JANE EYRE (Charlotte Brontë) - July 23/11

Yeah, I know, I said I wasn't going to finish it, but it just ate away at me, so I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick up from where I left off. The book really didn't get any better. Looking at it in retrospect, Jane Eyre is packed with surprisingly decent plot twists - Mr. Rochester goes blind, the crazy lady living in his house, Jane becomes a teacher, etc - but Brontë just goes nuts with the descriptions and flowery language. (I mean, she devotes page after to page to the simplest conversations.) The book feels about 75% longer than it has any right to be. But I did like the characters and the aforementioned plot twists, so I guess it's barely passable. *1/2 out of ****