Do you think me handsome, Jane?

This is the best!

Source: jeremyjohnirons.tumblr.com

Villette - Charlotte Brontë

I’ve been having a hard time reviewing this book. I liked it and there were parts of it I loved, but I just can’t focus enough to write a lengthy, analytic review. Therefore, I will keep it short and sweet:

I definitely felt the autobiographical tone in great part of the book: lonely and guarded Lucy Snowe reminded me a lot of what I know about Charlotte. I empathized with her but sometimes I just couldn't understand her.  She seemed like two different people: the one she showed to others and the one she showed us, the readers. And what was also interesting is that everyone had a different opinion about her. If the people surrounding her had sat and talked about Lucy’s character, they would have never agreed. This is very interesting because she didn't necessarily change her demeanor towards people depending on whom she was with, so it is kind of difficult to pin point what exactly caused this.

She had some really sharp comments about Catholicism. Being raised a Catholic, I really understood (and agreed with) what she meant:

“There, as elsewhere, the Church strove to bring up her children robust in body, feeble in soul, fat, ruddy, hale, joyous, ignorant, unthinking, unquestioning.” Ouch!

I could see the effect that Catholicism had on Charlotte during her time in Belgium. Generally, when I come across with people that don’t agree with or have fallen away from Catholicism, they take a more atheist point of view. But Lucy (and therefore Charlotte) is a devout Christian, so it was very satisfying to read her impressions, her insights. I identified with her thoughts and opinions because my point of view regarding this subject is very similar in some aspects. I also admired Lucy’s ability to be so tolerant, even when she was the target of ignorant misconceptions because she was Protestant. She was very respectful of other people’s beliefs.

The story dragged a little bit at times, but it felt like drinking a nice cup of tea during a cold afternoon. It is definitely not as dramatic as Jane Eyre, but it has its special charm. I don’t  know exactly how to describe it.

I wish I could write a more detailed review but my mind just keeps wandering away. I've also been having trouble reading. I guess this happens once in a while when things get stressful or our minds get tired and need to shut down for a little bit... I really need some chocolate cake or something.

Quick Update: Reading plans, blogging plans and nurse duty

I meant to dedicate more time to my blog this month but things didn't turn out exactly the way I expected, so here's a quick update of what's been going on, what I have been reading and my blogging plans for the next few weeks.

I finished reading Villette the past week. I took my time with it and I really loved it. I do think it is superior to Jane Eyre in its character development: Lucy Snowe has a far more complex internal world and development than Jane Eyre, but I still like Jane Eyre a little more. I'm not exactly sure why. She's a little bit more likable, I guess. I will go into further details in the post I'll dedicate to Villette next week.

I'm currently reading The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I loved The Woman in White so I definitely wanted to read more from this author. I'm also working a little on My Shakespeare Project, I have been slowly reading The Tempest. 

I'm really busy right now, not only with work, but I'm also on nurse duty. My mom had an accident last Monday and had her entire right leg put in a plaster. It is not broken, thank God, but her knee was compromised and hurts like hell, so she's currently immobilized. We are going to the doctor again tomorrow  and let's hope she recovers soon. She's a very active person so she absolutely hates being in bed all day long. 

I plan to at least write my review of Villette in the coming week and if I have a little more time, I'll write a couple more reviews I have pending and work more on My Shakespeare Project.

Til next week!

May Meme Question for The Classics Club

This is the first time I'm answering the monthly meme question for The Classics Club, even though I have been part of it since January.

This month's question is: 

"Tell us about the classic book(s) you’re reading this month. You can post about what you’re looking forward to reading in May, or post thoughts-in-progress on your current read(s)."

The classic book I'm reading right now is Villette by Charlotte Brontë. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time and I don't know why I didn't read it sooner, although I ask myself the same question with all the books I love.

I have always enjoyed books where the inner life and thoughts of the characters are the most important part of the book, or even when the book is more focused on the development of the character than of the plot. This is that type of book: it is slow-paced but the inner world of the main character, Lucy Snowe, and its development is incredibly rich and very touching. 

Today I learned there is a readalong of Villette hosted by Too Fond. I would have loved to participate but I will probably finish reading it this week and the event starts next week. 

Besides Villette, I'm also making progress with My Shakespeare Project. I'm letting Hamlet rest for a little while and I'm starting with The Tempest this week. 

And that's about it! Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Today is Charlotte Brontë's birthday anniversary. I don't think there are enough words to describe how much I admire her and her two sisters. Their books have left a mark in me. We always take something from what we read, especially when we enjoy what we read, but there is something about these sisters that feels that I'm taking even more than usual. Such strength, passion and intelligence. I can't get enough of them.

Today a fellow blogger retwitted the link to a website devoted to the details of a supposed photograph of the Brontës. Nobody knows if it is really them but I stared at the picture for about an hour. I wish it was them, it feels as if I can discover something new about them, it makes me so excited! 

There is something bewitching about this photograph

Anyway, I think the time is coming for another all Brontë-all the time reading experience. I'll probably finish the books I'm currently reading in the coming week and then I'll start with Shirley and Villette and then will continue with Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey because I haven't read them in quite a while, and after reading those I will finish with Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which are my favorites.

Happy Birthday Charlotte! 

La inquilina de Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë

La semana pasada terminé de leer La inquilina de Wildfell Hall. Tenía expectativas muy altas para este libro por todo lo que había escuchado y todas mis expectativas fueron completamente superadas. Creo que Anne se ha convertido en mi Brontë favorita, a pesar que no sabía que podía admirar a alguien más que a Charlotte. Ella está en mi lista de escritores épicos, los que me emocionan demasiado, de los que nunca me canso, los que me inspiran y me hacen querer ser una escritora. Ahora Anne ha ingresado a esa lista y se ha robado el primer puesto.

La inquilina de Wildfell Hall es una novela compuesta de cartas escritas por Gilbert Markham a su amigo acerca de esta misteriosa mujer que se ha mudado a Wildfell Hall. Él escribe sus propios pensamientos y recuerdos pero también copia del diario de la mujer misteriosa, conocida como Helen Graham al comienzo de la historia. De esta manera tenemos dos perspectivas diferentes de la historia y la parte del diario de Helen es súper íntima y conmovedora.

Esta no es una típica historia victoriana: es cruda, realista e intensa. Creó tal escándalo en su tiempo por retar las ideas contemporáneas de decencia que incluso Charlotte sintió la necesidad de suprimir el libro después que Anne murió.

Algunas personas dicen que La inquilina de Wildfell Hall es el primer libro feminista. Yo no estoy necesariamente de acuerdo con esto porque no creo que esa fuera la intención de Anne. Creo que ella escribía de manera muy clara, no había ninguna propaganda intencional escondida en el libro. Ella escribía lo que consideraba correcto, lo que debía ser. El hecho de que la heroína de la novela deje a su marido vicioso y abusivo no es un mensaje o argumento feminista. Es lo que ella pensaba que era verdad y correcto. Muchos de los críticos de la época se quejaron de la manera en que lo "feo" estaba retratado, se sintieron ofendidos por tener que leer algo tan desagradable para sus gustos decentes. Ella les dijo: "Cuando tenemos que ver con el vicio y personalidades violentas, yo mantengo que es mejor representarlas como son de verdad y no como les gustaría aparecer".

Es interesante que la hermana que todos pensaron era la menos talentosa haya escrito este libro, tan adelantado a su tiempo, tan poderoso y completo. Me he estado preguntado, ¿por qué es que todos la ignoraron de esa manera? ¿Qué la hacía diferente a sus hermanas? 

Hay que admitir que el estilo de Anne es menos romántico, tiene menos imágenes poéticas y los destinos de sus heroínas son normales. Entonces, ¿es que en esta época, la necesidad por algún romance dramático era tan importante que una realista como Anne, que escribía las cosas tal como las veía, sin adornarlas para hacerlas más agradables al lector o a ella misma, fue subestimada y olvidada? 

Encontré este comic el otro día (fuente: Hark! A vagrant). Es una exageración y no es muy justo con Charlotte y Emily pero hay algo de verdad en él y ciertamente me hizo reír. Mi opinión es que esta es la razón por la que Anne no es tan popular como Charlotte o Emily: ella no fantaseaba e idealizaba tanto como ellas. 

Cuando leí la biografía de la familia Brontë por Juliet Barker no sabía mucho sobre Anne. Había leído Agnes Grey y me había encantado pero seguía prefiriendo Jane Eyre. Luego, cuando descubrí un poco más de la familia, pude ver lo que Anne quizo transmitir cuando escribió Agnes Grey. Todo el mundo siempre ha pensado que Charlotte fue una revolucionaria porque fue la primera en escribir sobre una mujer simple y normal como la heroína de una novela, pero fue Anne la que lo hizo primero con Agnes Grey. Este libro representa mucho mejor la realidad y las dificultades de ser una institutriz. 

Ahora pienso que los libros que ella escribió van muy bien con su personalidad. Ella era la tranquila, la bebé de la familia, la que todos parecían olvidar siempre, pero era su pilar silencioso. Tenía una fuerza increíble, un sentido del deber que la hizo querer educarse para poder ganarse la vida. Anne fue la que trabajó más, a pesar que probablemente lo hizo en las peores condiciones. Ella dijo que Agnes Grey estaba basado en la verdad y según esto, los niños de las familias para las que trabajó eran la plaga.

La inquilina de Wildfell Hall hizo que mi corazón latiera más rápido mientras leía no por un romance, una aventura o cualquier otra cosa parecida. Lo hizo latir porque podía ver el talento detrás del libro, la mujer centrada que lo escribió sin buscar fama o aceptación. Anne escribió lo que era verdad para ella. Fue una experiencia completamente distinta a las de leer Jane Eyre o Wuthering Heights.

Si hay algo que no me gustó tanto en el libro fue el final relativamente corto, en comparación con el crecimiento y la progresión de la historia. No me parece que la relación entre Helen y Gilbert se haya desarrollado lo suficiente como para hacerme creer que son el final feliz de cada uno. ¿Por que Helen se enamoraría de Gilbert? Entiendo porque podría pasar en la dirección contraria, ella era una mujer hermosa y misteriosa, pero ¿quién era él para ella? Era un hombre simple y normal. Y de repente esa es la clave. Después de sufrir tanto con un "hombre extraordinario", extraordinariamente encantador, rico, apuesto, pero también extraordinariamente borracho, abusivo y manipulador, de repente ella quería algo normal, un hombre bueno y decente. No estoy segura. Todavía no me parece que la relación sea verosímil pero es una pequeña manchita en un libro realmente bueno.

Cuando terminé de leerlo me sentí triste. Triste de que ahora ya había leido los dos únicos que Anne Brontë escribió, yo quería más. Me pareció injusto que tuviera que morir tan joven. Sin embargo ella murió de la misma manera tranquila en la que vivió. Hasta el final, ella fue la serena y comprensiva. (Barker, 2012) “Incluso cuando estaba muriendo, sus preocupaciones eran para con los demas: al ver a Charlotte casi incapaz de contener su pena, Anne susurró: 'Se valiente, Charlotte; se valiente'. Consciente hasta el final, Anne murió tranquila y delicadamente a alrededor de las dos de la tarde del lunes 28 de mayo de 1849." 

Planeo releer Agnes Grey en las próximas semanas. Creo que será un experiencia completamente distinta sabiendo más de ella ahora. Quiero animar a los demas a que lean y disfruten de las obras de Anne y que superen el prejuicio de que ella era la menos talentosa. No creo que alguna de ellas deba ser etiquetada como la menos talentosa, todas eran diferentes y geniales en su propia manera y cada una de ellas contribuyó en el cuestionamiento de las tradiciones y convenciones victorianas y la forma prestablecida en que se suponía las mujeres debían escribir.

Y para los que adoren a las Brontës tanto como yo: El restaurado museo Brontë (en inglés).

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë

I finished reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall last week. I had high expectations for this book because of everything I had heard of it and all my expectations were completely exceeded. I think Anne might have become my favorite Brontë, even though I didn’t know I could admire someone more than Charlotte. She’s in my list of epic writers, the ones I get too excited about, the ones I never tire of, the ones that inspire me and make me want to be a writer myself. Now Anne has entered that list, going directly to the first place.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a novel formed by letters from Gilbert Markham to his friend about this mysterious new woman living in Wildfell Hall. He writes his own thoughts and recollections but he also copies from the diary of the mysterious woman herself, known as Helen Graham at the beginning of the story. This way we get two different perspectives of the story. And the part of Helen’s diary is extremely intimate and touching.

This is no conventional Victorian story. It’s raw, realistic, intense. It created such a scandal in its time because it challenged the contemporary ideas of decency that even Charlotte felt the need to suppress it after Anne died.

Some say The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the first feminist book. I don’t necessarily agree with that because I don’t think that was Anne’s intention. I think she wrote very straight forward, she didn’t have any intentional propaganda hidden in the book. She wrote what she though was right, what should be. The fact that the heroine of the novel leaves her dissolute, abusive husband was not a feminist message, plot, or whatever. Its is what she thought was true and right. A lot of critics at the time complained about the way the “ugly” was portrayed. They felt offended for having to read something so disagreeable to their decent tastes. She said to them “When we have to do with vice and vicious characters, I maintain it is better to depict them as they really are than as they would like to appear”.

It is interesting that this book, so ahead of its time, so powerful and complete, was written by the sister who everyone thought was the least talented. I’ve been wondering, what was it that made everyone disregard Anne in such a way? What made her different from her sisters? 

I’ll admit that Anne’s writing is less romantic, has less poetic imagery, the fates of her heroines are normal. Is it that at the time, the need for some dramatic romance was so important that a realist like Anne, who wrote things as she saw them, without embellishing them to make them more agreeable to the reader or herself, was underestimated and forgotten? 

I found this comic the other day (source: Hark! A vagrant). It is an exaggeration and it’s not really fair to Charlotte and Emily but there is some insight to it. It certainly made me laugh. My opinion is that this is the reason Anne is not as popular as Charlotte or Emily. She didn’t romanticize as much as them. 

When I read the Juliet Barker biography of the Brontë family I didn’t know much about Anne. I had read Agnes Grey and loved it but I always preferred Jane Eyre. Then, as I found out a little more of the family I saw what Anne meant when she wrote Agnes Grey. Everyone always thought Charlotte was a revolutionary because she was the first one to write about a plain, ordinary woman as the heroine of a novel, but it was Anne who did that first with Agnes Grey. This book portrays much better the reality and the difficulties of being a governess. 

I now think the books she wrote fit perfectly with her personality. She was quiet, the baby of the family, the one everyone seemed to forget, but she was its silent pillar. She had a core of steel, a sense of duty that made her want to get an education that would let her earn her own living. She was the one who worked the most, even though she probably did it in the worst conditions. She said Agnes Grey was based on the truth and according to that, the children of the families she worked for were the plague.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall made my heart beat faster as I was reading it, but not because of a romance, an adventure or anything else you would expect. It was because I could see the genius behind it, the down to earth woman who wrote it without seeking fame or acceptance. She wrote what was true to her. It was a completely different experience than the ones of reading Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights.

If there is something I didn’t like that much of this book was the relatively short ending, compared to the build-up of the story. I don’t think the relationship between Helen and Gilbert developed enough to make me believe they were each other’s happy ending. Why would Helen fall in love with Gilbert? I can see why it would happen the other way around, she was a beautiful, mysterious woman, but who was he to her? He was a plain, ordinary man. And maybe that is the key. After suffering so much with an “extraordinary man”, extraordinarily charming, rich, handsome but also extraordinarily drunk, abusive and manipulative, maybe she wanted normal. A good, decent, normal guy. I don’t know. I still don’t think that relationship is believable, but is just a small thing in a great, great book.

When I finished reading it I felt sad. Sad that now I had already read the only two books Anne Brontë ever wrote. I wanted more. It seemed unfair she had to die so young. But she died as calmly as she lived. She was, until the very end, the collected, supportive one. (Barker, 2012) “Even while she lay dying, her thought was for others: seeing Charlotte barely able to restrain her grief, Anne whispered, ‘Take courage, Charlotte; take courage’. Conscious to the last, Anne died, very calmly and gently, at about two o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, 28 May 1849.” 

I will reread Agnes Grey in the coming weeks. I feel it will be a completely different experience knowing more about her now. I want to encourage everyone to read and enjoy Anne's work and to overcome the prejudice that she was the least talented. I don’t think any of them should be labeled as the least talented, they were different and great in their own way and each of them contributed to the challenging of the Victorian traditions and conventions and the way women were supposed to write.

And for those of you who love the Brontës as much as I do, check this out: The newly restored Brontë Museum.