I am perfectly ambivalent about Wide Sargasso Sea. Every reaction I had to the book is balanced by its opposite reaction:
- The moody, languid prose captured the tropical setting: I longed for a more direct narrative.
- The switches in perspective deepened the relationships among the characters: it was frustratingly difficult to track who was saying what and when they were saying it.
- The themes of madness, alcoholism, cruelty, and love were fascinating: the characters were all horrible and it was awful to watch them destroy themselves and each other.
- The connection between the heroine and the insane wife in Jane Eyre is an inspired literary device; the tie-in with Jane Eyre is a manipulative gimmick.
OTHER REVIEWS
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I have a copy of this in my library, unread as yet. Interesting review. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I really don't know if I love the book or hate it. I can tell you that I liked the book about 100times more than the movie. Talk about a snooze!
ReplyDeleteAs ambivalent as you claim to be, I'm quite intrigued by this book now. Thank you for this review.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right on. I also liked it, but didn't really like-like it. Not one of the more memorable on the list, but not as bad as The Magus. :)
ReplyDeleteI have it (actually have had it for a long, long time), but every time I pick it up and kind of thumb through it I find myself placing it back on the shelf. Somehow your great review seems to validate my intuition. I must read it though-- Some day...
ReplyDeleteRR -- Sorry for the really tardy reply. Lots of people like this one, so don't go by me.
ReplyDeleteSocrMom78 -- Another late response. Sorry. I for sure liked this better than The Magus, but then, that describes every other book I have ever read. :)
Christopher -- I think some books are meant to moulder on our TBR shelves. I have many waiting for "someday."