After reading some very disturbing short stories for my
South Asian Lit class, I took a break and started Texts From Jane Eyre. I was not disappointed.
Usually I get really defensive when people make fun of my
favorite books, but in this case, I couldn’t stop laughing. Mallory Ortberg clearly
loves the books she’s spoofing, which definitely adds to the flavor and voice
of the book. Even though I hadn’t read every novel she covered, I was still
amused by every one of them. Part of what made it enjoyable was that she was making
fun of the White Male Canon, showing the weaknesses of the characters that some
people consider the do-all, end-all of literature. As Ortberg puts it, “The
canon is just brimming with so many wonderful, selfish assholes.”
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| From the Pride and Prejudice chapter, which made my roommate laugh so hard she cried. |
One of the weaker parts of the book, I felt, was that a lot
of the chapters seemed like they had the same voice. Maybe I can chalk that up to
the fact that I breezed through the book (though it’s a nice size, the large
font and layout mean it’s actually not as long as I’d thought when I bought
it), but it seemed like a lot of the humor lay in USING ALL CAPS for multiple
characters, and for one side of the conversation to be the “crazy” lead
character talking to the dry, witty side character.
That being said, I love this book and I’m recommending it to
anyone who wants a comfortable read about books they love.
4/5
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