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jailala 's review for:
informative
slow-paced
Finally finished! This book has been a conundrum for me. Originally, I'd been eager to read about this 'Gentleman Jack' a woman supposedly ahead of her times and living the way she saw fit. I enjoy histories, women's studies and cultural explorations but I must admit the first part of this book was hard to get through.
As described and written in her own words, Anne Lister was a person I would not have wanted to deal with either as a friend or acquaintance. While I celebrated her understanding of her own sexuality and loved how she said that since it was her nature that meant her god could have nothing wrong with how she felt or 'he' would not have created her so, I found her, personally, to be the worst of landed gentlemen of the time period. In short, she was a cad. She was only ever in any relationship for what it would bring her and often was only in a relationship long enough to enjoy the 'conquering'. It seems Anne Lister was only ever fully enamored with Anne Lister.
The first part of the book is an extremely tedious account of Lister's 'romantic' conquests - not tedious because of the author Angela Steidele's retelling but because of Lister's way of recording everything (and I do mean everything) and her own interpretation of her life which only ever found fault with those around her and never with herself.
She was also quite the drama queen and constantly moaning and lamenting these trials she 'found' herself in even though almost 100% of the time, she herself was the reason for the problems. Especially since she was only attracted to women who would put themselves in a subservient role to herself with all sorts of her own rules placed upon them.
Ugh.
By the time her political ideation was explained, I had already developed a strong dislike for the woman but understanding even more about her (again, in her OWN words) only made me dislike her more. She literally believed herself better than other people and used child-labor in her coal mines. She demanded monogamy from her romantic entanglements even though she gave herself excuse after excuse to do just as she pleased with whomever she had her eyes set on. She even kept secret from her lovers that she had a venereal disease even though she was ticked at the woman who gave it to her for not mentioning it! She even married a couple of women at the same time! She hounded her last romantic interest and third wife, over money which she admitted over and over again in her journals was why she married the woman in the first place. In fact, she treated this person so badly that Anne Lister feared for the woman's sanity but kept on hounding her. Never once did Anne Lister think she might be the cause of any of her mistresses' distress.
Angela Steidele does a faithful recounting of Anne Lister's life and there are several interesting tidbits about the times and places in which Lister lived and traveled (especially a few interesting suppositions about the Brontes) but be warned! This woman seemed only to emulate the worst kind of gentleman of the early 1800's. If you've read Austen, think Wickham or Willoughby.
I would've given it a higher rating if I'd seen more of Steidele's hand in the book and less a perfect recounting of Lister's life.
As described and written in her own words, Anne Lister was a person I would not have wanted to deal with either as a friend or acquaintance. While I celebrated her understanding of her own sexuality and loved how she said that since it was her nature that meant her god could have nothing wrong with how she felt or 'he' would not have created her so, I found her, personally, to be the worst of landed gentlemen of the time period. In short, she was a cad. She was only ever in any relationship for what it would bring her and often was only in a relationship long enough to enjoy the 'conquering'. It seems Anne Lister was only ever fully enamored with Anne Lister.
The first part of the book is an extremely tedious account of Lister's 'romantic' conquests - not tedious because of the author Angela Steidele's retelling but because of Lister's way of recording everything (and I do mean everything) and her own interpretation of her life which only ever found fault with those around her and never with herself.
She was also quite the drama queen and constantly moaning and lamenting these trials she 'found' herself in even though almost 100% of the time, she herself was the reason for the problems. Especially since she was only attracted to women who would put themselves in a subservient role to herself with all sorts of her own rules placed upon them.
Ugh.
By the time her political ideation was explained, I had already developed a strong dislike for the woman but understanding even more about her (again, in her OWN words) only made me dislike her more. She literally believed herself better than other people and used child-labor in her coal mines. She demanded monogamy from her romantic entanglements even though she gave herself excuse after excuse to do just as she pleased with whomever she had her eyes set on. She even kept secret from her lovers that she had a venereal disease even though she was ticked at the woman who gave it to her for not mentioning it! She even married a couple of women at the same time! She hounded her last romantic interest and third wife, over money which she admitted over and over again in her journals was why she married the woman in the first place. In fact, she treated this person so badly that Anne Lister feared for the woman's sanity but kept on hounding her. Never once did Anne Lister think she might be the cause of any of her mistresses' distress.
Angela Steidele does a faithful recounting of Anne Lister's life and there are several interesting tidbits about the times and places in which Lister lived and traveled (especially a few interesting suppositions about the Brontes) but be warned! This woman seemed only to emulate the worst kind of gentleman of the early 1800's. If you've read Austen, think Wickham or Willoughby.
I would've given it a higher rating if I'd seen more of Steidele's hand in the book and less a perfect recounting of Lister's life.