Culture Vulture: Complain about Jane

Monday, November 28, 2011

Complain about Jane

http://bookielaura.blogspot.com/2011/01/jane-by-april-linder.html

Barnes and Noble has made me sad about life... at least my suburban location has. Aside from the tons of vampire teen lit they now carry, the obsession with the Nook, and the lack of Doctor Who DVDs, I came across a book called Jane in the teen section. Intrigued, I picked it up - and immediately regretted it.

It's a modernization of Jane Eyre. And that offends me. Probably because Jane Eyre is my most favorite book in the entire universe.

A modernization would be okay, except for how it's done. Here's the description from Barnes and Noble:

Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, a world-famous rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance.

But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is soon tested by an agonizing secret from his past. Torn between her feelings for Nico and his fateful secret, Jane must decide: Does being true to herself mean giving up on true love?

Rochester is a rock star? Are you SERIOUS? That's like... oh, I dunno, making Mr. Darcy an UNDERWEAR MODEL. If I wanted to read about a girl meeting a rock star, I'd read every other romance novel EVER.

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TOO?!

Sorry, sorry - Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester are rather sacred to me. Perhaps the book is perfectly good in its own right, but I don't want to hear about any comparisons between the two. I haven't read the book, but this Nico person sounds completely different from Rochester - and thus it's not the same story. And now I'm getting all defensive over fictional characters because...