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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
3.5-4 stars
This was a confusing book for me to listen to, so after I listened, I went back and read over it so I could figure out all the jumps in time (there were a lot of them). Reading it was much easier to keep track of what happened when and it also made it easier to follow the threads of the different themes: sexuality/prime/spinsterhood, education/intrusion, religion/predestination, authority/social groups, instinct/insight. This is a difficult book for me to review because I read it for a book study, but then didn't get a chance to attend and discuss. I believe I could have gained much from the discussion. Still, I enjoyed listening to it (even when it was confusing) and it was both disturbing and humorous, and it was interesting going back over the written version to follow the themes. Overall, I would say this is a book that is worth checking out and would be interesting to discuss with others.
This was a confusing book for me to listen to, so after I listened, I went back and read over it so I could figure out all the jumps in time (there were a lot of them). Reading it was much easier to keep track of what happened when and it also made it easier to follow the threads of the different themes: sexuality/prime/spinsterhood, education/intrusion, religion/predestination, authority/social groups, instinct/insight. This is a difficult book for me to review because I read it for a book study, but then didn't get a chance to attend and discuss. I believe I could have gained much from the discussion. Still, I enjoyed listening to it (even when it was confusing) and it was both disturbing and humorous, and it was interesting going back over the written version to follow the themes. Overall, I would say this is a book that is worth checking out and would be interesting to discuss with others.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Terse. That’s the first word I can think of describe the text of this book. The author doesn’t write with a lot of depth to her characters and holds each of them mainly at a clinical arms length.
Miss Jean Brodie, in her self-declared prime, is wholly focused on a set of girls in her instruction at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls,’in Edinburough. It cannot be said that she is an exceptional teacher, opting to distance herself from the other more traditional instructors and prizing her independent thinking. But, she is invested in HER girls, in her own way. She takes them to around the city, introduces them to culture, but also breaches the student-teacher tradition by telling them of her love life, encouraging them to obfuscate what she is talking to them about from the headmistress who wants her to leave the school, and by shoe-horning each girl by her self own estimation of what their futures will entail: including encouraging one of her girls to have an affair with the man she herself loves (the art teacher who is a married man with a large catholic family).
She is a complex woman, with questionable values from her willingness to cross boundaries, have affairs, belittle Catholicism (but otherwise attend services in all of the other religious services around her), and seemingly support fascism as a better system of governance. She is independently minded, always. She answers to her own particular guidance, and she seems altogether lonely and prepared to be alone, which feels motivating for her to become overly invested and personal with “her lot” of girls.
There’s a lot to chew on, not least of which being Sandy, the primary perspective of the story, and what she makes of Miss Brodie throughout her own life.
Miss Jean Brodie, in her self-declared prime, is wholly focused on a set of girls in her instruction at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls,’in Edinburough. It cannot be said that she is an exceptional teacher, opting to distance herself from the other more traditional instructors and prizing her independent thinking. But, she is invested in HER girls, in her own way. She takes them to around the city, introduces them to culture, but also breaches the student-teacher tradition by telling them of her love life, encouraging them to obfuscate what she is talking to them about from the headmistress who wants her to leave the school, and by shoe-horning each girl by her self own estimation of what their futures will entail: including encouraging one of her girls to have an affair with the man she herself loves (the art teacher who is a married man with a large catholic family).
She is a complex woman, with questionable values from her willingness to cross boundaries, have affairs, belittle Catholicism (but otherwise attend services in all of the other religious services around her), and seemingly support fascism as a better system of governance. She is independently minded, always. She answers to her own particular guidance, and she seems altogether lonely and prepared to be alone, which feels motivating for her to become overly invested and personal with “her lot” of girls.
There’s a lot to chew on, not least of which being Sandy, the primary perspective of the story, and what she makes of Miss Brodie throughout her own life.
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infidelity, Sexism
This did not have the atmosphere I was expecting or hoping for. For that reason, I'm definitely going to have to read this again in the future. I enjoyed this, but hopefully a second read will help heighten my appreciation even more. Otherwise I feel pretty 'meh' about it. Not a bad take on an idea that I've seen many times before.
It was excellent. I would need to re-read to catch more details, because there are many. I loved the pacing & the tone, most of all, its emotional sensibility and simultaneous sharp sense of caricature. I wished the ending was longer.
emotional
funny
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
This is the latest choice in my Modern Library Book Club. And I must say this book has made me officially start to wonder what the people who put together that list think great literature is. I was confounded by the simplicity of this book - and thought that the betrayal that is set up to be so turning was extremely anti-climatic. The way that the author skips from current narrative to past to speculative did not add to the book, but actually made me angry. Just when I became interested, we were off track and headed in a unclear direction.
The only reason this book gets two stars is because of the character of Ms. Jean Brodie. I women that I would champion as one of the most odd-ball I have every read about. She is a teacher that refuses to teach - but rather uses her students as an outlet for personal therapy and attempts to use them to live the life choices she wishes she had the gumption for. I appreciated her for a number of humorous moments - and did want to know what she would say next. But my issue was that I did not care what she would do next. Her actions meant little to me.
The Brodie set, in my mind, was so ill developed that I did not really care about any of them. Sandy, who I would say is the other protagonist of the novel, kept popping into my head as Ms. Piggy with squinty eyes. And though that makes me laugh now, did not help me with her throughout the book. And her anger against Ms. Brodie, and the decision she made to work against her did not clearly make sense to me.
I do not think I would tell anyone to read this book - but maybe the movie would be fun. I do love Maggie Smith.
The only reason this book gets two stars is because of the character of Ms. Jean Brodie. I women that I would champion as one of the most odd-ball I have every read about. She is a teacher that refuses to teach - but rather uses her students as an outlet for personal therapy and attempts to use them to live the life choices she wishes she had the gumption for. I appreciated her for a number of humorous moments - and did want to know what she would say next. But my issue was that I did not care what she would do next. Her actions meant little to me.
The Brodie set, in my mind, was so ill developed that I did not really care about any of them. Sandy, who I would say is the other protagonist of the novel, kept popping into my head as Ms. Piggy with squinty eyes. And though that makes me laugh now, did not help me with her throughout the book. And her anger against Ms. Brodie, and the decision she made to work against her did not clearly make sense to me.
I do not think I would tell anyone to read this book - but maybe the movie would be fun. I do love Maggie Smith.
I must have missed something. Most people love or at least like this book. I couldn’t wait to finish it.
I've always loved this movie, found it on AMC once when I was ten or eleven and memorized the final scene because I used to do that when I was little. So any way, now I'm reading the novel. I stole the play from my 10th grade drama teacher--I think the "sexy" character, Rose was eliminated from the play...weird how that happens.
This is an odd but remarkable read. Spark captures the childs-eye view of the world perfectly while also treating us to a brilliantly witty narrative voice. There is something almost 'stand-up comedy'-esque about her use of repetition when describing the girls that make up the Brodie set: "Rose, who was famous for sex", "Mary MacGregor, with only two eyes, a nose and a mouth". This, combined with the smart and well-executed jumping around in time, makes the slim novel well worth a read.
I read this at University the first time around, and found myself focusing more on the political elements (Miss Brodie's views of Mussolini's Italy etc), but re-reading for an office book club brought out different elements. This time, the conversation centred much more about what teaching should be and how much a teacher's own character should shape the class. Even today there are pertinent questions about the potential abuses of power that teaching affords, yet it is also clear that teachers need the freedom (and power) to inspire children - I'm sure everyone who has at least one teacher who changed the trajectory of their life with a particular question, observation or topic. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie will bring those memories rushing to the surface.
I read this at University the first time around, and found myself focusing more on the political elements (Miss Brodie's views of Mussolini's Italy etc), but re-reading for an office book club brought out different elements. This time, the conversation centred much more about what teaching should be and how much a teacher's own character should shape the class. Even today there are pertinent questions about the potential abuses of power that teaching affords, yet it is also clear that teachers need the freedom (and power) to inspire children - I'm sure everyone who has at least one teacher who changed the trajectory of their life with a particular question, observation or topic. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie will bring those memories rushing to the surface.