Yay! Time for my second “Turn to Page 394” Thursday post! I’ve been wanting to write this one, ever since I posted the first one! But things just haven’t worked out, haha. My schedule is fairly erratic at the best of times. I never know what I’ll be doing on a particular day, until that day rolls around. But oh well! I have time now, so…this is happening!

For those of you who don’t know, “Turn to Page 394” Thursdays was a blog hop created by me, in order to honour a great actor (Alan Rickman), as well as a great character (Severus Snape). Since Alan Rickman left this world on a Thursday, that is the day on which I have chosen to host this blog hop!

How does it work? You pick a book (that’s long enough, of course), turn to page 394 in that book, and post a passage, or the whole page (whichever you think will be more
interesting), and then discuss it! I’ve been having fun with it, and all are welcome to join! Just share the link to your “Turn to Page 394” Thursday post in the comments below, and share the button for the blog hop in your post (not required, but it would make me happy!)

So, which book will I be discussing today? I’ve decided that due to some copyright stuff, and also because the focus of my major was on this sort of literature (and that I don’t discuss it on here enough), I will choose a classic!

Many of your should be familiar with this one, as it’s been around for quite some time, and the most recent film adaptation came out in 2011.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

I had the opportunity to read this book for a class which I had to complete in my Master’s program, and I was incredibly happy about it. I read it in paperback format, but my sister bought me the lovely clothbound Penguin version of it for Christmas. I love it..it’s so pretty. I may have to re-read it soon!

I was never assigned this book when in high school, or during my years as an undergraduate student. And I had never found the time to read it in my free time either, because I was either working, or taking a break from books (yes I know, blasphemy…but when you read dozens of books for school, it kind of burns you out…or that was the case with me during my undergraduate years anyway).

The opposite was the case while a graduate students, however…strangely enough. The pace we had to read at was even more intense, the books were thicker, and we also had to find interesting, intellectual things to say about what we had read. Yet, the courses which I took toward my Master’s degree, somehow re-ignited by move for books somehow. During my last few months of classes, I had already started building a TBR pile which I would get to once I handed in my very last essay.

Anyway…on to page 394 of Jane Eyre!

 The sounds I had heard after the scream, and the words that had been uttered, had probably been heard only by me; for they had proceeded from the room above mine: but they assured me that it was not a servant’s dream which had thus struck horror through the house; and that the explanation Mr. Rochester had given was merely an invention framed to pacify his guests. I dressed, then, to be ready for emergencies. When dressed, I sat a long time by the window looking out over the silent grounds and silvered fields and waiting for I knew not what. It seemed to me that some event must follow the strange cry, struggle, and call.

No: stillness returned: each murmur and movement ceased gradually, and in about an hour Thornfield Hall was again as hushed as a desert. It seemed that sleep and night had resumed their empire. Meantime the moon declined: she was about to set. Not liking to sit in the cold and darkness, I thought I would lie down on my bed, dressed as I was. I left the window, and moved with little noise across the carpet; as I stooped to take off my shoes, a cautious hand tapped low at the door.
‘Am I wanted?’ I asked.
‘Are you up?’ asked the voice I expected to hear, viz., my master’s.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘And dressed?’
‘Yes.’
‘Come out, then, quietly.’

While this page does not contain some my favourite quotes, or the most eloquent of writing, you can still tell just how skilled a writer Charlotte Brontë was. This page also contains a great amount of the mystery and intrigue with which the overall story is imbibed. I will not spoil anything, for those of you who have not yet read the book or seen any of the film adaptations, but the night to which this page refers, turns out to be a very interesting one for Jane.

I just seem to get lucky with these posts! In my first “Turn to Page 394” Thursday post, the first book I picked and opened on page 394…was just perfection. Same thing this time! I knew I was going to use a classic, but I wasn’t sure which yet. I opened Jane Eyre and ta da! Just pure awesomeness.

Have you guys ever read Jane Eyre? Do you want to? Or have you seen the 2011 film? Let me know in the comments below!

Buy on Amazon.ca: Jane Eyre (Penguin clothbound)
Buy on Amazon.com: Jane Eyre (Penguin clothbound)

Note: If you do join in, please just link back to my blog, or my blog post discussing the blog hop an what to do. Also, you can include the image below in your post or on your blog if you would like to~