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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I struggled initially with this one. It’s not only a long, difficult read (500+) but some of it is in French and my edition didn’t have translations or footnotes which I highly recommend and will definitely have on a reread. There were times midway where I wanted to throw the book against the wall and considered my first DNF. I know this is blasphemy for lovers of literature and particularly the Brontës. I mean I LOVE them so I was surprised at my lack of connection with this novel. BUT, and this is exactly why I always push through a book, it ended up being a slow burn and the ending was one of favorites of all time. I think it may be helpful for new readers to go into knowing how autobiographical it is and also to take it slow while understanding how complicated and unreliable a narrator Lucy Snowe is. I read this while traveling with friends so it took me some time - three weeks which is a lifetime for me - but now that it’s done, I miss it. Fun side note: I was reading it while in Haworth and visited the parsonage where all the women lived and wrote. I even got to walk in their footsteps through the moors and made a ten mile loop hike one morning out to the ruins of a lonely farmhouse which is purportedly the inspiration for Emily’s “Wuthering Heights.” #dreamtrip
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Perhaps the longest book ive ever read. A good read. Great story. But I don't read French and there was quite a bit of French in the book. It made it more genuine but at times I had no idea what people were saying. It ended not how I had expected and some parts were frustrating and seem like they were thrown in to confuse me on purpose.
challenging
emotional
sad
I love this book--I think it's Bronte's best. It's very weird and less easily accessible than Jane Eyre; the style feels more modern in some ways. Lucy's narration is strange, but she is an incredibly vivid character.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
If you intend to read this as a casual past time or to go through it as you would other volumes in that genre; with composure of mind and soul or with feelings mildly ruffled then restored to order by reaching the back cover, my best advice would be to drop this book immediately, donate it, burn it, but never venture to peruse its pages. Because once you set foot in that world, that mesmerizing, heart wrenching world, you won't return from it the same. Lucy will manage to fasten your very existence to her own and stamp on your innocent unprepared heart scars that will haunt you forever. You'll learn alot from each character and story described, you will spend hours attempting to disentangle the intricate threads of philosophy and intellect that gave shape to this magnificent work but with no avail. Don't be mistaken in thinking it's all dark and serious though; it will throw you into fits of genuine laughter at the clash of wits between the two protagonists and will manage to moisten the eyes of the most callous readers while forcing the more sensitive ones into a full blown weep.
In short, I loved it. I will most probably read it again and again yet surly not soon; it's one of those books that lingers heavily on your mind for a long time without fading in poignancy, and for which a premature revisit is considered almost cruel to whatever measure of sentiment you have.
In short, I loved it. I will most probably read it again and again yet surly not soon; it's one of those books that lingers heavily on your mind for a long time without fading in poignancy, and for which a premature revisit is considered almost cruel to whatever measure of sentiment you have.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
Che viaggio pazzesco nell'anima e nello spirito di questa meravigliosa scrittrice e donna!
"Finis". Il finale dell'ultimo romanzo della sua vita è scritto con immagini che richiamano alla mente i quadri di Turner. Charlotte Brontë dipinge con le parole.
"Finis". Il finale dell'ultimo romanzo della sua vita è scritto con immagini che richiamano alla mente i quadri di Turner. Charlotte Brontë dipinge con le parole.