re jane. patricia park. (301)

i picked up re jane after seeing it in a post on book riot.  a retelling of jane eyre with a half-korean, half-white/american protagonist!  i was in!

oh and if you read my previous post, and wondering why i was am okay with this retelling and not the last novel i read, was because park did take all of her storylines directly from bronte, instead, she took the overall structure, but wrote her own book.

before i start, if you ever read my post on jane eyre, you know that i loved it, but i did have issue with rochester being the only person ever talked with so i felt bad that she had no other experiences other than him.  though i mean their love was true, i still always wondered you know.  i didn't have this issue with re jane though i was shocked at times by how sheltered jane was but while during bronte's time all women were that sheltered, park made sure her jane was aware that she was.

just like jane eyre, re jane, started off with an orphan named jane that lived with family members that treated her poorly.  jane hoping to escape her uncle, sang, went to to work as au pair for a family.  the rochester of this work was ed farley, the father of the adopted girl, jane was in charge of.  and just like jane eyre there was a wife, but while rochester's was locked away in the attic, this wife, beth, was not crazy (well not in the same way as rochester's first wife) that worked in the attic.  i have to say the fact that ed and beth were married, made me very wary of jane falling in love with ed.  whereas i gushed over rochester and jane's budding romance in jane eyre, i was really uncomfortable about ed and jane's, though it did make me hungry for heroes.  even though park set up beth as an insensitive and overbearing wife and mother, i still was upset with jane for trying to be a homewrecker.  i was grateful that park stopped ed and jane from having sex (the tip doesn't count for me), because i would not have been able to go on with the book.  as you know from other books, i don't like cheaters.  anyway, that is really where the parallels between the two books stop.

i will add that park did include nods to jane eyre, having jane address the reader as a reader and jane's first job was to be at a company named lowood.  i thought these little details were cute.

back to the story, the climax of the novel, is when jane and ed decide to finally have sex, as i mentioned before it didn't happen.  on the night that they were to meet and try it again, jane decided to go to korea to see her grandfather on his deathbed.  the day she decided to leave . . . 9/11.  so as i read, i couldn't really gage the era, i figured it was now.  however, after a mention of the twin towers and the backstreets boys and of course this, i knew.  i have to add, i feel like a lot of books have been alluding to this, which is fine, it must be mentioned especially if a work is set in new york.  however, i feel like it shouldn't be used as a device to cause a drastic change, i think jane could have left on any day and the novel would not have lost anything.

okay, so jane went to korean.  she learned more about who she is, which she needed.  she even became engaged to a guy, but thanks to her aunt and this soap opera realized that she still loved ed.  so she came clean to everyone, ed about her love, beth about their affair, and returned to nyc.  however, once back, she realized just how different she and ed really were, and yes, dear reader, they broke up.  which i actually appreciated, i mean they were at different stages in their lives and also there was so much more she needed to experience.  i mean i was fine with jane eyre ending up rochester, because i mean what else was there for a single girl to do, then to be an old maid.  luckily, though nowadays, we have so many options.  it was great to see jane end up as an independent woman!

a greater part of the novel, aside from this kind of love story and self-discovery, was race, culture and identity.  to start jane was mixed, her mother was korean and her father was america, due to this she felt like an outcast.  people spoke and thought poorly of her mother.  in addition to this, she never felt like she fully identified as a korean.  it was the same situation for the child she was in charge of, devon.  devon was a chinese girl adopted by two american parents.  at school, she felt like an outcast due to her mixed cultured background.  her mother, beth, tried to keep her immerse in chinese culture but she still was not accepted by her fellow chinese students. being mixed and being americanized culturally, i understood how both of them felt uncomfortable among people with the same racial identity as them.  there was a scene in which jane and devon got moon cakes and devon became uncomfortable because although she looked chinese, she wasn't culturally chinese and couldn't speak the language.  i used to feel the same way as a kid, i look filipino but was not raised culturally filipino and did not learn the language, so when i am around alot of filipinos i do not know, i feel uncomfortable.  like jane and hopefully devon, you reach a point where, it doesn't really matter if your own people judge you, you have to learn to be happy with who you are.

in addition to this, i have to add that at the beginning i had mentioned how jane's family was mean towards her.  in jane eyre, her family was outright abusive.  however, in re jane, it was more of a cultural difference which made the reader and jane initially believe that her uncle hated and took her for granted.  its tough because as an outsider, we tend to judge without really knowing, this is what occurred when beth and ed tried to tell jane that she didn't have to obey her uncle (ironically, ed was doing the very thing he critiqued jane's uncle of doing, being controlling).  however, we gradually begin to see that jane's uncle is not a bad guy at all, he made sacrifices for her and he always made sure that she was taken care of even when she tried to push him away.  and in the end, the reader realizes when jane does that some things were lost in translation that maybe what she took as an insult was actually him trying to help her improve or actually meant as a compliment.  in the end, it was great to see her make peace with her uncle and culture.

paris, i love you but you're bringing me down. rosecrans baldwin (66)

i normally hate oprah but i have to admit i owe her one. auntie tracey has a subscription to her magazine and while reading the june issue in the water closet, i came across a recommendation for rosecrans baldwin's "paris, i love you but you're bringing me down." i normally would not trust oprah but my love for lcd soundsystem is stronger than my hatred of oprah, so i decided to judge a book by a title and give it a go.

and yes the title is an lcd soundsystem reference. how could it not be? for you purists, it was confirmed when baldwin mentioned running to "north american scum" and thanked the band in the acknowledgements. also here's the video for the inspiration for the title "new york, i love you but your bringing me down":
 

so i was a little hesitant about the book. though i have never been to paris, i am in love with it. thanks to "midnight in paris" (and of course cole porter, hemingway, the fitzgeralds, and gertrude stein), "an american in paris" (the gershwin definitely helped), "funny face" (i want to do a fashion shoot with balloons), "amelie" (and maybe bring a gnome with me), "je'taime paris" (i want to visit oscar wilde's grave) and of course "sex and the city" (though carrie did realize paris was not all it was cracked up to be), i am nostalgic for a paris that i have never experienced. so when i saw the title i was worried it might crush my love. but it didn't. i mean an lcd reference and sloan crosley (love her book "i was told there'd be cake") gave an endorsement quote for the back. it couldn't bring me down.

though baldwin did not have the easiest time in paris, it still filled me with a desire to go. for every shitty experience he had, there was an amazing one.  and even he admitted that, a bad day in paris is still kinda great because you are in paris.  it seemed like the worse part about his life there was the langauge barrier.  but i think i could deal with that, i mean the french would hate my bad accent and my inability to speak french but everything else would make up for it.

his book actually made me wish i was married.  well more like married to someone who would have an opportunity to find work in paris, so i could move with them.  or maybe just to married to a french.  oh and before i go on, i'm glad that baldwin discussed how his friend charlie's gaydar was thrown off by the french.  i have the same issue.  i always wonder, is he gay or is he french?!?!?  lol  glad to see that i'm not the only one with that issue.  but back to marrying a french, in a perfect world, he would be a french chef, i mean  reading about the food baldwin ate was driving me insane.  every italicized macaron mention made me sad that i was not eating one.  i mean i was jealous of his description of french air economy food!  but back to this imaginary french chef, he would also have to be childless.  the book discussed that every french man has a child, so i must magically find one that is childless.  so aside from dreams of going to paris, it also gave me this lofty goal in life.  lol

random sidenote.  not really because marriage would be the link.  but i enjoyed how baldwin included stories of sarkozy and carla bruni.  it reminded me about a discussion i had with a friend's cousin from france one night.  i alluded to bruni, who i had just discovered on the "(500) days of summer" soundtrack.  he told me the french hated her, but i didn't understand because i liked her music (kinda like baldwin's co-worker) but after reading this book i got it.

actually, marrying a parisian or living there would not be enough.  after reading this novel, i kinda wish i had been born a parisian.  i always tell people that i'm extremely grateful to have been born in california.  i believe that we do have a sunnier look out on life.  i mean imagine growing up in the midwest.  gag me with a spoon. (that reference was intended).  but to have been parisian would have been exciting.  i want to to be a coquette by blood like little adele from jane eyre (who was described as "coquetry runs in her blood, blends with her brains and seasons the marrow of her bones.") to have a french look on love, to be have wild love affairs, and be crazy.  it all seems so romantic and a little neurotic.  and at the risk of sounding insane, i would also be french since it is apparently acceptable to make black jokes, jew jokes and comments about penis size.  i hate how americans are so pc.  i like dave chapelle, am a equal opportunist when it comes to make fun of people.  also i would want to be french for the work day. i mean how often did baldwin's day end in a random potluck with drinks? though that could be an advertising thing.

but enough of my odd dreams and back to the book.  i thorougly enjoyed this book.  i had to interrupt my reading of "war and peace" because i was unable to renew it, so started after reading part 1 of "war and peace." i found it interesting how both works have a french theme.  but baldwin's work was a nice break.  it was a great read and i couldn't put it down.  i finished it in a weekend.  baldwin is a great story and i would totally be friends with him in real life.  i share stories here but you should really read it for yourself.  my only regret is reading this after "eat pray love" cos now i want to add paris to my list of places to travel.  i also plan on putting in a request for a "how to speak french" book. and last but not least, seriously, when is picard coming stateside?



   

jane eyre. charlotte brönte. (10)

even though "wuthering heights" was horrible, i decided not to judge an author by her sister and moved on to charlotte brönte. plus people are always raving about "jane eyre", its like the quintessential novel every young woman should read. though i never did.

before i continue with "jane eyre", i would like to share that growing up i read a lot but never read any of the classic romances by female writers. i have no idea why. so now as an adult i have a lot of books to cover.

the beginning "jane eyre" reminded me of one of my favorite books as a kid, "the little princess". both novels featured smart and sincere little girls who are mistreated at an orphanage. i was sadden by the living conditions of the orphanage and was surprised that brönte wrote so critically of the church.
but being the skeptic that i am, i was not surprised by the church abusing a situation. also miss temple reminded me of miss honey from "matilda" and i kept on thinking that in some way it would be exposed that helen was her daughter. but that may have been too much. (also i would like to suggest that you check out the 1943 movie version featuring orson welles, a screenplay co-written by aldous huxley, and a young elizabeth taylor as helen.)

anyone who has read "jane eyre" knows that it is pretty lengthy, it does span her life and there are a lot of twists and turns. and i will have to say that with every surprise twist i was genuine caught off guard. but i won't discuss them here cos then this entry will read like a sparknotes summary.

what i will discuss is my skepticism when it came to jane eyre and mr. rochester's love. as we have seen before, i am not always one for love. hate to be the grinch that stole romance but i felt that the only reason jane fell for mr. rochester was that he was the only male she interacted with in life. there was her abusive cousin and the evil mr. brockehurst but other than that no one. and like any good girlfriend, i was worried about jane because rochester was her first love ad her first relationship. i mean the poor girl was in an orphanage her majority of life and then falls for the first guy she conversed with. in my opinion, she fell in love because there was no other option. and you have to admit he was extremely rough around the edges so it wasn't like her falling for him seemed reasonable at first. but as it turned out, i was wrong. he was extremely sweet and worthy of her love. i mean he won me over with the following declaration of his love:

"i sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you--especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if i had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. and if that boisterous channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, i am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then i've a nervous notion i should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you--you'd forget me."

and even after being being against their love, i was extremely heartbroken when their first wedding didn't happen. i thought jane's running away from mr. rochester was a huge mistake. she saw the monster he was married too so she should have overlooked his marriage to it. if it was me, i would have married him but i do have less integrity than jane. but my sadness soon changed because in the end, jane and mr. rochester get their happy ending. though sadly rochester did lose a limb but thankfully charlotte gave him his sight back.

i was extremely grateful to charlotte brönte for restoring my faith in the classic romance novels, after i had read her sister emily's disastrous novel. and i have also decided to one day, force my teenage daughter to read "jane eyre" so she doesn't wait so long in life to experience a great story like i did.