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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Honestly, I think this is the best post-modern novel I've ever read. I love this genre of literature so much because it's so aware, so playful, and so intrusive. I love Fowles will break the narrative to give us a history lesson on Victorian sexuality, or how he isn't a god of this creation. It's so just fun. I love how the narrator is so aware of the fact that all of this is A) not real and B) being told from hindsight. Also, the three alternative endings was really cool. I like how we can pick how the story ended.
I also really love this as a neo-Victorian novel. It feels authentic - very reminiscent of the likes of Eliot. He is able to explore things that were taboo in Victorian society in a way that is modern, but also so true to the style he is imitating. I think the book was brilliant in those two cases.
However, saying that, I found the plot so boring. Nothing really happened, which is fine, to a certain degree, but it was just so long. I found the relationship between Sarah and Charles to be so false. It wasn't explored fully, so I wasn't convinced by it at all. Fowles could have used some of the time he spent talking about nothing to make some chemistry between these two characters.
Anyway, excited to study this in my seminar this semester!
I also really love this as a neo-Victorian novel. It feels authentic - very reminiscent of the likes of Eliot. He is able to explore things that were taboo in Victorian society in a way that is modern, but also so true to the style he is imitating. I think the book was brilliant in those two cases.
However, saying that, I found the plot so boring. Nothing really happened, which is fine, to a certain degree, but it was just so long. I found the relationship between Sarah and Charles to be so false. It wasn't explored fully, so I wasn't convinced by it at all. Fowles could have used some of the time he spent talking about nothing to make some chemistry between these two characters.
Anyway, excited to study this in my seminar this semester!
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
**note** this is transcribed from a review I wrote in my journal back in 2002. I was such a youngster then, and picked up the novel with NO idea what I was getting myself into. A reread is on the horizon, to be sure.
This is not what you think it is! ...but go ahead and let the book blindside you for the full effect.
People would ask me what I was reading, and I respond with a typical "oh, it's about a young gentleman who begins to reconsider approaching marriage when he notices a forlorn young woman who wanders the beach, pining for her lost lover..." And person who had posed the question would say "how nice." NO! This book has nothing to do the gentle, romantic, Victorian plot, setting, and mood that the author so carefully crafts before...well...you'll just have to read it to get the full effect, as I said. I suspect i was lulled into an unsuspecting state by trying to focus on the plot of the story, and I honestly still haven't sorted the ending out. If there's an answer to the mystery of the French Lieutenant's woman, I completely missed it. A mind-blowing, if frustrating reading experience.
This is not what you think it is! ...but go ahead and let the book blindside you for the full effect.
People would ask me what I was reading, and I respond with a typical "oh, it's about a young gentleman who begins to reconsider approaching marriage when he notices a forlorn young woman who wanders the beach, pining for her lost lover..." And person who had posed the question would say "how nice." NO! This book has nothing to do the gentle, romantic, Victorian plot, setting, and mood that the author so carefully crafts before...well...you'll just have to read it to get the full effect, as I said. I suspect i was lulled into an unsuspecting state by trying to focus on the plot of the story, and I honestly still haven't sorted the ending out. If there's an answer to the mystery of the French Lieutenant's woman, I completely missed it. A mind-blowing, if frustrating reading experience.
Melodramatic as fuck. Hated it.
Really hard to follow. Bad characters. Boring story.
Like the only good thing was the metacognitive writing (which was only fine, mind you), and that was also really hard to follow. Fowles could have written more concise.
Really hard to follow. Bad characters. Boring story.
Like the only good thing was the metacognitive writing (which was only fine, mind you), and that was also really hard to follow. Fowles could have written more concise.
Immensely affecting and disturbing at once this book is both honest and real and deeply psychodynamic. I had read, "The Collector", previous to this novel and I both could and couldn't believe these two were by the same author during much of the time I spent reading this. I cannot express how versatile I find John Fowle's writing. I always feel so excited and refreshed upon finding a novelist who actually surprises me and leaves me wanting more and more. I'm excited to read every book he has written now that I've finished this book.
This book was written as a 5 star book. I found in this book an enjoyment of about 4 stars. It's only because I didn't want to face some of the realities the book details, though. Utter brilliance, that's for sure.
This book was written as a 5 star book. I found in this book an enjoyment of about 4 stars. It's only because I didn't want to face some of the realities the book details, though. Utter brilliance, that's for sure.
rly boring at times, but still rly original and with a cool af narrator
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes