Charlotte Bronte, Tim Dolin, Deborah Lutz - Villette

Pros: Beautiful expression of emotions, language, and women's lives in 1800's.

Cons: Written in a somewhat outdated, wordy style.

The Bottom Line: Villette is a beautiful book, full of Charlotte Bronte's skill in representing people, scenery, situations and emotions in a way that brings them to life.

Review: Charlotte Bronte's "Villette" is the story of one woman's struggle to survive in eighteenth century England and Brussels. Women of the day who were not fortunate enough to have parents or husbands to provide for them were left with very few options, no...

Pros: it ends, eventually

Cons: ridiculous plot, long descriptions, infuriating characters

Review: I have read literally hundreds of books in my lifetime, perhaps thousands, and I do not hesitate in making the claim that I enjoyed every one of them infinitely more than Charlotte Bronte’s tedious Villette, even the ones I can’t remember. There...

Pros: Too many characters to keep track of which one you like less.

Cons: No translation for French; weak characters; tedious plot

The Bottom Line: Unless you understand French and enjoyed Wuthering Heights, don't bother.

Review: I'm an English major and, unfortunately, this is one of the books I have to read for school. I don't like many books considered to be 'classics'. In fact, most of them, I wouldn't read if I didn't have to. This is definitely one of those cases.
...