very good..but not brilliant
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this book was quite a hard read for me because i kept waiting for some action...which never happened. I think it's because i quite like romantic stuff in books, and this doesn't really contain anything like that ...not that it is essential, i just found this very long and...sometimes a bit bland. There is a lot of french in it too which drove me to distraction as i had to keep going to the notes at the back of the book..eeewwwwwww!!! I hate that!!! personally this didn't set me aflame with wonder..but at the same time are there very nice touches in there, which would make me say read it....but don't spend your last pennies on it, because there are far better stuff by this author and her sisters
Good, but not outstanding in my opinion
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Even better than Jane Eyre
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An exceptional, superb work. One of the less well-known masterpieces of English literaure, it deserves to be far more widely read.
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Heart's ease
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I'm re-reading this novel and rediscovering all its delights and also its impressive structure. Now that I know the plot, I can appreciate the subtely with which it is woven, introducing hints that go under the radar upon first reading. Much like Alan Hollinghurst's 'Folding Star', this captures the awkwardness of foreign travel, seen through the lens of a protagonist arriving in Brussels (a much less glamorous location in the history of English literature than Paris or Rome). Lucy Snowe must make her way as a school teacher and observes life on the continent with a jaundiced eye. There are some longueurs but even these are interesting (musings on Catholicism, on the psychology of an oppressed mind, on cultural difference).
The main reason I treasure this novel is for the love story at its heart which has one of the most original and vivid male romantic interests I have ever encountered in literature.
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Another lovely tale from Bronte
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Another semi-autobiographical tale from Charlotte Bronte, based upon her time spent teaching in Belgium. This is not a novel of page turning excitement, but a lovely tale of one woman's battle to maintain her independence.
It's very interesting how the author brings characters in and out of her tale, and ties them all together in the end. Along with that, Bronte's gorgeous prose and all those large words that make you want to go running for the dictionary.
A lovely tale, one to savour like a fine red wine or chocolate, and an old classic worth rediscovering (or to discover for the first time). If you enjoyed Jane Eyre this is worth checking out.
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A far more mature work than Jane Eyre
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Villette has always suffered in comparison with Jane Eyre, and it's certainly a less romantic read - but all the better for that. Where Jane Eyre exists as a female fantasy, Villette gets to grips with the uncomfortable real world, where men don't miraculously fall in love with plain, earnest, clever girls and instead prefer the beautiful and dumb! From the painful depiction of unrequited love, to the ambiguous and open-to-interpretation ending, this is a more mature, assured and challenging novel than any other that Charlotte Bronte wrote.
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