Jane Eyre

I just finished watching the new Jane Eyre movie starring Mia Wasikowska (wow that's a mouthful)and Michael Fassbender.I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books and I've seen pretty much every single movie version of it. The acting in this new 'remake' was phenomenal, not to mention Magneto from X-Men first class played Mr. Rochester.
I'll tell you why this story struck a chord, making me sad, angry, and hopeful at the best of times. The summer before my freshman year in high school was BORING. My older sister went to college early to get a couple extra courses in. It was just me, my little brother, and my parents,both of whom worked full-time,which made it impossible to see my friends since there was no car or chauffeur available to me. Earlier that year my mom had acquired a boatload of books from a friend who moved out of state. Jane Eyre was in that collection. One frightfully dull summer morning I decided to browse my mom's new library, hoping to find something that might appeal to me. Jane Eyre immediately caught my eye. I had heard of it, my sister had even read it in her English class and she had mentioned how much she liked it, so I picked it up and decided to give it a try, thinking nothing more of it.
That book changed me. I couldn't believe that this story of a 'simple' girl who is anything but could have such an impact on me, and that I actually understood the language ( I was smarter than I thought!) or that I liked something by a Bronte sister. You see I attempted reading Wuthering Heights the year before but could not get myself to care about Heathcliff or Catherine (sorry to all you Wuthering Heights fans) they were just too selfish for my liking. If I hadn't read Jane Eyre that summer who knows how long it would have taken me to get to all the other English classics.
I honestly believe that Jane Eyre deserves all the attention it has garnered throughout the years, because for me it paved the way for all those other books I might have found daunting later on in my life. Less than a year later I discovered Pride and Prejudice, and it's hard to think about what my world might be like without that beautiful story. I found my love for writing through those works. I now appreciate literature in all its forms, and I know that I can conquer any story, no matter how big or small. So Jane Eyre was the gateway into my reading future. I apologize to anyone who isn't as fond as I am of this story, this post is probably sucking it big time for you. And to anyone who hasn't read this classic tale of woe and love, take the time to do so, decide for yourself if it's all that I think it's cracked up to be.