of a love between a man and a woman, the romance in Fingersmith is between two women. In fact Waters is well known for writing historical fiction featuring LGBT characters.

Other than that difference - and really is it that much of a difference? Love is love is love - there are quite a few similarities between the two stories. Both take place in the 19th century, both feature an orphaned heroine who rises from obscurity into a position at a wealthy home, both feature romances which cross the boundaries of class and both feature madness and deception in some form or another.

Fingersmith may not be the shortest read, for historical fiction also has the capacity to be dense, but as it was written in the 21st century its language is much easier to read, especially for readers who don't read an awful lot of 19th century literature - Fingersmith is a brilliant stepping stone towards a classic like Jane Eyre.

So that wraps up Romance! I hope this has been useful for anyone intimidated by classics, or that it's at least been an enjoyable read - I'll be back next month with an installment centered around Science Fiction!

J.

Top Ten Tuesday | Favourite Classics

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find out everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Favourite Classic Books'. So, without further ado, here are my favourite classics!

The Moonstone

by Wilkie Collins

‘When you looked down into the stone, you looked into a yellow deep that drew your eyes into it so that they saw nothing else’

The Moonstone, a yellow diamond looted from an Indian temple and believed to bring bad luck to its owner, is bequeathed to Rachel Verinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night the priceless stone is stolen again and when Sergeant Cuff is brought in to investigate the crime, he soon realizes that no one in Rachel’s household is above suspicion. Hailed by T. S. Eliot as ‘the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels’, The Moonstone is a marvellously taut and intricate tale of mystery, in which facts and memory can prove treacherous and not everyone is as they first appear.

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Agnes Grey

by Anne Brontë

'The name of governess, I soon found, was a mere mockery … my pupils had no more notion of obedience than a wild, unbroken colt’

When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation, Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess in order to contribute to their meagre income and assert her independence. But Agnes’s enthusiasm is swiftly extinguished as she struggles first with the unmanageable Bloomfield children and then with the painful disdain of the haughty Murray family; the only kindness she receives comes from Mr Weston, the sober young curate. Drawing on her own experience, Anne Brontë’s first novel offers a compelling personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried, educated women for whom becoming a governess was the only respectable career open in Victorian society.

Carmilla

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

A young woman living at her father's castle is the narrator of this novella. When a mysterious and beautiful stranger is stranded at the castle in odd circumstances and becomes a guest, the heroine quickly forms a close bond with her --but she subsequently discovers that her "friend" has a dark and lethal secret.

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. The mansion has nearly one hundred rooms, and her uncle keeps himself locked up. And at night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors.

The gardens surrounding the large property are Mary's only escape. Then, Mary discovers a secret garden, surrounded by walls and locked with a missing key. One day, with the help of two unexpected companions, she discovers a way in. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

Perhaps no other Shakespearean drama so engulfs its readers in the ruinous journey of surrender to evil as does Macbeth. A timeless tragedy about the nature of ambition, conscience, and the human heart, the play holds a profound grip on the Western imagination.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson's famous exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil,The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has become synonymous with the idea of a split personality. More than a morality tale, this dark psychological fantasy is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution, criminality, and secret lives. 

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Brontë

Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. 

Little Women

by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women is one of the best loved books of all time. Lovely Meg, talented Jo, frail Beth, spoiled Amy: these are hard lessons of poverty and of growing up in New England during the Civil War. 

Through their dreams, plays, pranks, letters, illnesses, and courtships, women of all ages have become a part of this remarkable family and have felt the deep sadness when Meg leaves the circle of sisters to be married at the end of Part I. Part II, chronicles Meg's joys and mishaps as a young wife and mother, Jo's struggle to become a writer, Beth's tragedy, and Amy's artistic pursuits and unexpected romance. 

Based on Louise May Alcott's childhood, this lively portrait of nineteenth- century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it to generations of readers.

Silas Marner

by George Eliot

Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe, living only for work and his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen and an orphaned child finds her way into his house, Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate, and that of the little girl he adopts, is entwined with Godfrey Cass, son of the village Squire, who, like Silas, is trapped by his past. Silas Marner, George Eliot's favourite of her novels, combines humour, rich symbolism and pointed social criticism to create an unsentimental but affectionate portrait of rural life.

What are some of your favourite classics?

J.

Top Ten | Book to Movie Adaptations (Part Two)

Last Monday I gave you the first five of my top ten favourite book to movie adaptations. Here are the final five. Enjoy!

Howl's Moving Castle, dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2004)

Based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

With the recent announcement that the incredibly talented Hayao Miyazaki is retiring I was very pleased when I remembered I could add one of his amazing films to this list. Miyazaki's adaptation differs from the original text quite a bit, but it still deserves a place on this list for its gorgeous animation and Miyazaki's amazing vision as a director.

     Howl's Moving Castle takes place in the land of Ingary, a fantastical land which exists alongside our own. Sophie Hatter is the oldest of three daughters and as such sees it as her duty to take over her late father's hat shop while her younger sisters pursue their dreams elsewhere. When one of Sophie's sisters offends the Witch of the Waste, she mistakes Sophie for her sister and curses her, turning her into an elderly woman. Now tainted with magic, Sophie leaves her hometown and winds up becoming the new cleaning lady of the Moving Castle; a bizarre building which is home to the Wizard Howl, who is famous for eating the hearts of beautiful young women.

     If you're a fan of wizards, witches, demons and castles with feet then this film is perfect for you; it's funny, entertaining, dramatic and beautifully animated. And if the film sounds good don't forget to check out the book too! The two mediums are very different, but the story's just as fun a second time round.

Jane Eyre, dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga (2011)

Based on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is certainly not lacking in adaptations, but this one is most definitely my favourite. Charlotte Brontë's classic tale of the orphan-turned-governess has been adapted for television more than once, but it's this filmic adaptation, which flits between the past and the present, that entertains me the most.

    Not only is the acting superb (Mia Wasikowska should definitely be praised for her Yorkshire accent) but the film has the spectacularly gothic feel to it that the story needs; Thornfield Hall is claustrophobic and spooky and beautiful, and Michael Fassbender is a wonderful Mr. Rochester. Unlike other adaptations I've seen Jane and Rochester are real people, and not simply stiff representations of how we often perceive the Victorians.

     The supporting cast are also wonderful, with Dame Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers, and even the smaller roles of St. John's sisters played by Tamzin Merchant and Holliday Grainger, both of whom are famous for their roles in The Tudors and The Borgias respectively. 

     So if you're a fan of Jane Eyre and you still haven't seen this particular adaptation, you're missing out!

10 Things I Hate About You, dir. Gil Junger (1999)

Based on The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Okay, maybe I'm kind of cheating with this one. Shakespeare's plays were certainly never meant to be read in the same way a book is and 10 Things I Hate About You certainly isn't a direct adaptation of the original text, it's far more postmodern than that, but we can still argue that it deserves a place on this list. It does, after all, popularize one of Shakespeare's less satisfying plays - The Taming of the Shrew.

     Set in an American high school (as so many postmodern adaptations of classics strangely are, like Clueless; a film loosely based on Austen's Emma), 10 Things I Hate About You primarily focuses on Kat and her younger sister Bianca. While Bianca is trying on cute dresses and flirting with boys, Kat would much rather be alone with a book while preparing for college elsewhere, and she's certainly not afraid of telling people to get lost. Sleazy Joey Donner, who previously slept with Kat, now wants to bed her younger sister instead, but Bianca can only go to the prom if Kat goes. Enter Patrick: a rebel and outcast in his own right whom Joey pays to get close to Kat so that she will go to the prom, thus allowing Joey to make his move on Bianca. But trouble ensues when love begins to blossom between Kat and Patrick.

     Shakespeare lovers out there will find fun little details throughout the film, such as Kat's surname 'Stratford' and Patrick's surname 'Verona', as well as Kat's best friend Mandella who is something of a Shakespeare nut herself. If nothing else this adaptation is entertaining, and its ending is a lot more satisfying for the women in the audience when compared with the original play.

Little Women, dir. Gillian Armstrong (1994)

Based on Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott's semi-autobiographical tale is one of the most famous pieces of American Literature out there, and most definitely one of my own personal favourite classics. Little Women follows the four March sisters: pretty Meg, who works as a governess but longs to marry well and live in a house full of fine things; shy Beth, who wants nothing more than to stay at home with her beloved family and play her piano; spoiled Amy, the baby of the family who loves to paint and wishes to be filthy rich; and the tomboyish Jo, who longs to be a famous author and travel the world as a spinster.

     It's Jo whom we follow most closely through her adventures, from her improvement as a writer, her friendship with the lonely boy next door whose marriage proposal she refuses, her journey to New York, the loss of her most beloved sister, and her eventual romance with a German professor. For me it's this adaptation which really brings to life the feeling in the original story; as with Jane Eyre the cast are spectacular, particularly Winona Ryder as the rambunctious Jo, and there is real chemistry between the characters.

     Not only is this one of my favourite adaptations but also one of my favourite films. It's a little on the long side, but it's well worth it - particularly during the days when you need something nice to cheer you up.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, dir. Peter Jackson (2003)

Based on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

Peter Jackson's adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's most famous work are some of the most famous and well-loved adaptations out there, so it made sense to include one of those films on this list.

     These films really bring the fantastic world and precious cast of characters that Tolkien created to life; they can make you laugh, cry and gawk in amazement all in one scene, so it was difficult to just pick one of the films for my list.

     Ultimately for me it had to be the final installment in the trilogy, The Return of the King, purely because it includes the happy ending. I do love a happy ending, and wow do these characters deserve one after everything they're put through.

     I'd be very surprised if you haven't seen these films yet, and if you haven't I'm shocked and appalled. You're missing out!

So there we have it, my top ten favourite book to movie adaptations. I hope you liked my selection, feel free to leave a comment with your own personal favourites down below!

   Thanks for reading!