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rosiecharlotte 's review for:
Wide Sargasso Sea
by Jean Rhys
4⭐️
I read this as a teenager and I hated it, I loved Jane Eyre and thought this was a pollution of that story but now reading it I enjoyed it much more.
It’s vivid and surreal and feels like a fever dream. It works to make you feel like you are going mad so you understand the main character and find yourself on her side despite the awful things she does. It does this by changing POVs without notice and not including events and conversations which then become referenced at later points.
It poses questions like how much of madness is hereditary and how much is caused by outside sources, the corrupting power of money, and how perspectives shape understanding of situations.
However, the racism both in language and stereotyping of black characters is hard to stomach and stops this from being a truly enjoyable read. This may just be a reflection of the time written but as a modern day reader you can’t feel anything but uncomfortable with this.
I do think this is worth reading and would be very interesting to study.
I read this as a teenager and I hated it, I loved Jane Eyre and thought this was a pollution of that story but now reading it I enjoyed it much more.
It’s vivid and surreal and feels like a fever dream. It works to make you feel like you are going mad so you understand the main character and find yourself on her side despite the awful things she does. It does this by changing POVs without notice and not including events and conversations which then become referenced at later points.
It poses questions like how much of madness is hereditary and how much is caused by outside sources, the corrupting power of money, and how perspectives shape understanding of situations.
However, the racism both in language and stereotyping of black characters is hard to stomach and stops this from being a truly enjoyable read. This may just be a reflection of the time written but as a modern day reader you can’t feel anything but uncomfortable with this.
I do think this is worth reading and would be very interesting to study.