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jessferg 's review for:
The French Lieutenant's Woman
by John Fowles
Since I'm a "must read before seeing the movie" person, I genuinely had very little idea what to expect beyond "romance."
Turns out it's actually a great read - very interesting interactions between the classes while Fowles is also snubbing his nose at them.
I missed this "3 endings" stuff - I got 2 of them, but the third just felt like an extension of the second. I've re-read it at least four times and I still feel that way - but all the Cliffs-Notes-esques critiques say there are three endings so I'm just wrong...
Anyway, the writing is great - it's very readable, the characters are pretty much all dislikable (which I always love) although you do tend to feel sorry for them anyway. The "romance" is a buyer beware situation and while the reader catches on to that early on, it still doesn't happen exactly the way you think it will.
The author's insertion of himself into the story really sets the tone for the dark humor Fowles is using to question everyone and everything. Every action is suspect, every outcome could have gone another way (it's almost time travel theory) which means, at least for me, it's not a passive read.
I'm surprisingly in favor of this book and would recommend it to readers of general literature. Although it can read like a Victorian novel at times, I think it easily stands beside some of today's tongue-in-cheek novels and could stand for a little renewed appreciation.
Turns out it's actually a great read - very interesting interactions between the classes while Fowles is also snubbing his nose at them.
I missed this "3 endings" stuff - I got 2 of them, but the third just felt like an extension of the second. I've re-read it at least four times and I still feel that way - but all the Cliffs-Notes-esques critiques say there are three endings so I'm just wrong...
Anyway, the writing is great - it's very readable, the characters are pretty much all dislikable (which I always love) although you do tend to feel sorry for them anyway. The "romance" is a buyer beware situation and while the reader catches on to that early on, it still doesn't happen exactly the way you think it will.
The author's insertion of himself into the story really sets the tone for the dark humor Fowles is using to question everyone and everything. Every action is suspect, every outcome could have gone another way (it's almost time travel theory) which means, at least for me, it's not a passive read.
I'm surprisingly in favor of this book and would recommend it to readers of general literature. Although it can read like a Victorian novel at times, I think it easily stands beside some of today's tongue-in-cheek novels and could stand for a little renewed appreciation.