#MyFirstPostRevisited Rereading #JaneEyre #WWWBlogs

I met the fabulous short fiction writer and blogger, Sara Brentyn, some time ago, in the bloggisphere, although I’m not sure where exactly, but I have a feeling it might have been through Charli’s Carrot Ranch flash fiction challenge, in which we both take part regularly.

Sarah has started a new blog hop called My First Post Revisited, and passed on the baton to five other fabulous bloggers such as Geoff Le Pard, who also writes short fiction, novels, family history, and tons of interesting posts, and I really don’t know where he finds the time, but I’m glad he does!

I’m almost sure I met Geoff in my first wordpress blogging challenge in june 2014, but I meet so many people on different blog hops and weekly challenges, it’s hard to remember where exactly we met.

Anyway, Geoff was kind enough to pass the baton on to five other bloggers including me, so here I am, taking up the challenge to revisit that very first post, in my case The post is called ‘Always Rereading Jane Eyre’, it was posted on 11^th December 2013  and doesn’t have a single like 😦

By the way, check out Geoff’s first post here.

Well, here’s my first post to the letter, as per the rules.

Always rereading Jane Eyre

I was an impressionable teenager the first time I read Jane Eyre and I have reread it countless times since then. Every time I have reread it I have uncovered another angle or aspect in this superb manuscript. My first impression was one of awe and admiration due to the sheer power of the characters and the story. Each rereading has produced a powerful effect shifting from wonder and respect to anger and disbelief. These pendular reactions probably mirrored my own personal development and life experiences.

I don’t think it’s necessary to go through these transitions, suffice it to say that this period of veneration lasted until I read Wide Sargasso Sea, from then on Jane Eyre suffered an irreversible upheaval. The characters and events have been constructed and deconstructed in my mind obsessively to such an extent that I had to write the sequel to both novels in order to get them out of my system, and that is exactly what I did.

Now that I have written my sequel I am going to reread Jane Eyre one more time, which I’m sure will not be the last time, but it will be a very different rereading. This time I’d like to reread it publicly on this blog, as if it were my diary. I don’t know the exact shape it will take, but my plan is to write about my reflections on the whole novel as I reread it from start to finish.

Why am I doing this? Because I need to read it again, and I need to publicly record my impressions and perhaps offer new insights to myself and anyone else interested in deciphering this unequalled work of art.

Related articles:

• The 100 best novels: No 12 – Jane Eyre (theguardian.com)

• Reviews of Wide Sargasso Sea (Goodreads)

• Reviews of Jane Eyre (Goodreads)

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That’s it!

Well, I have been rereading and reinterpreting Jane Eyre all my life and publicly on this blog. Many of the posts I’ve written over the past three years are related to Jane Eyre and Victorian literature, so I’ve done what I said I would do. In fact my most viewed posts are related to Jane Eyre, so my blog’s name and my efforts to encourage readers to read, reread and reinterpret, Jane Eyre, have been constant, and relatively successful.

It was nice to revisit, because I don’t think I’ve lost my focus, although I’ve added lots of other topics to the blog, such as photos, short fiction, and the occasional rant!

Now I nominate

Noelle, who’s a wonderful blogger and writer I met on the A-Z in 2014, I think it was.

Olga who is a writer and translator and a very supportive blogger I met at least two years ago, although I’m not sure how or where.

Mae Clair is a fabulous writer who is also a regular blogger. I met her more recently when I read and reviewed her novel, Eclipse Lake for #RBRT.

Cathy at Between the lines blogs her wonderful book reviews and beautiful pictures, too. I also met her through #RBRT

Dale, The Internet nobody,  posts photos, poetry, random thoughts, music and lots more.  I regularly meet Dale on challenges such as #1linerwednesday, and #socs. He also has a fun weekly photo challenge I’ve recently taken part in, K’lee and Dale’s Weekly Cosmic Photo Challenge

And because I’m not very good at following rules, I’m adding a sixth blogger,

Beth, who didn’t have her glasses on, is a teacher, a grandmother and an optimist, like me, so I’m also nominating her, too!

Please feel free to take part or not, and if anyone else I haven’t nominated is keen to take part, that’s OK, too.

Oh dear, I think I just bent the rules, but we grandmothers are great rule breakers, ask our grandchildren’s parent all about it! By the way, the rules are here!

I think, according to the rules I’m entitled to a glass of wine, just like I was doing in this merry picture. It was taken a few months ago, but I’m having some similar wine today!

So, do you remember your first post?

Drop a link to your first post in the comments if you’d like me to have a look!