Reviews

Villette by Charlotte Brontë

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narcissia's review against another edition

5.0

While this isn't as easy of a read as Jane Eyre is, it is so masterfully done. It's like Jane Eyre, the gritty grown-up version. I love the subtlety of the motifs Bronte uses, and the not-so-subtle ones. The chapter where she accuses M. Paul of "banquet[ing:] secretly and sacrilegiously on Eve's apples" is great. The whole book is brilliant.

kavarnistka's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

paromita_m's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

emmaisnotavampire's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I always love a good old Bronte, and was really in the mood for the delightful mix of elements that is gothic fiction, a combination of everyday melancholy and underlying horror. I must admit it took a while for this to start feeling like a gothic Charlotte Bronte, the first half read more like a melancholic Jane Austen, but once the little eery oddities picked up the novel really started to take on a clearer identity, quickening the pace by means of suspense and mystery. As often happens in the gothic genre, said mystery only appears to be supernatural, and turns out in the end to have a perfectly logical explanation, but it really doesn’t matter what the truth is: it is only about the uneasy atmosphere it creates, the tension and curiosity it creates in the reader. Though the solution to this particular case was surely unexpected, much quirkier and funnier than the tragic one to the similar Jane Eyre ghostly scenario.

However, I think I still prefer the dark, sad and gloomy latter, Villette didn’t quite hold up to the comparison. It was much more realistic than the former, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in itself, but definitely made it a little less interesting to my individual taste. When it comes to literature, the weirder the better for me. Additionally, I also generally prefer the character of Jane to Lucy: although in similar situations, lonely, contemplative, independent working women with big brains and questionable love interests (seriously, what is wrong with Charlotte Bronte and unfriendly, gruff men with a VERY HIDDEN soft spot?), I found Jane to have a lot more charisma and strength, whereas passive and reserved Lucy sometimes came off as a little weak and inactive, a victim of events rather than a promoter of her own destiny. I still enjoyed the book, it was a pleasant read, but it inevitably suffered from the unfair comparison with its sister novel.

martharosen's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing slow-paced

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

4.5

monazaneefer's review against another edition

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4.0

I’m on the fence: 3 stars, 3.5 or 4? Let’s give four for now but we’ll see...

This book...hurts. I devoured the first 240+ pages of the Collins Classics edition. I envisioned this book rising to my favourites of all time. I hadn’t read this good of a book in years. I was excited and impatient to finish it. But then after those 240 odd pages, it went downhill. I had spoken too soon.

Now this book isn’t like Jane Eyre but having had read JE first, I couldn’t help but subconsciously compare. Not its similarities or anything but more about my experience with the books. At first, I thought that as much as I was loving Villette, I was biased towards JE so it couldn’t surpass it. That was until we reached the first plot twist: Dr John being Graham. Dr John, up until then, seemed nice enough but didn’t really establish himself as a character of his own so him being somebody from Lucy’s childhood added an entire layer to him and their relationship. At this point, I knew I was in love with this book. Plus, given the fact that I never knew what was to come in the book (which wasn’t the case for JE), I started to believe that the freshness of it would give it the edge over JE.

I adored Lucy and despite her not expressing her emotions to the reader and we only are led to understand her from her surroundings and her reactions, I didn’t mind it at all. The only time - and it’s a major time - when I felt like her expressing her feelings would have done me good in terms of comprehension, was her relationship with Monsieur Paul.

Bruh.

Paul....I thought he was this comic side-character to whom Lucy finally finds a friend in. And that was it. So I was completely blindsided when he became a love interest. Heinnnnn??? Noo. It was so not right. However, having slept over it, I think if I reread the book, I’m ready to forgive this bit and restructure my mindset around his character. But I still wouldn’t root for him as a love interest - I mean he would ridicule and criticise Lucy. As a friend - okay. Their banter was comical. As her love interest - noooo.

However, what I will NOT forgive is the Graham plot. No. No. No. No. Never has a book hurt me and sadden me so much. I don’t normally get sad about novels so I think this was the first. I’d have rather Graham love Lucy and die in the end. Why didn’t Lucy tell him! I was hoping Paulina would die, no lie. After it was established that Graham and Paulina got married and had kids, AND the whole Monsieur Paul thing - my interest in the book dwindled. I began skipping passages but there were only a few chapters left anyway.

I just want Lucy to be happy :( I absolutely loved how Bronte wrote about Lucy’s mental health, especially the chapter in which everybody at the boarding house is on vacation and Lucy becomes increasingly lonely and sad. That chapter end was beautiful when she said her having confided in somebody comforted her. So poignant.

I hoped Lucy would develop as a character and it was only till the very end I guess (her confrontation with Madame Beck, her firmness to see Monsieur Paul - in contrast to her passiveness about Graham - and starting up her own school.) Otherwise the character arc seemed non existent. Also, the bit where Monsieur Paul gives her the house to start a school was great but either I didn’t like how it was done. Or it’s just that by then, my interest had dwindled so it seemed just okay and not grand and beautiful like it should have evoked in me.

Sighhhh. Mahn this book is just - yes, it was beautiful. Beautiful. But so, so, SO unsatisfying. I suppose I don’t hate the book because its latter half was alright for what it was meant to be, but it just was not to my preference. I understand Lucy’s love for Graham was to depict unrequited love but I didn’t want that.

I didn’t even know how to rate this book. Four is too much. Three is too less (or is it)?

Update: 13/7/2020 - I think I'd give this book a solid 4-star rating. Having let the book digest and come out of my vexation, I do think book is wonderful. Frustrating, but I suppose that's what Bronte intended. Still very much interested in knowing what I'd feel after a reread.