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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Charles and his fiance Ernestina are roaming Lyme, England when they come across the mysterious and perhaps mad woman known as, Tragedy, the French Lieutenant's Woman, or in crude terms the French Lieutenant's Whore). The word is she awaits the return of a Frenchman injured in a shipwreck off the coast. The household Tragedy was a governess for nursed the Frenchman to health and they supposedly had an inappropriate relationship for Victorian times. Charles doesn't think twice about her until he stumbles across her sleeping in the woods. She seems wild and different than any other Victorian woman he's met, even more than Ernestina. Charles feels a connection to Tragedy, whose real name is Sarah, and gains her trust to relate the "true" story of her affair with the Frenchman. Charles comes to learn that Sarah is an extremely complicated woman, whose motivations are a mystery, perhaps even to herself.
This novel portrays the hypocrisy of the Victorian age, the immaculate facade and the hypersexuality lying underneath.
This novel portrays the hypocrisy of the Victorian age, the immaculate facade and the hypersexuality lying underneath.
I am so thankful for the existence of Fowles and for the fact that, be them translated or not, I keep falling in love with his works over and over again. Although this is only the second book I've read by him this far, I just know he is one of my favourite authors and I shall slowly but surely make my way through all his other ones.
A multi-faceted story about women and the male gaze, The French Lieutenant's Woman follows a plethora of characters that stand for a plethora of principles. That is, I feel, less important to discuss in a review, because this is one of those books in whose case you must get to know the characters page by page in order to enjoy it fully.
What I feel that I can say, though, is that I fell head over heels with Fowles' post-modernistic approach to the Victorian era, with the funny and ironic way in which he throws a critique at the society and, most of all, with his interventions and his way of pulling you out of the story all of a sudden and then shoving you right back in, without making you confused any bit whatsoever. He is an author that speaks to the reader (literally) and I haven't ever enjoyed such a work written by anyone else before.
The characters are to die for, very well-developed and eye-catching, especially considering the social background they are living their lives in. You get to know them quite well, to laugh when they laugh and to suffer when they do. You get to be confused with them and to try to be content in the end. And then, from time to time, it seems like you get to have a coffee with the author himself, who tells you tales about his tale. What could you want more?
I certainly recommend this book to people. I don't know to whom really, because it is pretty dense, so probably not to beginners. But if you ever wanted to give it a chance and thought that it may be a soap opera type of romance book and thus not worth it... The French lieutenant's woman shall change your mind about that. Just you try her.
A multi-faceted story about women and the male gaze, The French Lieutenant's Woman follows a plethora of characters that stand for a plethora of principles. That is, I feel, less important to discuss in a review, because this is one of those books in whose case you must get to know the characters page by page in order to enjoy it fully.
What I feel that I can say, though, is that I fell head over heels with Fowles' post-modernistic approach to the Victorian era, with the funny and ironic way in which he throws a critique at the society and, most of all, with his interventions and his way of pulling you out of the story all of a sudden and then shoving you right back in, without making you confused any bit whatsoever. He is an author that speaks to the reader (literally) and I haven't ever enjoyed such a work written by anyone else before.
The characters are to die for, very well-developed and eye-catching, especially considering the social background they are living their lives in. You get to know them quite well, to laugh when they laugh and to suffer when they do. You get to be confused with them and to try to be content in the end. And then, from time to time, it seems like you get to have a coffee with the author himself, who tells you tales about his tale. What could you want more?
I certainly recommend this book to people. I don't know to whom really, because it is pretty dense, so probably not to beginners. But if you ever wanted to give it a chance and thought that it may be a soap opera type of romance book and thus not worth it... The French lieutenant's woman shall change your mind about that. Just you try her.
This was a quick read & Jeremy Irons was the narrator, so I definitely knew I would be engrossed.
I’ve never seen the movie based on the novel, but I always wanted to watch it because it was considered for many awards. But based on the book, I’m not so sure why it was considered award-worthy. To be honest, the novel seemed simple. So, I ‘googled’ the book and it helps explain why it was considered to be “notable”. Perhaps it was because it was the time period covered or publication?
Either way, I not sure if I agree but it could be just I’m too simple too. Good story nonetheless but not 5 stars for me.
I’ve never seen the movie based on the novel, but I always wanted to watch it because it was considered for many awards. But based on the book, I’m not so sure why it was considered award-worthy. To be honest, the novel seemed simple. So, I ‘googled’ the book and it helps explain why it was considered to be “notable”. Perhaps it was because it was the time period covered or publication?
Either way, I not sure if I agree but it could be just I’m too simple too. Good story nonetheless but not 5 stars for me.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is my third Fowles novel but I think I would have found it much more engaging if it was my first. It’s a highly unique take on a Victorian novel but I found it a little dull compared to the Collector and the Magus. Is this a highly biased and perhaps an unfair take? Yes, but unfortunately I don’t possess the ability to consume media in a vacuum.
This novel isn't something I would normally read. Even though John Fowles is (I believe) a pretty popular author, I have never heard of him, and the novel itself isn't marketed very well to someone out of the know (like I am). The description on the back cover really only says it's about a "Victorian love triangle" and leaves it at that. While a love triangle definitely does fuel the plot forward, I think describing the novel as that alone belittles it. I feel as though readers tend to associate love triangles with really simplistic fiction and consider it a cheap plot device that an author can use to keep a story interesting.
In the defense of the people who are in charge of writing back-cover plot summaries, though, there is no simple way to describe The French Lieutenant's Woman. At the center of it all, there's a man named Charles who is, indeed, trapped in a love triangle with his fiancée, Ernestina (which is nice wordplay on the name Ernest from Wilde's work), and a woman named Sarah (the novel's namesake), with whom he becomes increasingly more fascinated as the plot goes on since she represents everything his Victorian society is not.
While the love triangle, as I said, propels the plot forward, the novel also explores Victorian society and critiques it as the story moves along. In addition to that, Fowles' narrator is probably the most interesting I've ever read. I can see how it can be off-putting to some since he almost, in my opinion, belittles the characters by talking about them as if they are figures in a doll house that he has control over - I realize that sounds strange, but that's just the way I read it. It's still very imaginative, though, and that unique factor propelled the story to a whole other level for me.
While it is, at its core, a love triangle, it is a love triangle of the classiest sorts and a novel that I would recommend fully. Even if you may feel a little in the dark as to what the story is about, it's very enjoyable slowly finding out as you read through.
In the defense of the people who are in charge of writing back-cover plot summaries, though, there is no simple way to describe The French Lieutenant's Woman. At the center of it all, there's a man named Charles who is, indeed, trapped in a love triangle with his fiancée, Ernestina (which is nice wordplay on the name Ernest from Wilde's work), and a woman named Sarah (the novel's namesake), with whom he becomes increasingly more fascinated as the plot goes on since she represents everything his Victorian society is not.
While the love triangle, as I said, propels the plot forward, the novel also explores Victorian society and critiques it as the story moves along. In addition to that, Fowles' narrator is probably the most interesting I've ever read. I can see how it can be off-putting to some since he almost, in my opinion, belittles the characters by talking about them as if they are figures in a doll house that he has control over - I realize that sounds strange, but that's just the way I read it. It's still very imaginative, though, and that unique factor propelled the story to a whole other level for me.
While it is, at its core, a love triangle, it is a love triangle of the classiest sorts and a novel that I would recommend fully. Even if you may feel a little in the dark as to what the story is about, it's very enjoyable slowly finding out as you read through.
I really enjoyed this book. The author had a unique way of writing with a new perspective that switched between 1867 and 1967. A little confusing at time but it definitely kept my interest.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman at times reads exactly like a Victorian novel; Fowles is able to mimic the style impeccably and I often forgot I was reading a modern piece of writing. However, the text is peppered with dry observations on the characters, the Victorians or the process of writing a story that come from such a modern perspective that they jolted me out of this false sense of period and made me aware of what the author was doing. Fowles has a very knowing, self-conscious narratorial voice in these passages which can put some readers off, particularly as they often interrupt the flow of the story. He does like to draw attention to just how clever he is being, but as I whole-heartedly agree with him it’s very difficult to find this an irritating trait. In fact, I thought that Fowles observations and reflections on being Victorian, something obviously impossible in contemporary novels, added an extra layer of richness to the text. He uses the distance and perspective provided by time to make explicit the cultural points of view latent in these Victorian novels and provide commentary on them. I think it’s great that he doesn’t just write a historical novel butinstead uses a historical style and setting to produce something so lucid and clever.
The story centres around Charles Smithson, who is staying in Lyme Regis visiting his fiancee, Ernestina, prior to their wedding. There he meets Sarah Woodruff, also known as Tragedy or, less kindly, as the French Lieutenant’s Woman. As he becomes increasingly fascinated by Sarah he is forced to reexamine his own values as his forthcoming marriage is threatened. Charles is a thoroughly intriguing central character: although not always likeable, he is so open and honest with himself that it is impossible not to sympathise with him as he struggles with doing what is morally right but socially unacceptable. I got the impression that Fowles rather likes him even though he may not approve of him. His ‘sinister fondness‘ (p. 17) for spending time in the library, so frowned upon by his uncle, is another trait designed to make him appeal to the reader.
Fowles employs a similar tactic when talking about Sarah and her days at boarding school, designed to make her appeal to the reader and to make her relatable rather than aloof, as she initially appears. I felt I was manipulated into liking her, just as Charles is, while Ernestina on the other hand, the woman with a legitimate claim to affection, is not a sympathetic character at all. She is constantly shown playing games and acting rather than being sincere, a trait which continues even during moments of what should be genuine emotion.
Considering Fowles’ frequent interruptions of the narrative and drawing attention to the fictionality of the characters, I was surprised at how invested I was in Charles and Sarah and what happened to them. In this novel, Fowles explicitly states that there is no ‘real’ ending in fiction, just the author making things work out in his own way, yet still I cared about what ‘really’ happened. This year I’ve discovered that it takes a lot for me to forgive an author messing around with the story: it has to have a point and it has to be well executed. The French Lieutenant’s Woman exhibited both of these qualities and so was a fantastic book from beginning to end.
The story centres around Charles Smithson, who is staying in Lyme Regis visiting his fiancee, Ernestina, prior to their wedding. There he meets Sarah Woodruff, also known as Tragedy or, less kindly, as the French Lieutenant’s Woman. As he becomes increasingly fascinated by Sarah he is forced to reexamine his own values as his forthcoming marriage is threatened. Charles is a thoroughly intriguing central character: although not always likeable, he is so open and honest with himself that it is impossible not to sympathise with him as he struggles with doing what is morally right but socially unacceptable. I got the impression that Fowles rather likes him even though he may not approve of him. His ‘sinister fondness‘ (p. 17) for spending time in the library, so frowned upon by his uncle, is another trait designed to make him appeal to the reader.
Fowles employs a similar tactic when talking about Sarah and her days at boarding school, designed to make her appeal to the reader and to make her relatable rather than aloof, as she initially appears. I felt I was manipulated into liking her, just as Charles is, while Ernestina on the other hand, the woman with a legitimate claim to affection, is not a sympathetic character at all. She is constantly shown playing games and acting rather than being sincere, a trait which continues even during moments of what should be genuine emotion.
Considering Fowles’ frequent interruptions of the narrative and drawing attention to the fictionality of the characters, I was surprised at how invested I was in Charles and Sarah and what happened to them. In this novel, Fowles explicitly states that there is no ‘real’ ending in fiction, just the author making things work out in his own way, yet still I cared about what ‘really’ happened. This year I’ve discovered that it takes a lot for me to forgive an author messing around with the story: it has to have a point and it has to be well executed. The French Lieutenant’s Woman exhibited both of these qualities and so was a fantastic book from beginning to end.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This brings 1860s Victorian England to life so vividly you can almost smell it. More vividly strangely, than books genuinely written during the period, such as Dickens. Maybe it’s because Fowles has a sense of perspective denied to Victorian writers. It made me think – is this the England my ancestors knew? My Great-Great Grandparents left an impoverished Dorset not far from Lyme at about that time, presumably to escape agricultural poverty. You think, would they have recognised Fowles’ world?
And all the while of course Fowles is reminding you it’s a conjuring trick. He’s not writing in the 1860s at all, but in 1969! – The very antithesis of the prudish religious morality of a century earlier. It’s like comparing crinolines with mini-skirts (though the Sixties had a fair few hypocrisies of its own, particularly in the wake of Jimmy Saville.) Presumably the countryside around Lyme had changed little since Victorian times, and Fowles knew it well which is why he could bring it so life so readily.
I felt a little nonplussed about Sarah Woodruffs rebellion against the repressive world she lived in. And in fact Fowles seemed to be saying the servants were more honest and straightforward in their own skins than the middle-classes. And poor Charles, thrashing around in his model of Victorian manhood….I liked the concept of John Fowles actually sitting in a railway carriage with Charles at one point, wholly bizarre. An unusual and challenging book
And all the while of course Fowles is reminding you it’s a conjuring trick. He’s not writing in the 1860s at all, but in 1969! – The very antithesis of the prudish religious morality of a century earlier. It’s like comparing crinolines with mini-skirts (though the Sixties had a fair few hypocrisies of its own, particularly in the wake of Jimmy Saville.) Presumably the countryside around Lyme had changed little since Victorian times, and Fowles knew it well which is why he could bring it so life so readily.
I felt a little nonplussed about Sarah Woodruffs rebellion against the repressive world she lived in. And in fact Fowles seemed to be saying the servants were more honest and straightforward in their own skins than the middle-classes. And poor Charles, thrashing around in his model of Victorian manhood….I liked the concept of John Fowles actually sitting in a railway carriage with Charles at one point, wholly bizarre. An unusual and challenging book
This book was recommended to me by a professor because it deals with a so-called "fallen woman" in Victorian times, which has a strong bearing on my own future master's thesis.
This book honestly surprised me and challenged my expectations of literature, which can only be a good thing. The story itself is interesting and well-executed enough, but what truly stands out is the author's deconstruction of the Victorian novel as an art form and of the process of writing itself. Fowles artfully lets the reader look over his shoulder as he plots the events of the story and the characters, but even this insight is of course only what the author very carefully allows to the reader. Presenting two conflicting endings and insisting that they are both equally valid when the charcters' motivations are taken into account is a bold move, but one Fowles (by that point himself inserted into the story to observe and explain his process to the reader) pulls off with considerable style and panache.
Seldom have I been so jerked about and confused by a novel, but equally seldom have I been so entertained by ruminations on the nature of storytelling and authorship, or so drawn into a story while continually being skuilfully pulled out of it again. This really is a masterpiece.
This book honestly surprised me and challenged my expectations of literature, which can only be a good thing. The story itself is interesting and well-executed enough, but what truly stands out is the author's deconstruction of the Victorian novel as an art form and of the process of writing itself. Fowles artfully lets the reader look over his shoulder as he plots the events of the story and the characters, but even this insight is of course only what the author very carefully allows to the reader. Presenting two conflicting endings and insisting that they are both equally valid when the charcters' motivations are taken into account is a bold move, but one Fowles (by that point himself inserted into the story to observe and explain his process to the reader) pulls off with considerable style and panache.
Seldom have I been so jerked about and confused by a novel, but equally seldom have I been so entertained by ruminations on the nature of storytelling and authorship, or so drawn into a story while continually being skuilfully pulled out of it again. This really is a masterpiece.