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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I should have seen the tragic ending coming but I was so hoping for a happily ever after. The first half of the novel was so enjoyable for me, but the later chapters were more of a struggle.
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t. I found it slow and wanting it to end and then once it did I felt like I wasted my time. I know it’s a classic but this one isn’t my cup of tea. Lucy Snowe for all her love found and lost and what seems to be acceptance still comes off as bitter and almost doubtful that anything resembling good happened in her life. So why bother telling the reader her life’s story?
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:
Complicated
This was a tough read in the best way. The novel, in the way of Jane Eyre, is a first person account of the life of Lucy Snowe. You need to be careful with Lucy, her musings of her surroundings make for an interesting read but she can be an unreliable narrator. She hints but doesn’t completely reveal all during some central events in the novel including her past and instead pushes on with the story. Myself, I had to pull back from what I am accustomed to which is 21st Century storytelling where we often get a detailed description of the pains and despair our heroes have experienced, and just appreciate the narration of Lucy Snowe. Some such narration of Lucy includes:
“Wise people say it is folly to think anybody perfect; and as to likes and dislikes, we should be friendly to all, and worship none.”
Lucy Snowe is an introverted, serious woman who, due to her past, seems to have built a tolerance for misfortune. She takes us through a period of her life that begins with her being left bereft of any fortune, friends or family. Being in such straits she uproots herself from England to a small Belgium town where she finds work as a teacher. From there she treats us to her thoughts on various characters, including a potential love interest, the young women she teaches, a prickly Professor, and the observant Madame Lucy works for. Throughout the novel the calm Lucy does battle with the passionate Lucy that hides below the surface in accordance to societal expectations as can be said of many women and possibly men historically and even currently. I thought it really showed how the set limitations of someone’s social status and station in life can affect their thoughts, feelings and actions most specifically in this quote from Lucy:
“The negation of severe suffering was the nearest approach to happiness I expected to know.”.
Lucy’s musings of her own feelings and surroundings also draw similarities and connections to thoughts and ideas of her time as well as issues that are still prominent today, for example:
“Long may it be generally thought that physical privations alone merit compassion, and that the rest is a figment.”.
Admittedly the novel became more intriguing to me when I had read about Charlotte Bronte’s life and what was happening during her writing of this novel. Similar to their characters the Bronte’s lived a borderline manageable life peppered with hardships. Villette was written after the deaths of Charlotte’s three siblings. This somehow made me appreciate the darkness of the novel much more seeing as Charlotte must have been in a dark place herself.
Overall, a wonderful in-depth study of a grave and introverted woman’s mind while she experiences adversity, success and many things in between.
“Wise people say it is folly to think anybody perfect; and as to likes and dislikes, we should be friendly to all, and worship none.”
Lucy Snowe is an introverted, serious woman who, due to her past, seems to have built a tolerance for misfortune. She takes us through a period of her life that begins with her being left bereft of any fortune, friends or family. Being in such straits she uproots herself from England to a small Belgium town where she finds work as a teacher. From there she treats us to her thoughts on various characters, including a potential love interest, the young women she teaches, a prickly Professor, and the observant Madame Lucy works for. Throughout the novel the calm Lucy does battle with the passionate Lucy that hides below the surface in accordance to societal expectations as can be said of many women and possibly men historically and even currently. I thought it really showed how the set limitations of someone’s social status and station in life can affect their thoughts, feelings and actions most specifically in this quote from Lucy:
“The negation of severe suffering was the nearest approach to happiness I expected to know.”.
Lucy’s musings of her own feelings and surroundings also draw similarities and connections to thoughts and ideas of her time as well as issues that are still prominent today, for example:
“Long may it be generally thought that physical privations alone merit compassion, and that the rest is a figment.”.
Admittedly the novel became more intriguing to me when I had read about Charlotte Bronte’s life and what was happening during her writing of this novel. Similar to their characters the Bronte’s lived a borderline manageable life peppered with hardships. Villette was written after the deaths of Charlotte’s three siblings. This somehow made me appreciate the darkness of the novel much more seeing as Charlotte must have been in a dark place herself.
Overall, a wonderful in-depth study of a grave and introverted woman’s mind while she experiences adversity, success and many things in between.
The main character of this book, Lucy Snowe, is an hysterical woman whom would have made Freud super pride. It seemed to me, most of the times, that instead of reading a Victorian novel , I fell into a Russian drama; so I was disappointed, but mostly bored till the point of thinking, many times, to give up the book. But then I decided to finish it, and even in the end, in the last 20 sentences, sadness was waiting for me, I mean dear Charlotte, attitude is almost everything, no wonder you had such a sad life....
La principale protagonista di questo libro: Lucy Snowe, é una donna talmente isterica che Freud, ai vecchi tempi, sarebbe stato orgoglioso di lei. La maggior parte del tempo, piú che un classico vittoriano, sembrava di leggere uno di quei drammoni russi, tipo "I demoni"; quindi sono rimasta delusa, ma soprattutto annoiata a morte, al punto di pensare ripetutamente di mollare il libro. Ma poi ho deciso di finirlo e anche alla fine, quando quasi si poteva intravedere un barlume di felicitá, l'autrice me lo nega....voglio dire, cara Charlotte, che l'atteggiamento é importante, poi uno si spiega perché hai avuto una vita triste....
La principale protagonista di questo libro: Lucy Snowe, é una donna talmente isterica che Freud, ai vecchi tempi, sarebbe stato orgoglioso di lei. La maggior parte del tempo, piú che un classico vittoriano, sembrava di leggere uno di quei drammoni russi, tipo "I demoni"; quindi sono rimasta delusa, ma soprattutto annoiata a morte, al punto di pensare ripetutamente di mollare il libro. Ma poi ho deciso di finirlo e anche alla fine, quando quasi si poteva intravedere un barlume di felicitá, l'autrice me lo nega....voglio dire, cara Charlotte, che l'atteggiamento é importante, poi uno si spiega perché hai avuto una vita triste....
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
I am an English teacher and used to slow, literary reads. This, however, was truly awful, and so on page 117, I gave up! Life is too short for books you aren't enjoying! Sorry, Charlotte Bronte! I loved Jane Eyre!
I'm a dummy, y'all. I had never heard of Villette. I did not even know that Charlotte Bronté wrote something other than Jane Eyre. I totally thought she was like her sister, Emily, and the one book was all we had. So I was EXCITED to stumble across Villette. It pays to be a dummy sometimes because you can be a naive excited reader.
The excitement wore off a little bit there in the middle, what with all the religious education and philosophizing and such. It was hard to stay with it and it took me months to wade through. But even as I slogged through her concerns about Catholic vs Protestant doctrine, I was admiring the guts on this author. I mean, it is a gutsy damn book. There is nothing like it. I had no idea where it was going MOST of the time. It starts in one home, goes to another, then a boat, then a school, where it settles for a long while - but there is a restlessness of place and spirit that permeates everything.
It may also be the only book I've ever read where we think it's going to be one kind of romance and ends up another. And the romance (if I can call it that) is never at the center of things. This story simply will not fit into a traditional narrative no matter how you fold it.
Lucy Snowe is a complicated, weird, interesting, internal character to be traveling along with and I appreciate the humanity of her, even while finding the rambling (too life like?) narrative frustrating.
And then it ends abruptly and oddly. Which I can't decide if I hate or just fits right in to the nuttiness of the whole affair.
The excitement wore off a little bit there in the middle, what with all the religious education and philosophizing and such. It was hard to stay with it and it took me months to wade through. But even as I slogged through her concerns about Catholic vs Protestant doctrine, I was admiring the guts on this author. I mean, it is a gutsy damn book. There is nothing like it. I had no idea where it was going MOST of the time. It starts in one home, goes to another, then a boat, then a school, where it settles for a long while - but there is a restlessness of place and spirit that permeates everything.
It may also be the only book I've ever read where we think it's going to be one kind of romance and ends up another. And the romance (if I can call it that) is never at the center of things. This story simply will not fit into a traditional narrative no matter how you fold it.
Lucy Snowe is a complicated, weird, interesting, internal character to be traveling along with and I appreciate the humanity of her, even while finding the rambling (too life like?) narrative frustrating.
And then it ends abruptly and oddly. Which I can't decide if I hate or just fits right in to the nuttiness of the whole affair.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
There is such depth to this book. Each person is so well written that with each encounter the reader becomes more acquainted with their virtues, their foibles, their faults, and their personality. Throughout this story my heart ached for Lucy. With so many strong female characters written into stories today, we need female characters that are strong like Lucy. Their is a strength of character missing in our current females in fiction. Great book.