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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
I mean it's fine but boring at points wouldn't really recommend it to someone. Definitely the worst brontë book out of the two ive read. But redeeming wise Frances Henri is definitely a loveable character and the ending is quite sweet although a bit random. I would say it could've used more time but I wouldn't have read it then I think one with Henri as the main character would be better tbh. A medium low 3 ⭐ but undeserving of 2 ⭐ as there are a few great scenes.
1 - The tenant of Wildfell hall 5 ⭐
2 - The professor 2 (maybe .5)⭐
1 - The tenant of Wildfell hall 5 ⭐
2 - The professor 2 (maybe .5)⭐
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am not well-read re 19th-century novels and in Charlotte Bronte's "The Professor" had expected to find demure females and overbeing males. In this novel, to my surprise and glee, one --maybe two-- women do a good deal of speaking up for themselves, being entrepreneurial, and determining the courses of their lives. Maybe a book such as this could only have been written by a woman and a bold one at that.
The voice was refreshing and the book was a delight to discover.
The voice was refreshing and the book was a delight to discover.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finished reading this book a while back and tbh, i went in expecting a mediocre read and yet it proved to be worse.
The book starts with a certain William Crimsworth, who is in search of a job. He eventually finds one as a professor (after like one-fourth of the book) and that's where it gets worse. Like why are you describing your female students like that and in such detail (interestingly, he never describes his male students). There's one chapter (and a long one at that) that decidedly has him just talking about his female students and it actually took me two days to get through just coz of how gross it was (I was hate-reading by that point and would have dnfed if I wasn't buddyreading). I truly didn't get why it was so necessary to describe the students everytime they were mentioned like everytime Sylvie was discussed, the narrator had to mention that she was the ugliest girl in the class. Like okay, we got it the first time you mentioned that but you're still going on about it for the fourth time. It was simply off-putting, and jarring.
Thankfully, halfway through it gets better and you somehow finish the book. The ending is nice but the book drags a lot by the time it ends. The only good thing about the book is Frances who is a literal angel.
So yeah, a very forgettable experience for me and i would recommend reading it at your own risk.
I thought a lesser Brontë novel was probably still worth reading, so gave this one a whirl. It is told by William Crimsworth, a young man who having spent his youth in Eton has come out the other side with nothing but a deceptively aristocratic air. He has no money, and rejecting any further help from his financing uncles, sets to make his own way in the world. He starts by applying to his estranged brother for a job. The brute gives him one, but is disappointed by the lack of servility and bootlicking from his proud and competent younger sibling. His brooding dislike spills over and he fires William, much to the latter's relief. At a loss for income, an acquaintance called Hunsden encourages him to Brussels, where a friend of his will give William a job.
So it is that we spend the rest of the book in Brussels, as William works as a schoolmaster teaching English in a school for boys. Most of his concern is on his part-time job though, teaching at the girl's school next door. He is initially drawn to the beguiling directress Madam Reuter, who is possessed of great charm and sway over men. Soon though he is disavowed of his feelings for her, discovering that she is engaged to his employer, speaks ill of him behind his back, and has been leading him on for insincere and opportunistic reasons.
His attentions freed up, he begins to notice one of his pupils, Frances Henri, and is drawn to her talent and dedication. They develop a deeply dominant/submissive relationship, with him as her master in the scholastic sense, and in the continued dynamic of their relationship. The rest of the book is about their deepening affection, the obstacles Madam Reuter puts in their way, and their eventual coming together. It's an interesting relationship, and I suppose quite disturbing in today's landscape. In it's day I'm sure it made perfect sense for a husband to be his wife's master in every sense. She has an independent streak though, refusing his offer to care for her financially even when they are married, and setting up her own school.
This and other aspects are interesting when you consider the author. She herself was a teacher in Brussels, and fell in love with a married Belgian man (who is said to have inspired Mr Rochester). In her letters to him she calls him her "master". Did she see herself as the quiet contented Frances Henri, happy to be led and owned by her master? I think probably. It's a fascinating job she has done of constructing Crimsworth as a protagonist, but embodying not him but his lover.
This book also made me laugh a few times, mostly with its unrestrained racism towards the Flemish. An entrenched view of Britishness as the best thing you could hope for in life was certainly normal for Brontë, even though she has her roguish Hunsden espouse the opposite view. Here are a couple of sentences I particularly enjoyed:
Pure fun to read!
There are two other things to note about this reading experience. Firstly, there are whole conversations in French, which were no use to me at all and were quite frustrating. And the second thing to note was the number of printing errors in this book. I have never known anything like it. Chiefly, Bs were regularly replaced with Hs!
I got this at a charity shop in Teignmouth with my Pa.
So it is that we spend the rest of the book in Brussels, as William works as a schoolmaster teaching English in a school for boys. Most of his concern is on his part-time job though, teaching at the girl's school next door. He is initially drawn to the beguiling directress Madam Reuter, who is possessed of great charm and sway over men. Soon though he is disavowed of his feelings for her, discovering that she is engaged to his employer, speaks ill of him behind his back, and has been leading him on for insincere and opportunistic reasons.
His attentions freed up, he begins to notice one of his pupils, Frances Henri, and is drawn to her talent and dedication. They develop a deeply dominant/submissive relationship, with him as her master in the scholastic sense, and in the continued dynamic of their relationship. The rest of the book is about their deepening affection, the obstacles Madam Reuter puts in their way, and their eventual coming together. It's an interesting relationship, and I suppose quite disturbing in today's landscape. In it's day I'm sure it made perfect sense for a husband to be his wife's master in every sense. She has an independent streak though, refusing his offer to care for her financially even when they are married, and setting up her own school.
This and other aspects are interesting when you consider the author. She herself was a teacher in Brussels, and fell in love with a married Belgian man (who is said to have inspired Mr Rochester). In her letters to him she calls him her "master". Did she see herself as the quiet contented Frances Henri, happy to be led and owned by her master? I think probably. It's a fascinating job she has done of constructing Crimsworth as a protagonist, but embodying not him but his lover.
This book also made me laugh a few times, mostly with its unrestrained racism towards the Flemish. An entrenched view of Britishness as the best thing you could hope for in life was certainly normal for Brontë, even though she has her roguish Hunsden espouse the opposite view. Here are a couple of sentences I particularly enjoyed:
[Crimsworth describing a student:] "... a thickset, moon-faced young Flamand in a blouse."
[Describing an old woman:] "She had been handsome...she was now ugly, as only Continental women can be."
[Describing his class:] "Behind and below her were seated a band of very vulgar, inferior-looking Flamandes, including two or three examples of that deformity of person and imbecility of intellect whose frequency in the Low Countries would seem to furnish proof that the climate is such as to induce degeneracy of the human mind and body."
Pure fun to read!
There are two other things to note about this reading experience. Firstly, there are whole conversations in French, which were no use to me at all and were quite frustrating. And the second thing to note was the number of printing errors in this book. I have never known anything like it. Chiefly, Bs were regularly replaced with Hs!
I got this at a charity shop in Teignmouth with my Pa.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Very similar to Villette but from the male perspective with less plot. In the introduction of my version it indicated that people regard it as not really worthy of merit -- I think although it is definitely my least favorite Bronte novel I still quite enjoyed it and if it were written by another author I would like it a lot
I must admit that I am rather surprised by this book on the grounds that all people surrounding me told me that it is an awful book and it is not a "real" Brontë. Having read all books written by Charlotte except for "Shirley" I believe that "The Professor" is a very nice book written in a beautiful language. Also, I totally enjoy the words that she uses such as "anomalous" and "halcyon" using the latter as "calm" or "peaceful". So I recommend you read it since it is worthy. :)
Mucho más interesantes el principio y el epílogo que todo lo demás, pero muy bien en general... No lo he leído, lo he escuchado vía Marina y ha estado genial :)