Currently Reading

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Can you tell I have absolutely nothing to blog about? I've been absolutely fatigued for about a month now (and if I didn't have a list of likely culprits, I'd have been to the doctor's already).

Anywho.... I dug this one out of my tbr pile and so far--about 50 pages in--really enjoying it. Sort of odd because I couldn't get through the first 20 pages of the original (though I love the BBC movie!!! ::pitter-patter:: goes my heart over Toby Stephen's Edward Rochester!!--follow that link to the Youtube video of the marriage proposal; you won't regret it!!)

Ahem... ::straightens clothes ala Captain Picard::

Getting back on topic... Not reading the original book might have been a good thing in this case since a lot of the reviews over on Amazon seem to be of the underwhelmed variety, mostly due to the fact that they see this book as a straight re-telling with no new twists apart from the setting.




I'm going to be ultra lazy and just copy and past a small bit from the synopsis posted on Amazon:

Conceived in the gen-tanks on the planet Baldus and rejected by the woman who commissioned her birth, Jenna Starborn finds a career as a nuclear generator technician on the inhospitable planet Fieldstar. At the estate of Thorrastone Park, Jenna finds solace and friendship in the household's staff; she also succumbs to a forbidden attraction to the mysterious master of the house, Everett Ravenbeck, and finds her life changed forever.

(I suspect I'll be re-watching the DVD once I finish this book.)
Blog Widget by LinkWithin

6 comments:

raine said...

Haven't read this, but have read a couple of Shinn's books. She's a pretty good writer!
And if this has anything like Rochester in it, I'm game. :)
(Hope you feel better!).

azteclady said...

Back when I was a tween--or perhaps just barely a teen--I read the Bröntés' books and felt there was nothing more romantic than that.

Then I grew up and decided that I prefer the optimism of the romance genre--particularly when it's well written.

;-)

Evangeline Holland said...

I had to stop reading after about 100 pages because the literal re-telling of Jane Eyre was too much for me. I love Shinn's other books, but the too-closely followed inspiration for the book choked the life out of the sf/f setting and Jenna's background.

vanessa jaye said...

Raine: I've only read one of Shinn's books previously - The Woodcutter's Wife, I think-- and loved it. But I have a number of her books (the Arch Angel series) in my tbr pile.

vanessa jaye said...

Aztec- I read Wutherington Heights back in high school. That was it.

I'd read The Wide Sargasso Sea on my own a couple of years later, but liked it a lot (took place in Jamaica which was a nice change of pace.)

While I've heard of Jane Eyre, I hadn't read the book or seen the movie until 2 yrs ago. Not sure I'll attempt the book again, but absolutely loved the BBC movie/DVD.

vanessa jaye said...

Evangeline (lovely name, btw) - Your reaction falls in line with the majority of reviews on Amazon.

I wonder if I'd read the original, if I'd had the same response? I don't *think* I'd mind a more or less straight retelling as long as there was something new brought to the table--in this case the sci-fi spin, or some new twist/exploration of character.

For instance, I think I own just about all of the P&P movies. Each one is a little different (my favourite is the A&E one with Collin Firth!) but I've enjoyed them all. And I know that P&P inspired novels are a virtual sub-genre onto themselves. Some of the books are a simple retelling from another character's pov.

It's interesting that (many) peeps seem to accept the P&P retelling, but that's the big turn off with this book.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
 

2008 Vanessa Jaye | All Rights Reserved | Design by Katrina Glover | Back to top

You are visitor number:

web stats