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kjboldon's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating and detailed account of how the personal Bronte myths have often detracted or apologized for the works themselves. Despite attempts and wishes to the contrary, they were not lonely uneducated victimized doomed mystics but scholarly and skilled writers who produced masterworks.
manilea's review against another edition
3.0
It is interesting to see how the Bronte sisters were portrayed and criticised over the years, but this gets dull about halfway through the book.
gillianalice's review against another edition
4.0
"One could go even further into the question of why our culture still needs so many of its female icons--from Marylin Monroe to Princess Diana--to suffer and die, as if we want to see them punished for their fame."
This took me a while to get through, but mostly because I'm a slow reader when it comes to non-fiction. My main takeaways from this book were:
1. Everything I thought I knew about the Brontës was a fabrication.
2. I really want to re-read Wuthering Heights.
3. People cannot just accept that women can be talented authors.
I mean, honestly. Everyone got so obsessed with WHY the Brontës wrote what they did that the focus moved towards their lives rather than their literary contributions. It's intensely frustrating.
This took me a while to get through, but mostly because I'm a slow reader when it comes to non-fiction. My main takeaways from this book were:
1. Everything I thought I knew about the Brontës was a fabrication.
2. I really want to re-read Wuthering Heights.
3. People cannot just accept that women can be talented authors.
I mean, honestly. Everyone got so obsessed with WHY the Brontës wrote what they did that the focus moved towards their lives rather than their literary contributions. It's intensely frustrating.
toml72's review against another edition
2.0
I must be one of the few for which this was a disappointing read. I won't go on and on except to point out a few things:
1) Almost nothing about Anne, who in my estimation was the most talented of the lot. If a writer is going to write about a family like this one, I personally want equal attention paid to all. And that should include Branwell also.
2) Fairly little attention (perhaps for self supporting reasons) paid by the author to those books which have already addressed many of the issues she and others have with Gaskin's work.
3) I also found the writing to be too much of an academic style. At times turgid and endless while making certain points. Although at times the book is entertaining as well.
4) I appreciate the time, effort and research the author has done. It's a lot of work. But her conclusions are at times a bit of a stretch. I can't help feel there was TOO much effort put into being contrarian as opposed to striking a balance when it comes to the legend or myth of this family. Again, I've seen it done better elsewhere.
1) Almost nothing about Anne, who in my estimation was the most talented of the lot. If a writer is going to write about a family like this one, I personally want equal attention paid to all. And that should include Branwell also.
2) Fairly little attention (perhaps for self supporting reasons) paid by the author to those books which have already addressed many of the issues she and others have with Gaskin's work.
3) I also found the writing to be too much of an academic style. At times turgid and endless while making certain points. Although at times the book is entertaining as well.
4) I appreciate the time, effort and research the author has done. It's a lot of work. But her conclusions are at times a bit of a stretch. I can't help feel there was TOO much effort put into being contrarian as opposed to striking a balance when it comes to the legend or myth of this family. Again, I've seen it done better elsewhere.
inked_bookworm's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
No information on Anne Brontë and the section on Emily feels a bit rushed compared to the chapters on Charlotte (two thirds of the book) but interesting nonetheless
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
5.0
This was an interesting and enjoyable read mostly about Charlotte and Emily Bronte and how the mythology about the family became the story, and not their incredible writing. The initial Victorian response to their books was horror, a woman couldn’t have written with such passion (and if it was a woman then she’s unfeminine!) and the themes were coarse. Lucasta Miller covers a lot of territory in this book. She discusses initial reactions to the novels and the initial biography by Mrs Gaskell which created the original Bronte myths. Then she proceeds to talk about later biographies and the various interpretations, movies etc into the twentieth century. It’s quite fascinating to see how the interpretations of the sisters lives have changed in that time. Often it says more about the biographer themselves than any new discoveries about the Brontes!
deelambe12's review against another edition
5.0
I am flawed. What a masterpiece. Supreme, fantastic, beguiling, wonderful, I am obsessed!
korrigan's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up for research purposes on an Emily Bronte/Wuthering Heights paper I'm working on, and I was disappointed to find that while it's meant to cover all three sisters, most of the book is dedicated to Charlotte, a few chapters to Emily, and what seems to be next to nothing on Anne. Since my time is limited and I had to get ahold of this book via an Inter-Library Loan, I won't be able to read all that I want, but I will most likely return to it soon.