Changing blogging domain and site

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Dear blogger friends, Lately, I had a few problems with the Blogger web site for my blog The Content Reader . I took this as a sign that I should finally create a web site of my own. I have been checking out other options, but could not get my act together. Finally, I have managed to create a basic web site with Wix, which I hope will be developed over time.  It has not been easy to find my way around. One thing one can say about Blogger is that it is easy to work with.  This site will no longer be updated Follow me to my new domain @  thecontentreader.com Hope to see you there.  Lisbeth @ The Content Reader

Brontëmania

The three Brontë sisters are some of my favourite authors. Don't we all love Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. The more you read the more you realise that there are often references to the Brontë books in other literature and papers. This page is dedicated to the sisters. Here will be a little bit of everything but all connected to the Brontës.


Charlotte Brontë bicentenary year in 2016


2016 see the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë's birth. Here in Brussels the Brussels Brontë Group will celebrate the occasion with several events in April. If you are nearby please check up more detailed information on the web-site and blog


The Content Reader


Content
  • Brontë calendar
  • References to Jane Eyre in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
  • Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops (Brontë quotes)
  • References to Wuthering Heights in the Twilight books and One Day
  • Presentation of a new book about discovering the Brontës in Brussels by Helen Macewan
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Brontë Calendar 

Book of Days from the Brontë Parsonage Museum was a gift from a friend. It contains a diary of what the Brontë did on certain dates. 









Brontë quotes from books

From this book I found two references to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.

"His eyes swept leisurely up and down my linen-clad form. And he grinned. The bastard had the nerve to grin.
'At least I'm not impersonating Jane Eyre. Good night, Eloise.'
'Well, you're no Mr Rochester!' I snapped.
A door clicked shut somewhere along the hallway, informing me that even my feeble sally had been too late."

"I know you didn't want me there, but it still wasn't nice to make fun of me,' I blurted out.
'When did I make fun of you? he asked, with a good imitation of surprise.
I eyed him suspiciously. 'Last night.'
Colin contemplated this. Understanding dawned in his hazel eyes. 'You mean the nightdress? You must admit, you did look like Jane Eyre.'
I could only deal with one grievance at a time. 'Forget about that.'
'How can I? Colin's lips were twitching. 'It's not often a Brontë heroine-'
'Stop it!' I gave a little bounce of irritation. *I wasn't referring to that! I wasn't talking about your making fun of me for looking like a demented gothic heroine-'
-Not necessarily a demented gothic heroine,' Colin broke in, grinning."



I found this book by chance and it is really funny. There even are some comments on the Brontës. Here we go!

Customer: Do you have any books by Jane Eyre?

Customer: Do you have a copy of Bella Swan's favourite book? You know, from Twilight?
(Bookseller sighs and pulls a copy of Wuthering Heights off the shelf)
Customer: Do you have the one with the cover that looks like Twilight?
Bookseller: No. This is an antiquarian bookshop, so this is an old edition of the book.
Customer: But it's still the one with that girl Cathy and the dangerous guy, right?
Bookseller: Yes, it's still the story by Emily Brontë.
Customer: Right. Do you think they'll make it into a film?
Bookseller: They've made several films of it. The one where Ralph Fiennes plays Heathcliff is very good.
Customer: But that's Edward's role.
Bookseller: Wuthering Heights was written well before both Harry Potter and Twilight.
Customer: Yeah, but Voldemort killed Cedric, who's played by Robert Pattinson, and now Voldemort's playing Edward's role in Wuthering Heights, because Edward's character is Heathcliff. I think that Emily Brontë's trying to say something about vampires.
Bookseller: ... that's £8.
Customer: For what?
Bookseller: For the book.
Customer Oh, no, it's OK, I'm going to go and try and find the Voldemort DVD version.

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From 'Eclipse' By Stephenie Meyers  
”I’m glad Charlie has decided to let you out – you’re sadly in need of a visit to the bookstore. I can’t believe you’re reading Wuthering Heights again. Don’t you know it by heart yet?”
”Not all of us have photographic memories,” I said curtly.
”Photographic memory or not, I don’t understand why you like it. The characters are ghastly people who ruin each others’ lives. I don’t know how Heathcliff and Cathy ended up being ranked with couples like Romeo and Julie or Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. It isn’t a love story, it’s a hate story.”
“You have some serious issues with the classics,” I snapped.
“Perhaps it’s because I’m not impressed by antiquity.” He smiled, evidently satisfied that he’d distracted me.
“Honestly, though, why do you read it over and over?” His eyes were vivid with real interest now, trying – again- to unravel the convoluted workings of my mind. He reached across the table to cradle my face in his hand. “What is it that appeals to you?”
His sincere curiosity disarmed me. “I’m not sure,” I said, scrambling for coherency while his gaze unintentionally scattered my thoughts. “I think it’s something about the inevitability. How nothing can keep them apart – not her selfishness, or his evil, or even death, in the end . . . “
His face was thoughtful as he considered my words. After a moment he smiled a teasing smile. “I still think it would be a better story if either of them had one redeeming quality.”
“I think that may be the point,” I disagreed. “Their love is their only redeeming quality.”
“I hope you have better sense than that – to fall in love with someone so . . . malignant.”
“It’s a bit late for me to worry about who I fall in love with,” I pointed out. “But even without the warning, I seem to have managed fairly well.”
He laughed quietly. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Well, I hope you’re smart enough to stay away from someone so selfish. Catherine is really the source of all the trouble, not Heathcliff.”
“I’ll be on my guard,” he promised.
I sighed. He was so good at distractions.
I was selfish, I was hurtful. I tortured the ones I loved.
I was like Cathy, like Wuthering Heights, only my options were so much better than hers, neither one evil, neither one weak. And here I sat, crying about it, not doing anything productive to make it right. Just like Cathy.
“Hand me that book, will you?” I asked, pointing over his shoulder.
His eyebrows pulled together in confusion, but he gave it to me quickly.
“This again?” he asked.
“I just wanted to find this one part I remembered . . . to see how she said it . . .” I flipped through the book, finding the page I wanted easily. The corner was dog-eared from the many times I’d stopped here. “Cathy’s a monster, but there were a few things she got right,” I muttered. I read the lines quietly, mostly to myself. “’If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.’” I nodded, again to myself. “I know exactly what she means. And I know who I can’t live without.”
Edward took the book from my hands and flipped it across the room – it landed with a light thud on my desk. He wrapped his arms around my waits.
A small smile lit his perfect face, though worry still lined his forehead. “Heathcliff had his moments, too,” he said. He didn’t need the book to get it word perfect. He pulled me closer and whispered in my ear, “’I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!’”
“Yes, I said quietly. “That’s my point.”



From 'One day' by David Nicholls      
She wondered where the fallacy had come from, that there was something irresistible about funny men; Cathy doesn’t long for Heathcliff because he’s really great laugh, and what was all the more galling about this barrage was that she actually quite like Ian, had set out with high hopes and even some excitement about seeing him again, but instead he was saying. . .
Half-jokingly, Emma had bought him a copy of Wuthering Heights to read on the rip, but he found the book almost entirely unreadable so instead he reached for his laptop, opened it and stared at the screen.
But he could hear the creak of floorboards above his head and quickly he closed the lid of the laptop, slid it furtively beneath the sofa and reached for Wuthering Heights.
Naked and sleepy-eyed, Emma padded down the stairs, stopping halfway and sitting with her arms wrapped round her knees. She yawned. ‘What time is it?’
‘Quarter to ten. Wild times, Em.’
She yawned once more. ‘You’ve tired me out.’ She laughed. ‘Stud.’
‘Go and put some clothes on, will you?’
‘What are you doing anyway?’ He held up Wuthering Heights and Emma smiled. ‘”I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul”! Or is it “love without my life”. Or “live without my love”? Can’t remember.’
‘Haven’t go to that bit yet. It’s still some woman called Nelly banging on.’
‘It gets better, I promise you.’
‘Like a mountain goat, me. I used to go hiking a lot at home, whan I was in my Cathy phase. Out on the wild and windy moors. Dead soulful I was. “I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!”’
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Presentation of a new book on the Brontës by Helen Macewan

Down the Belliard Steps - Discovering the Brontës in Brussels


On Wednesday 28 November, 2012, Helen Macewan who is one of the persons who started the Brussels Brontë Group presented her first book on the subject. The book is about the history of the group and how they found their way around Brussels in the footsteps of Charlotte and Emily Brontë.

The initial group of 9 persons has now extended to over 100 members. The group meets several times a year for lectures connected in one way or the other to the Brontës and arranges guided walks in their footsteps. There is also a Reading group which meets once a month to discuss 19th century litterature. If you are interested in joining or want more information go to:


www.thebrusselsbrontegroup.org/


www.brusselsbronte.blogspot.be/


The book can be bought in Waterstone or Sterling Bookshop (if you are in Brussels).


Here some pictures from the presentation.




 

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