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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Holy crap, Charlotte? You certainly have a thing for the borderline abusive types. The writing style was engaging, the brooding shyness of the main character I enjoyed, but the taste in men? Shades of Jane Eyre all over again.
Methinks Anne is my favorite Bronte.
Methinks Anne is my favorite Bronte.
I am glad I read this book, but it wasn’t as riveting as I had hoped. It took me nearly four months to finish; longer than even War & Peace took me. The protagonist Lucy Snowe was a dour little thing and didn’t evince a lot of interest or sympathy from me until late in the novel. The whole story took a long time to get going. I did enjoy it somewhat by the end, but it was a long journey. I finished the book just a few days after Charlotte Brontë’s 200th birthday. I still love Charlotte’s incredible vocabulary, her vivid imagination and her attention to detail in spite of not loving this particular story.
An intriguing account of a young woman’s experiences as a teacher in a private school in continental Europe at the start of the 19th century. Inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s time at a school in Brussels, it follows prim and buttoned-up Lucy Snowe who leaves England for the city of Villette in Labassecour (based on Belgium). She gets a job as a teacher in a girls’ private school, presided over by the watchful Madame Modeste Beck alongside the imperious professor, Paul Emanuel. Resembling a memoir at times, the story charts the everyday life of a school as well as the romantic escapades of one of its pupils, Ginevre Fanshawe. Lucy is drawn into the world of the local doctor, John, and his family, triggering passions that she dares not admit. Lucy is a consistently unreliable narrator, holding back information and telling the story based on her impressions, feelings and knowledge at the time of the events rather than with the insights of looking back several years in the future. Religion is a recurring theme, placing English Protestantism against continental Roman Catholicism, and Lucy’s narrative style is steeped in Christian rhetoric and metaphor that can get a bit tiresome. But behind its long-windedness is a strong narrative and some memorable characters. There is even a ghostly nun!
An epic read. Detailed, claustrophobic, a dark masterpiece of a past era.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Deeply moving, psychologically acute, beautifully plotted and absolutely relevant almost 200 years after it was written. I loved this book.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
Read for a seminar. Interesting, I wish I was allowed more time to read it slowly, breakneck speed really reduced my enjoyment.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced