Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Title: Villette


Author: Charlotte Bronte (English, 1816-1855)
Originally published: 1853
Page count: 462


Dates read: 9/09/2020-9/29/2020
2020 book goal progress: 25 out of 20

Month category: September - Fall (School / Teachers) 

Back to the Classics category: 

Classic with a Place in the Title

Read my other Bronte Sister book reviews.
Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:

Based on Charlotte Bronte's personal experience as a teacher in Brussels, Villette, is a moving tale of repressed feelings and subjection to cruel circumstances and position, borne with heroic fortitude. Rising above the frustrations of confinement within a rigid social order, it is also a story of a woman's right to love and be loved.

First sentence:
"My Godmother lived in a handsome house in the clean and ancient town of Bretton."

Favorite quotes:
[Conversation between an older lady and a female teenager.]

" 'I told you I liked him a little. Where is the use of caring for him so very much? He is full of faults. All boys are.'

'More than girls?'

'Very likely. Wise people say it is folly to think anybody perfect; and as to likes and dislikes, we should be friendly to all, and worship none.' "

"No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mold, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise."

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 4.6/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 5
Atmosphere   - 5
Writing Style - 5
Plot                - 4
Intrigue          - 4
Logic             - 4
Enjoyment     - 5
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

I didn't enjoy this book. It was slow, boring, and quite depressing. There were some very unlikely coincidences and characters with double names - which annoyed, rather than charmed, me. I had to keep flipping to the back of the book to read translations from French, which just made it a stop-and-go read. I didn't particularly like any of the characters - actually, most of them I actively did NOT like.

One character, in particular, had a short temper and was abusive psychologically and emotionally. As we learn more about him, we find out that in specific scenarios he can be very loving and self-sacrificing. Now, don't get me wrong, it's great to have characters change and develop, but being self-sacrificial in a certain way because of a past event doesn't absolve or excuse someone from being currently abusive and manipulative. He never should have become the hero he seems to be in the end.

The book seemed set up as an early feminist novel, which maybe it was in its own time, but it didn't go far enough for me. In the end, it was the men who saved the day and provided for the women. The story also focused too much on romance, though, 'almost' or 'passing' romance is probably more accurate. To be fair, there were times when feminism was represented (as in the below quote from Lucy), but, for the most part, the book just rubbed me the wrong way. 

"Whatever my powers - feminine or the contrary - God had given them, and I felt resolute to be ashamed of no faculty of His bestowal."

The ending was unsatisfactorily ambiguous, which irritated me. Without giving too much away - the romantic in me wanted the happy ending, but the feminist in me wanted the sad ending. There even is a ghost substory in the novel, similar to the one in Jane Eyre (which is one of my favorite books). Unfortunately, the ghost story just took too long to come about and I didn't have much investment in it by the time the mystery was resolved. 

Overall, I didn't like this novel, but the intro of the book talked about two different readings: reading it for the first time, focusing on the surprising plot twists, and reading it for the second time, focusing on character development with prior knowledge of the plot twists. Maybe one day I'll read it again, but it won't be for a while.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Charlotte Bronte have the last words:

"Peril, loneliness, and an uncertain future are not oppressive evils, so long as the frame is healthy and the faculties are employed; so long, especially, as Liberty tends us her wings, and Hope guides us by her star."

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Title: Redwall 


Author: Brian Jacques (English, 1939-2011)
Originally published: 1986
Page count: 333


Dates read: 8/27/2020-9/8/2020
2020 book goal progress: 24 out of 20
Reading category: TBR Shelf

Read my other book reviews for my 2020 goal HERE.

Description on back of book:
Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well... until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming - Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde - Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice - a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back... and become a legend himself.

First sentence(s):
"Matthias cut a comical little figure as he wobbled his way along the cloisters, with his large sandals flip-flopping and his tail peeping from beneath the baggy folds of an oversized novice's habit. He paused to gaze upwards at the cloudless sky and tripped over the enormous sandals. Hazelnuts scattered out upon the grass from the rush basket he was carrying. Unable to stop, he went tumbling cowl over tail. Bump!"

CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 6/10 - ⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 8
Atmosphere   - 7
Writing Style - 7
Plot                - 5
Intrigue          - 4
Logic             - 5
Enjoyment     - 6
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Review:

This was an OK book. It started out well and I expected it to get deep and complex. Instead, it stuck very much to a children's story. It was a simple and predictable story, and most characters were one-dimensional. I almost stopped reading it because there's a character, Cornflower the fieldmouse, which plays an extremely stereotypical women's role and the sexism bothered me. It irritated me that every time we saw her someone was commenting on her figure and beauty... and in the end, she's given away (by the Abbot/leader of Redwall, not even her father) in an arranged marriage as a prize to a warrior - though it's not stated that way and both involved approve of the marriage.

BUT I finished the book because I recognized there was a myriad of incredible female characters to go along (and lead) with the other male characters! Constance the badger is big and strong, and a great fighter. Jess the squirrel is an expert climber and strategist whose husband is very much in the background, as most wives would typically be represented. Warbeak is the Queen of the sparrows. Sela the fox is a sly, two-timing witch doctor. Guosim the shrew is the co-leader of a democratic guerrilla group of shrews - and the list could go on. Other than Cornflower (and possibly the main character, Matthias, who was a bit annoying to me), all the characters, both male and female, were really neat to me and all had individual personalities - even if most of them were pretty one dimensional.

Overall, as a children's book, it's a great story! I highly suggest you read it with your kids. If you're an adult looking for a good fantasy story, I would look elsewhere for a more fulfilling read, though.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Brian Jacques have the last words:

"We are none of us too old to learn."

"Don't be ashamed, I know why you cry and grieve. It is because you are kind and good, not hard-hearted and pitiless. Please listen to me. Even the strongest and bravest must sometime weep. It shows they have a great heart, one that can feel compassion for others."