And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters

Texts from Jane Eyre is a chuckle-inducing collection of imaginary conversations between both fictional characters, and authors (to their fictional friends). As literary humor goes, it's on the nose, poking fun at everything from Hamlet's sullenness to Poe's crush on his cousin. It's not crass, but it also spares no prisoners. Some I found more funny than others, but overall this was great for a laugh. I recommend it for English majors the world over (as well as Lit professors/teachers, librarians, etc.)

Have you ever seen a really gifted caricature artist at one of those state fairs, that managed to highlight all the quirks and distinctive parts of someone, whipping up in a few minutes a portrait with a recognizable likeness that exaggerates just enough for good-spirited humor? That is what you can imagine Mallory Ortberg has done with your favorite authors, characters, and oeuvres from classic literature.
This book is masterful in its ability to hone in, razor sharp, and render clearly absurd some of these figures: from Achilles, pouting in his tent, mid-war, to Edgar Allen Poe, trying to use that classic "a bird is looking at me" excuse for not leaving the house. Furthermore, the author truly understands and relays text-based humor in a way that I have never seen in a published work.
Most importantly, this will make you want to go back and reread some classics (and read some for the first time). Honestly, if Ortberg had written one of these on literary theorists, I probably would have stayed in grad school.

Texts From Jane Eyre And Other Conversations With Your Favorite Literary Characters is the first publication by Mallory Ortberg, co-founder of highbrow humor site The Toast. Her previous work has been published through a number of outlets, but I found out about her at a reading in Los Angeles where she performed a piece called Male Novelist Jokes. I can't do justice to the premise by describing what I saw that night, I can only say these are now my favorite lightbulb jokes of all time, and I will be keeping them in mind when setting forth on novels of my own, as to to avoid being rightfully lampooned. Throughout the piece, the repetition of the question posed became funnier with each variation in Ortberg's inflection and the wounds left by the sharpness of her wit grew deeper.

Ortberg's book, which imagines how figures from literature would converse over text message, draws comedy from the widely criticized style of conversation that the kids these days use over their smartphones, but it is not an indictment of that development in our society. Rather, it's in the juxtaposition of text messaging and classic characters where the amusement lies, and it's written in such a fun way that you can feel the author laughing right along with you. (Or at the very least, restraining a smile while watching you crack up - something I enjoy about Ortberg's social media presence is her explosive, occasionally all-caps persona, which she balances out with sincere bursts of sentiment and social and political commentary.)

Humor based on reference can be tricky. In the case of sticking Dennis Miller in the broadcast booth on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, it was disastrous. For a show like FAMILY GUY, it can be seen as a shortcut. In this work by Ortberg's, which is clever and intelligent without being condescending or inscrutable, I've found that the audience doesn't necessarily require an in-depth knowledge of literary canon to appreciate the jokes. It's more about Ortberg's tone and syntax. My father was often fond of repeating to me the adage attributed to Ed Wynn: "A comic says funny things, a comedian says things funny." But Ortberg is apt at both. Even as I kicked myself for not being as well-read as an English Literature graduate, writer, and reviewer of books probably should be, I was able to easily follow the track. We are familiar with these archetypes, and antiquated views on class and gender, as displayed by these characters representing the periods of both their fictional universe and of the times the authors who created them lived in.

There are also riffs on modern novels like THE HUNGER GAMES and the HARRY POTTER series. In fact, there is a wide variety of eras and genres represented and it will be tough to select a favorite portrayal. Hamlet acting like a petulant teenager? Ron Weasley as a rube? Scarlett O' Hara as an unapologetic flirt? If you aren't already a fan of the novels sent up, you might just go seek them out - or, if you hated having to study some of these books and authors in an academic setting, maybe this will be a cathartic reading experience. Not that Ortberg has contempt for the characters, just that she really brings out the worst in them for you.

The layout of this book is a beautiful thing. There is no preface, no commentary from Ortberg, the reader just dives in as if they've picked up someone else's phone and started snooping around their inbox. The context of each exchange is easy to pick up on and the conversations are clear. But the swiftness of the read should only be seen as an indicator of how entertaining it is.

This is not merely an LOL-speak novelty, it is a well-crafted parody that belongs in the collection of book lovers everywhere.

This could be the perfect choice for the literature buff on your holiday gift list. The text messages run from the classics to modern literature to The Babysitters Club.

One text conversation that made me giggle was from two characters from The Outsiders trying to figure out how to pronounce “soc”. Some texts went right over my head because I hadn’t read the original book. Rest assured, there’s a little something for every reader in Texts From Jane Eyre.

This is one of those books that can be read a little at a time – in fact, I’d recommend it. Put it in your guest room for a little unexpected entertainment for your guests. I guarantee it will start some fun conversations.
*I received a review copy in exchange for my opinion

This small book, it only takes 2 hours to listen, is very funny. The author takes characters or authors from your favorite books and writes text messages from them.

For the most part I recognized the characters. I haven't read William Carlos Williams who is a poet I see checking it out on google. I think she may have given way too much time to Daisy Miller, but all in all it's a very entertaining listen. There are two narrators Zach Villa and Amy Landon who do a credible job voicing the characters, including happy winky face emojis. I even enjoyed the throaty laugh by Zach at one point, you don't get that much in audible books.

My absolute favorites were Hamlet hiding in his room, Wuthering Heights Heathcliffe and Cathy, The Lorax, and Little Women.

I highly recommend this cute little book for your commute to work or when sitting in bed after an operation! Oh, heck it would be good anywhere!

This book is hilarious. I laughed and laughed and can't pick out a favorite. Well, okay, twist my arm, I love Rebecca and I was delighted to find the texts between Mrs. Danvers and the second Mrs. DeWinter. Also the texts between Jo and Meg March from Little Women. Can we have Texts From Jane Eyre, the sequel, please? I need more!!!

Full disclosure - I haven't read the whole book, just the sample and some selections of it online. Great idea, and I mostly liked the bits I did read, but this is priced way too high for the length of it (especially since by design it's not a lot of content per page.) There are tons of fanpages around the internet with similar "texts from fictional characters" type content for $11 for 240 pages to be reasonable.

I received an advanced reader's copy through Goodreads First Reads.
There were some formatting issues typical of an ARC, but nothing I couldn't figure out. The content was very clever and witty. My favorite is from Wuthering Heights. It is so on point.
An excerpt: (SPOILER ALERT)

do you want to make out right now

god no
i want to wait until you're dead
and then rip up the earth over your grave
and crawl inside

:)

Very funny, certainly a good gift for any literary buff.

If you've read any western classics and loved them, or read the western classics and hated them, Mallory Ortberg has a book for you (and it's the same book). This is all jokes about our favorite literary characters, as the title aptly describes, and it indeed delivers with the same hilarious wit as we have come to expect as dedicated readers and fans of the The-Toast.net.

Finally someone has thought to bring the internet to me in book form, so I can keep it on my bookshelf next to other things that are fun to read. Wins all around.

I thought this book was hilarious, even when I hadn't read the work being referenced. It was clear that the joke was always being made about the characters, rather than it being funny that Odysseus or Jane Eyre was using 21st century technology, which would be a tiresome joke over the course of a whole book.

The book kind of reminded me of an extended and particularly funny McSweeney's article. Really funny - I routinely read passages out loud to my annoyed roommate.

I think teachers would want to consider picking up a copy for a way to engage students and make them understand the characters motivations better.

Some of the passages were funny, especially the "Prufrock" exchange. However, I've taught Great Expectations for 10 years, and it wasn't accurate to the novel at all. For Miss Havisham to be mock-congratulating a woman named Sarah on her upcoming baby is completely wrong/confusing when Sarah Pocket, Miss H's suck-up, old-maid cousin, who plays a pretty significant role in the novel, would have never been in the position to have a child. In a novel so rich with characters, there would be no reason to make someone new up (with the same name as a different character) unless it was just carelessness on the author's part.

I had pre-ordered and was waiting with bated breath after reading several reviews -finally, Texts from Jane Eyre arrived in all its glory on my Kindle today! It's all you've read and more! Hilarious! Witty! Sophisticated! And who knows literature like this!?! Mallory brings the characters back to life and I love it! Laugh-out-loud-and-have-to-read-it-to-someone funny!

Obviously the texts from books I've actually read were the funniest. Walden is the best, in my opinion...I had to go read that one to my husband. Poking fun at old social mores and picking apart the ways we typically think of characters made this a fun read.

Really deserves 2.5, premise is solid enough, but the comedic style is repetitive. The "joke" is one person, or both, texting is crazy in some manner specific to the book or author. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, a few spot on moments, but the style stretches very thin. I recommend reading it to kill time, but not as a purchase.

Honestly, I thought that the idea of fictional text convos between famous literary characters was a witty idea. In reality, this is a painful bore that reads like it was written by dorky 'tweens with too much time on their hands (and iPhones).

Not even a little bit funny. I imagine the author had an amusing time writing this, but I didn't have fun reading it. A lot of the conversations aren't even true to the books they represent. It seemed like a good idea, but wasn't funny.

Texts from Jane Eyre: Opening this book I found no "text" from Jane Eyre, only imagined ones. Such a concept might be useful in the high school classroom, to get students involved with classical characters, but in this publication, the texts come across as repetitiously tedious and unfunny. A big disappointment for me after reading so many positive reviews!

I won this ARC book in a goodreads.com giveaway...thanks.
In order to really enjoy this unique and clever book you have to be well read and I'm embarrassed to say that it appears that I am not. While I read the book from cover to cover I was lost a lot because I was unfamiliar with the book or literary character. This book just wasn't for me but I'm saving it for my sister who was an English teacher and she is very well read.

Something is very wrong. If this book were even remotely amusing--never mind witty or clever--maybe just a little funny at a single point--it would still be a jaw-dropingly inane work given all the other ways in which it fails (a list doesn't warrant the reviewer's or the reader's time). When I see pieces like this published, it's often a tip-off that industry connections were the primary factor in the publishers' valuation of the work. There are so many interesting ways to play around with the literary canon, its textuality, and the idea of txt msging. Clearly this author has no knowledge of them. It is mystifying and shameful that this book was published.