Tag: europe

Review: Villette, Charlotte Brontë

Posted on by Dana
Villette by Charlotte Brontë
Narrator: Charlotte Ritchie
Published by Penguin Audio, Penguin Books Genres: Classic
Length: 21 hours 20 minutes
Format: Audio, Audiobook
Source: Audible
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Bookshop

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Goodreads
three-stars

With her final novel, Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë's most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life's journey—a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature.

Well, I disagree with the Goodreads blurb above that this book eclipses Jane Eyre in any respect. I found it to be kind of mid, as my students say. I wanted to give up on it but saw I had about five hours left to listen to, and by that time, I’d sunk about 15 hours in, so I plunged ahead. If Charlotte Brontë’s teacher (and major crush, according to Brontë lore) Constantin Héger was anything like M. Paul Emmanuel, he’s a hard pass. I didn’t understand how Lucy Snowe came to fall for him in the first place. They spent most of the book sparring, and he was a misogynistic jerk. I didn’t find Lucy as likable as Jane Eyre.

The coincidences and revelations were implausible. M. Paul Emmanuel’s plantation in Guadeloupe was surely a slave plantation, and it’s completely glossed over. Well, I guess it would be, given the time of the novel’s composition. I understand Jamaica Kincaid wrote a postcolonial response to Villette called Lucy. The novel had its moments, and the characters were well drawn, particularly Ginevra Fanshawe and Madame Beck, Lucy’s nemeses. The ending is ambiguous, and I have to give Charlotte Brontë props for not wrapping everything up in a tidy bow at the end.

three-stars

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2017 Reading Challenge Sign Up Time!

Posted on by Dana

I love reading challenges. After not having the best reading year this year, I’m hoping that I can jump start things with a few challenges that looked interesting to me. Here are some of the reading challenges I’m trying in 2017.

Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017The Wild Goose Chase Reading Challenge 2017 is “designed to be fun, frivolous and filled with feathers.” In other words, it challenges participants to pick a range of books from an eclectic list of seven categories: 1) a book with a word or phrase relating to wildness in the title, 2) a book with a species of bird (or the word “bird”) in the title, 3) a book with an exotic or far-flung location in the title, 4) a book with an object you might hunt for in the title, 5) a book with a synonym for chase in the title, 6) a book with a means of transport in the title, and 7) a book with an object you might take on a search or hunt in the title. It looks like fun to me. I’m not sure right now which books I might select, but I like the idea of going on a “wild goose chase” to find fun titles that fit the criteria.

European Reading Challenge 2017I love to read books set in Europe, but if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit most are set in the UK with a sprinkling in France. Perhaps the European Reading Challenge 2017 will help me try some different settings. The idea is to read books set in one of “50 sovereign states that fall (at least partially) within the geographic territory of the continent of Europe and/or enjoy membership in international European organizations such as the Council of Europe.” I am going to go for the FIVE STAR (DELUXE ENTOURAGE) level and “read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.”

If some of my other favorite challenges run again next year, I’ll do them as well. I always love doing the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and the Reading England Challenge. The R. I. P. Challenge is my absolute favorite, but it’s not usually announced until August. I’ll keep my eyes open for other interesting challenges as well.

I have two other challenge-related goals for 2017:

  1. Link up my reviews on challenge sites and participate more. I usually do the reading, but I forget to follow up with linkups, and I almost never read others’ reviews. I’d like to try being more involved with the challenges next year.
  2. Read books set in Asia and Africa. I want to broaden my book settings a bit, and I admit these two continents are the ones I have visited most rarely in my reading (and if I am fair, South America, too, but I’d really like to make this more doable by focusing on two continents). I already have a list and some ideas. I don’t want to make it an official challenge—more of a personal one.

Once the year ends, I will change my Reading Challenges page to reflect 2017 challenges.

If you know of any good challenges that might interest us readers, clue us in the comments.

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