Reviews

After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean Rhys

lerawr's review

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lizwisniewski's review against another edition

2.0

Wow is this lady depressing. All her characters drink themselves to death. A very well written downer.

bookofcinz's review against another edition

2.0

After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie is my first West Indian reads and one of the first books I borrowed from Trinidad and Tobago Library for 2018. I am a fan of Jean Rhys so I decided to give this book a go- also it was a short so that helped.
This book did not do it for me. The characters were irksome and bordered on annoying. The writing was a little too "roundabout" and exhausting.
I love Jean Rhys other works but this didn't do it for me.

bethanyevelyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

readingoverbreathing's review against another edition

5.0

"After all, I'm not finished. It's all nonsense that I am. I'm not finished at all."

I was aware of Jean Rhys before picking this up, in relation to what is probably her most famous novel, [b:Wide Sargasso Sea|25622780|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1453021061l/25622780._SY75_.jpg|142647], but, to be totally honest, had never heard of any of her other works until this popped up on the reading list for my modernist lit course this semester.

I didn't know at all what to expect, but what I did find I immediately fell in love with. Rhys' writing style, at least here, is sharp, simple, and to the point, yet also so very profound; she packs truth into the most unexpected places and notions, and the plot simply following Julia in her activities through London and Paris appealed to me in a way I wouldn't have otherwise expected it to.

There is so much here about just being a woman — living and experiencing public and private life in a way that is so exclusively pertainable to our gendered experience. Some of the ideas Rhys puts forth I had never had articulated to me before, but they read so profoundly true and right in my mind. I haven't really started examining this text academically just yet, but I am so excited to unpack this in class this week and really understand what Rhys set out to do. I loved this book, I'm so glad EN3212 compelled me to pick it up, and I very much hope to get to more of her work in the near future.

im_eebee's review against another edition

3.0

Mid

shaleigh's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

isaac's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

skowght's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

winona_reads3's review against another edition

2.0

i do want to read wide seagrasso sea
but what did i just read,
i know it’s meant to be contradictory and some pieces were eloquently worded but .. no.