FEB - Texts From Jane Eyre

February review for Book Riot's Read Harder 2017: Texts From Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg, 2014. [book about books category]

Texts From Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations With Your Favorite Literary Characters is, in a word, fantastic. I was gifted this little tome for Christmas a few years ago, and I was delighted to read it, not simply because I love everything Jane Eyre, but also because I love the premise, the idea of translating classic stories into a different storytelling format. Mallory Ortberg is the creator of The Toast, a fantastic erstwhile blog for women that created a safe space for free expression in a relatively oppressive online climate. I am always so in awe of women like Ortberg who have found a way to use their voice to chisel away at the world, something I am still working on. Her creativity and drive are inspirational in a nonstandard sort of path, another idea of one emulation of a writer's life. 

In her book, Mallory Ortberg takes your favorite literary characters (as well as some unknowns) and imagines how their stories would unfold over text. It is a brilliant way to highlight interaction in a digital age, including missed calls and contact searches in the interactions. Some stories I had to look up, while others I could get the gist of without any research of my own--I thought it incredibly interesting how Ortberg distilled each story, finding the salient parts and poking fun at them in their entries. I found myself consistently stifling laughter in public places as I read, unable to contain my glee. For example:

Just, really, so fantastic. But if I were to lay out all the entries I thought to be hilarious, I would be taking pictures of most of the pages, so I will voraciously suggest that you pick up a copy of your own and get to laughing.