Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of the best books I have ever read. With a rural 19th century England setting, Bronte has created a fictional account of the early life of Jane Eyre which every reader can not help but enjoy. In this novel, we get to recognize the conflicts between love and independence, conscience and passion, and the struggle of a young girl and woman to maintain her self-esteem. These were all pioneering themes in the patriarchal society of Victorian England in the 1800s.

1. Setting

The setting for the novel Jane Eyre is in the northern England countryside and the fictitious villages of Gateshead Hall, Lowood, Millcote, and Moor House during the 19th century.

2. Characters

The main character in the novel is Jane Eyre, a nine-year-old orphan, who is being raised by her maternal aunt (wife of her uncle), Mrs. Reed.

Important characters at the Lowood Boarding School are Mr. Brocklehurst, the head of the school, Miss Temple, the chief instructor, and an older classmate, Helen Burns, who becomes a role model for Jane.

After Jane goes to Thornfield Hall at Millcote, the main characters are Mr. Rochester, master of Thornfield Hall, and Adele Varens. a young French girl Jane is teaching.

Finally, towards the end of the novel, Saint John Rivers becomes an important character in the novel.

3. Plot

The plot of the novel follows essentially five stages: one, Jane's childhood at Gateshead; two, the girl's education at Lowood School; three, Jane's work as the governess at Thornfield Hall; four, time spent with the Rivers' family at Moor House; and five, an unexpected conclusion.

As the story begins, Jane is in her ninth year of life at Gateshead. Telling her life story in the first person, Jane relates how as an orphan since being a baby, she has been raised by her maternal uncle's wife, Mrs. Reed. Recently she has been treated very cruelly both physically and emotionally by her aunt and cousins. After one run-in with her bullying older cousin, Master John, her aunt locks her overnight in the room where her uncle died. After Jane stands up to her aunt to keep her self-esteem, she can not successfully convince Mrs. Reed of not being deceitful. As a result, her aunt decides to send Jane to a boarding school for orphans at Lowood School run by a clergyman, Mr. Brocklehurst.

After arriving at Lowood School, Jane is cruelly humiliated and called deceitful by Mr. Brocklehurst in front of the study body. With the help of the chief instructor, Miss Temple, Jane proves she is not deceitful and restores her self-esteem. After being a model student and surviving a typhoid epidemic at the school during her first year, Jane graduates from Lowood six years later and stays two more years as a teacher. When Miss Temple decides to get married and leave the school, Jane decides to find work as a governess.

After finding work as a governess at Thornfield Hall near Millcote, Jane starts to find some real happiness in life. She is entrusted with educating the ward of the master of Thornfield Hall, Mr. Rochester, a man of about 40 who is often outside of England.

Shortly after starting work at Thornfield Hall, Jane unexpectedly and unknowingly, while walking from Thornfield Hall to Millcote, encounters Mr. Rochester after he is thrown from his horse. It is love at first sight when Jane helps Mr. Rochester get back onto his horse. After formally meeting Mr. Rochester and numerous hours spent talking together, Jane truly falls in love with her brooding and stormy master. It is not long, however, that a series of bizarre and spooky events occur at Thornfield Hall which force Jane to leave and seek her fortune elsewhere.

After Jane leaves Thornfield Hall, she endures hardship until finding a kind clergyman, Saint John Rivers, and his sisters, who care for Jane and find her new employment. The climax of the book then comes after some unexpected twists and turns.

The main themes in the book are a conflict between love and independence, and a conflict between conscience and passion. Other themes are Jane's struggle to maintain self-esteem and her social criticism.

Paolo Coelho ,The Alchemist'

This is the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy who dreams of traveling the world and discovering treasures, and is courageous enough to walk in the direction of his desires. In order to realize the best that his destiny has to offer, he travels from his home in Spain, through the markets of Tangiers, and into the great Egyptian desert. He gets duped, experiences love, loses and makes money, learns a different language, meets different people, finds himself in pleasant and not-so- pleasant situations. His journey is full of adventure and lessons, while he also finds the privilege of meeting a king, a desert woman and an alchemist, each adding to his life new turns and perceptions.

Social/Historical context:

The book emphasizes the values of spirituality, faith, hope and love through symbolic narration of a fascinating story of an ordinary boy with extra-ordinary beliefs. It teaches its readers, in a very subtle and effective way, the power of positivity. Also, the desert locations that the book encompasses lend a greater mystique to the plot.

Writing Style

Originally written in Portuguese, the book has won the Guiness World record for being the most translated book by a living author. The style of the book is third person narrative. The language is simple, yet effective. Every word lends a meaning to the story. It is ideal for readers with a basic command over English language, as well as, for those who are proficient.

My favorite quotes:

“And, when you want something, all the universe 
conspires in helping you to achieve it.”  💛

“It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” 

“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.” 💖

Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque

When we look back on the Second World War, we always see Germany as being the bad guys, but what we often forget is that many of the German people were opposed to the concept of Nazism, but they were forced stop professing their views, in one way or another. 

In Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque, we follow the story of one such German, who found himself exiled from Germany for his different political views in the late 1930s. His name is Ravic, and seeing as how he escaped to France illegally without even any documents, he finds himself forced to practice his profession illegally on France’s elite. Though it may seem as if his life finally has some stability, his true goal has always remained one and the same: to find the Nazi who tortured him out of his own homeland.

Though some authors may falter in the quality of their works after they hit it big, Remarque is a notable exception to that. Just like in his previous works, which include the internationally-celebrated All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque draws us in with a compelling storyline and heart-stopping descriptions which make you feel emotionally-involved in the story. His description of Paris manages to perfectly capture the unique, romantic and hopeful atmosphere of the city, with none of the passages being too long or leaving to be desired.

As is usually the case with the author, Remarque mixes the two ingredients above with an element which, in my opinion, elevates him as a writer above most others: a philosophy. Throughout the whole book Remarque explores a number of interesting themes, such as the purpose of vengeance, the human need for closure, how love can be the best remedy to dark times, and Men’s everlasting attempts at controlling each other’s thoughts, just to name a few.

All things considered, if you enjoyed Remarque’s previous works or are looking to get to know him better, this is a work you should definitely add to your list of books to read. The way he manipulates language is nothing short of a work of art, the story itself actually does a nice job of stringing you along, and by the end of it you will have plenty to think of. This isn’t a book that just exists for entertainment purposes… rather, it is one of those books meant to be thought-provoking.

Flowers for Algernon

Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 68. He can clean at the bakery where he works; can go to his nightly class for special needs adults; knows that ‘its easy to make friends if you let peepul laff at you’. But even Charlie knows he is frustrated by his inability to understand other people’s conversations, and is desperate to learn how to read and write like everyone else – so when he is offered the chance to be the first human being to undergo an operation for artificial intelligence, he takes it, because all his life he has ‘reely wantid to be smart and not dumb’.

Documented by a series of diary entries, the progress of the operation is revealed as Charlie’s spelling and grammar slowly improve and he begins to understand the world around him – through realising who he was and has become, falling in love, and remembering his past. What is so masterful is that this is so gradually done you hardly notice it at first, and I think this is the reason that the reader is made to feel so close to Charlie: he was so real I felt I knew him. I really, really knew this guy – a character I had only just started to read about, but was so easily likeable that I had begun to form ties that seemed years old. It’s these ties that undeniably make it so profoundly sad, because what goes up, must come down…

Flowers for Algernon is a book that says to you: ‘I want you to question everything you know’. More importantly, it seeks out the unflinchingly honest message that our humanity is not measured by how smart we are, but rather by our kindness, love and interaction with others. Charlie is even more isolated with an IQ of 185 than he was with one of 68, but it’s his insight that allows him to see that he is still the same person, regardless. He never fully develops emotionally, but that doesn’t seem to matter. It’s an over-used word – and risks sounding clichéd – but this book is simply beautiful. It’s a piece of art in itself.

I’ve been reduced to tears by many books in my life and I will unashamedly admit that Flowers for Algernon is one of them. Few books can replicate that lingering feeling you receive after reading: the kind that stay with you a few days after you’ve finished it. Flowers for Algernon was without a doubt one of those – the supreme angels of book-kind – and I can’t begin to say how much of an effect this book can have on you. It will make you reflect on your own life, shed buckets, and completely and utterly break your heart.

And I want to write my favorite phrase from this book:

''I don’t know what’s worse; to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.'' 💖

'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame' by Victor Hugo

The book published in 1831 in French under the title Notre-Dame de Paris, it has been made into an opera, a ballet, several stage plays, two musicals, and at least 15 films, including TV and animated versions. Its English name is "The hunchback of Notre-Dame".

"The hunchback of Notre-Dame" is a very famous story, and I find that much more people have "heard of it" than have actually read it. Most will just tell you - "isn't this some kind of beauty and beast story?". Well, in fact it isn't. This novel certainly isn't a fairy tale. Rather, it is a touching and sad story (touching in a way that Hugo is a master expressing) about unfulfilled love. There are at least 3 unfulfilled love stories here, each one very different. Besides that, the plot tells of troubled times in Paris (and, I suspect, in whole of Europe) - what is rightfully called "the dark ages" - where each act of free thought was prosecuted by the church with one inevitable penalty - death. The original title of this book when it was first released in French was "Notre-Dame of Paris", which is a much more appropriate title, in my opinion. 

The book is about incredible and strong love. The main characters are Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Claude Frollo, Phoebus. The book is very sad because of Quasimodo's hopeless and devoted love with Esmerada. Quasimodo's face shows us how beautiful soul can be in an ugly body. The plot is very dramatic but Hugo describes architecture and history in the wake of novel. So I advise you to read every word carefully because it includes many interesting information not only about Paris also about in that age. 

The book is really hooking and fascinating but the opera is no less engaging. One of the scenes is especially memorable for every lover and I want to listen it. I am sure you will get a big pleasure. 

                                                    

                                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XB7aftz6zY