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(More customer reviews)Lovers of Mr. Rochester beware - in this, his second book of literary puzzles, John Sutherland turns his considerable powers of literary analysis towards, amongst other things, undoing the good reputation enjoyed by Jane Eyre's brooding hero. Bronte fans, brace yourself for some idol-smashing. As in his first book of devoted to literary head-scratchers (the wonderful Is Heathcliff a Murderer?), Sutherland here sets himself out to answer some of Western literature's most intriguing questions. Though you might not always agree with some of the conclusions Sutherland comes to (we have to have a talk, he and I, about Mr. Rochester's moral integrity) as a writer he is always witty, as a thinker always innovative, and as a guide through literature's most baffling conundrums, always genial. Buy this book and I promise not only will you learn something (and, if you're anything like me, get into some very heated debates with fellow literature lovers about Jane Eyre's prospects for bliss, etc.) - but you'll also have a heck of a lot of fun.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Can Jane Eyre Be Happy: More Puzzles in Classic Fiction (Oxford World's Classics)
The exciting sequel to the enormously successful Is Heathcliff A Murderer?, John Sutherland's latest collection of literary puzzles, Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? turns up unexpected and brain-teasing aspects of the range of canonical British and American fiction represented in the World's Classics list. With bold imaginative speculation he investigates thirty-four literary conundrums, ranging from Daniel Defoe to Virginia Woolf.Covering issues well beyond the strict confines of Victorian fiction, Sutherland explores the questions readers often ask but critics rarely discuss: Why does Robinson Crusoe find only one footprint? How does Magwitch swim to shore with a great iron on his leg? Where does Fanny Hill keep her contraceptives? Whose side is Hawkeye on? And how does Clarissa Dalloway get home so quickly?As in its universally well received predecessor, the questions and answers in Can Jane Eyre Be Happy? are ingenious and convincing, and return the reader with new respect to the great novels they celebrate.
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