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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Confusing, spirited, untraditional, cold, littered with unease and at some times frightening. This book has taken me a long month to read and whilst I found it difficult to break up the text I didn't want to stop. Even holding it in my hands felt like I was achieving some astronomical feat.
The book is written in English but French paragraphs are dominant and I admit that was one of the hardest parts; the movement from one language to another that, admittedly, I'm not really familiar with was confusing to say the least and only towards the last few chapters did I think it was a good idea to start researching the more familiar phrases. I want to read this again to fully identify the French as I'm sure there's some important bits I missed!
Like most classics, I didn't enjoy the book until the later half of the book and I am left feeling slightly lost as the ending is left to the imagination. The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars and not 4 is probably due to my own confusion, not the writing itself and I feel proud to have achieved a Brontë novel in my repertoire - the sisters inspire me every day to write and read more and I look forward to reading the whole works eventually.
The book is written in English but French paragraphs are dominant and I admit that was one of the hardest parts; the movement from one language to another that, admittedly, I'm not really familiar with was confusing to say the least and only towards the last few chapters did I think it was a good idea to start researching the more familiar phrases. I want to read this again to fully identify the French as I'm sure there's some important bits I missed!
Like most classics, I didn't enjoy the book until the later half of the book and I am left feeling slightly lost as the ending is left to the imagination. The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars and not 4 is probably due to my own confusion, not the writing itself and I feel proud to have achieved a Brontë novel in my repertoire - the sisters inspire me every day to write and read more and I look forward to reading the whole works eventually.
Lucy Snowe, the protagonist, is an unprepossessing character and it is to the credit of Charlotte Bronte that we remain absorbed in her rather dull life throughout the novel. Alone in the world, the most daring move taken by Lucy is to go overseas to Villette where she finds work first as a children’s nursemaid and then as a teacher of English at the school of the redoubtable Madame Beck. Her observations on the other characters bring them vividly to life, from the selfish and vain Ginevra Fanshaw to the upright Dr. John and the initially devilish Monsieur Paul Emmanuel. It is especially interesting to see how Lucy’s views of the two men change in the course of the novel as they, themselves, develop. Even when her feelings for the handsome Dr. John are at their strongest she remains aware of how it does not even occur to him that those feelings exist and never lets him suspect. Her reservations, both with respect to him and in other respects are frustrating to a modern reader. She knows Madame Beck is exploiting her by paying her much less than a previous (male) English teacher, but does nothing about it. When Monsieur Paul doesn’t come to say goodbye to her when he is leaving for Guadeloupe, she doesn’t seek him out but just waits.
But this was the nineteenth century when it was already exceptional for a young woman to be supporting herself. In her circumstances, she was in no position to put herself forward. Her strength of character is actually revealed in her submission and also in her strong attachment to her Protestant faith. We understand what she goes through, her sufferings and, eventually, her triumphs.
But this was the nineteenth century when it was already exceptional for a young woman to be supporting herself. In her circumstances, she was in no position to put herself forward. Her strength of character is actually revealed in her submission and also in her strong attachment to her Protestant faith. We understand what she goes through, her sufferings and, eventually, her triumphs.
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I admit it: I did not finish Villette. Please, feel free to hurl epithets at me and accuse me of being a bad person. You may also accuse me of being plebian or bourgeois in my literary tastes: choose the epithet that most appeals to you.
I didn't not finish this book because it's depressing, or sad, or has an atmosphere that's pulled from the very deepest, darkest, saddest parts of the soul. Contrary to how my ratings turn out, I do not hate depressing books, or books that make me cry, or books where the guy doesn't get the girl (or v/v). Yes, I do love Jane Eyre. I love Austen and Dickens. I also love Zola and Balzac. I like happy books and sad books. But I do not like Villette.
As many others have pointed out, the narrator, Lucy Snowe, is not easy to like. She's quite easy to hate. I want to smack her and say, "So! You're whining about how you're lonely, eh? But then you don't do anything about it! You just sit at home because you don't like people! So which is it, Miss Snowe?" The unreliable narrator card is always a good one, but from as far as I read (about halfway in), it wasn't done particularly well. There's also no real plot, no story. I guess this is supposed to be a character study, but I don't particularly want to spend my time reading a character study about someone I dislike quite a lot. It's not really a "love to hate" situation, either. It was more of a "bored and hating" situation.
I recently finished The Professor, which felt very rough next to Jane Eyre. However, it feels as if Brontë lifted a lot from The Professor and plunked it right here in Villette. Hmm. This includes the dialogues in French. I cannot fault Brontë for this, really, as most of her readers would have been able to read the French. Thanking my lucky stars that my French B.A. is good for something, I didn't mind it--but please invest in an edition with good footnotes/translations if you don't speak French!
Much as in The Professor, Brontë's views on other religions--well, okay, just Catholicism--and the French and the Belgians really rub me the wrong way. I know that there were no politically-correct police back then, but she has a real vehemence when describing belief systems or cultures not her own. They are all inferior, yet to be feared. At one point, Lucy goes to confession just to speak with someone, but never contacts the (very nice and kind) priest again because she's afraid he'll convert her--as if Catholicism is some sort of plague.
I really struggled with myself when making the decision to stop reading. On one hand, *everybody* is saying what a great book this is, so much better than Jane Eyre, so much more mature, realistic, blah blah blah. Okay. I get that. However, when nothing is happening and I can see the ending coming a mile away, along with the requisite people-who-prevent-lovers-from-being-together drama, I just ... can't. I cannot find it within myself to finish this.
I didn't not finish this book because it's depressing, or sad, or has an atmosphere that's pulled from the very deepest, darkest, saddest parts of the soul. Contrary to how my ratings turn out, I do not hate depressing books, or books that make me cry, or books where the guy doesn't get the girl (or v/v). Yes, I do love Jane Eyre. I love Austen and Dickens. I also love Zola and Balzac. I like happy books and sad books. But I do not like Villette.
As many others have pointed out, the narrator, Lucy Snowe, is not easy to like. She's quite easy to hate. I want to smack her and say, "So! You're whining about how you're lonely, eh? But then you don't do anything about it! You just sit at home because you don't like people! So which is it, Miss Snowe?" The unreliable narrator card is always a good one, but from as far as I read (about halfway in), it wasn't done particularly well. There's also no real plot, no story. I guess this is supposed to be a character study, but I don't particularly want to spend my time reading a character study about someone I dislike quite a lot. It's not really a "love to hate" situation, either. It was more of a "bored and hating" situation.
I recently finished The Professor, which felt very rough next to Jane Eyre. However, it feels as if Brontë lifted a lot from The Professor and plunked it right here in Villette. Hmm. This includes the dialogues in French. I cannot fault Brontë for this, really, as most of her readers would have been able to read the French. Thanking my lucky stars that my French B.A. is good for something, I didn't mind it--but please invest in an edition with good footnotes/translations if you don't speak French!
Much as in The Professor, Brontë's views on other religions--well, okay, just Catholicism--and the French and the Belgians really rub me the wrong way. I know that there were no politically-correct police back then, but she has a real vehemence when describing belief systems or cultures not her own. They are all inferior, yet to be feared. At one point, Lucy goes to confession just to speak with someone, but never contacts the (very nice and kind) priest again because she's afraid he'll convert her--as if Catholicism is some sort of plague.
I really struggled with myself when making the decision to stop reading. On one hand, *everybody* is saying what a great book this is, so much better than Jane Eyre, so much more mature, realistic, blah blah blah. Okay. I get that. However, when nothing is happening and I can see the ending coming a mile away, along with the requisite people-who-prevent-lovers-from-being-together drama, I just ... can't. I cannot find it within myself to finish this.
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
3,5⭐️ Ενώ το συγγραφικό ύφος και η πλοκή του Βιλέτ ήταν πραγματικά όμορφα, οι 700 σελίδες πιστεύω ότι ήταν υπερβολή για τη συγκεκριμένη ιστορία. Η Λούσι λειτουργεί περισσότερο ως παρατηρητής των ζωών των άλλων ηρώων, παρά ως πρωταγωνίστρια στη δική της ιστορία. Οι λεπτομερείς περιγραφές για καταστάσεις και άτομα που βρίσκονται στο περιθώριο της κεντρικής πλοκής μοιάζουν να τη "σβήνουν" από το επίκεντρο της αφήγησης, αφήνοντάς την σε μια αφάνεια. Ωστόσο είναι εκπληκτικό το πώς η Μπροντέ καταπιάνεται και παρουσιάζει θέματα όπως η γυναικεία ανεξαρτησία (δικαίωμα στην εργασία), η μοναξιά και η θλίψη σε μία κοινωνία που προσπαθεί να τα κρύψει πίσω από μάσκες ευπρέπειας.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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:
Yes