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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Villette is a wonderful novel. I always treasure multidimensional female heroines from this period when I can (and they are sparse indeed), and Lucy Snowe is no exception. Incredibly ill, a pathological liar, traveller, and guide to the reader— she was fascinating, and had me at every turn. Also, as always, any book about southern Europe makes me want to pack my bags and haul ass to France.
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I went in with high expectations, yet was slightly disappointed. The story seems to drag on a bit too much, although the unreliable narration is interesting.
Not for everyone, but to quote another Goodreads reviewer, f*cking brilliant.
ngl, this was a difficult read. and despite struggling through it, it ended up being very rewarding. charlotte does a good job depicting the complex nature of the human mind. the passage where lucy ends up taking some drugs by accident and has a hallucination kinda comes out of nowhere but is fantastically written. this is charlottes best passage across all her novels. however, the majority of the novel is really verbose and complex. charlotte is a difficult writer and villette is a really hard book to read. nonetheless, lucy is a fascinating character. she is very abstract and cerebral. she is also shy and introverted with a dark sense of humor and snarky wit. outwardly she seems a pushover. but inwardly she has an iron will. the contrast between her very rich inner life and her passive outer life is brilliantly done. she’s an amazingly rich tapestry of a character. what’s more, charlotte does try and do the whole ghost/supernatural thing in this novel. she tries to explain logically the supernatural stuff and it just comes off as extremely contrived. would have been best to have had her sister emily write those bits. just sayin.
I loved this book so much more than I expected to. In between the beautiful prose, the satirical wit, and the colorful characters there was an honesty very much ahead of its time. Bravo.
Great book. Jane Eyre has long been my favorite and Villette doesn't quite top it, but its similarities get it very close. As people have said, Villette is a lot less transparent and the narrator is not very forthcoming. But I definitely understand why this book is lauded for its insight into the feminine psyche - despite 150 years difference there were definitely female sentiments presented that I could identify with. I even dog-earred pages because there were passages that were so poignant and pertinent and even touched a chord with current events in my life - very meaningful coincidence there.
I was really happy with volumes I and II. I have to admit my reading started to flag entering volume III - I saw the Dr. John/Paulina match-up coming (and had frivolously enjoyed the idea of Lucy getting Dr. John) and started to see the M. Emanuel relationship on the horizon, which I did not really want to happen, since he was portrayed as rather unpredictable and unlikeable. In fact I didn't really like him at all until the very end when he gifted Lucy her life goal and finally showed his dedication and love. Knowing Mr. Rochester, I should have known that the true-love would be the one who's not entirely likeable or understandable, but I liked M. Emnauel much less than Rochester, so I was starting to get disappointed. The end was brilliant though. I usually hate endings that are open to interpretation, but this one was well-crafted and satisfying nonetheless. Plus, though I started to like M. Emanuel at the end, it allows me to suspect that he is at the bottom of the sea. And though it's a little depressing, I think it's fitting and satisfying that Lucy end up on her own, a successful school mistress, always upholding her pure love and dedication to M. Emanuel and his gift. (He's flighty and impassioned and she's stubborn - if he came home, I'm sure they'd fight constantly!)
I was really happy with volumes I and II. I have to admit my reading started to flag entering volume III - I saw the Dr. John/Paulina match-up coming (and had frivolously enjoyed the idea of Lucy getting Dr. John) and started to see the M. Emanuel relationship on the horizon, which I did not really want to happen, since he was portrayed as rather unpredictable and unlikeable. In fact I didn't really like him at all until the very end when he gifted Lucy her life goal and finally showed his dedication and love. Knowing Mr. Rochester, I should have known that the true-love would be the one who's not entirely likeable or understandable, but I liked M. Emnauel much less than Rochester, so I was starting to get disappointed. The end was brilliant though. I usually hate endings that are open to interpretation, but this one was well-crafted and satisfying nonetheless. Plus, though I started to like M. Emanuel at the end, it allows me to suspect that he is at the bottom of the sea. And though it's a little depressing, I think it's fitting and satisfying that Lucy end up on her own, a successful school mistress, always upholding her pure love and dedication to M. Emanuel and his gift. (He's flighty and impassioned and she's stubborn - if he came home, I'm sure they'd fight constantly!)