Wide Sargasso Sea

Rating:
Summary: Interesting account of a troubled marriage
Review: Jean Rhys captures the feeling of what living in the West Indies is like, the heat, the lushness of colors, the earthiness of the people, both black and white, the social strata surrounding the master/servant relationship as it occurs in the West Indies at the time the book is written, the mid 1800's, and contrasts this with England, portraying England as a cold, hard, cynical place, a place where Antoinette, the West Indian girl is as out of place as Edward, the English gentlemen who marries her for her money, is out of place is the West Indies. Antoinette is looking desperately to Edward to provide her all the love and acceptance she missed out on in her childhood, and although denied this love, Antoinettes understanding of it is in the West Indian way, emotionally, colorful, passionate, even vulgar, but always full of life. Edward is from England his understanding of life and love is English, cold, analytical, proper and reserved. Even without Antoinettes history of emotional/mental illness, the two cultures and two people are so different it is only a short time before they collide, initially to Antoinettes misfortune, but ultimately in a final irony, to Edwards. Very interesting book, contrasting the way the atmosphere of the West Indies, and later on of England influence and explain the inner workings of the characters minds. Antoinette and Edward are not really ever portrayed as either simply mad/crazy in the former case or cold/evil in the later, but as two people with no understanding of the other and no potential for any communication whatsoever, each locked in his or her own world. Ultimately this leads to the destruction of Antoinette, and the revenge this leads her to. Very insightful book, using the characters own words to describe the actions.

Rating:
Summary: BORING
Review: This was perhaps the most boring book I have ever read. I am not a big fan of English books, but this book took my hatred to new heighths! All of these books are about love or lack of love. Only one word describes this: boring! Don't get me wrong, I'm not some raving idiot, but when a book of this type crosses my path, I break out in hives.

Rating:
Summary: Related enough to Jane Eyre to have Brontë turn in her grave
Review: This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Jean Rhys should never have touched Jane Eyre, a classic, to begin with. First of all, she ruins the character of Rochester. In the original he is a hero, and a wonderful person. In Rhys', he is an evil, evil man. This made the book almost impossible to read. Second, there were all these changes of point of view without any notice! One page Bertha is telling the story, the next Rochester is. Horrible. Thirdly, Rhys uses fragmented sentences, bad grammar, and no punctuation in some parts when Bertha is telling the story. The only thing this accomplishes is it makes an even bigger pain in the butt to read. No one cares about Bertha or Antoinetta as Rhys calls her in her version, and the book is a complete waste of time. So, unless someone is holding a gun up to your head, do not read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Jean Rhys offers an indepth view into the mind of "Bertha".
Review: Jean Rhys's novel offers the reader an indepth view into the mindset of Antoinette Cosway. Suddenly, the 'mad' woman in Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is brought to life. Rhys probes into the conflict between the Creole, Jamaican, and British in the Caribbean. This novel addresses the issue of race and culture, but it also addresses the inner thought processes of a woman confronted with cultural chaos. Jean Rhys has done a superb job in bringing Bronte's "Bertha" to life. I recommend this book to anyone that has an interest in Charlotte Bronte and/or Caribbean literature

Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone studying the Caribbean
Review: This book is a real gem, which can be analized on many levels. This is not simply a passionate love story. It is a wonderful description of the Caribbean plantation society of the late 1800's, and an excellent account of the relationship that existed at that time between the new class of Caribbean Creoles and the members of the metropolitan European society. The author brilliantly uses the unequal relationship between a man and a woman to symbolize the historic colonial relationship. In addition, the novel is an important contribution to Caribbean literature in the sense that it was able to take the European classic Jean Eyre and bring it into the Caribbean context. A wonderful book for anyone studying Latin America or the Caribbean

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating deconstruction of the myth of "Jane Eyre."
Review: Whether or not we as readers realize the implications of "the novel," the fact of the matter is that as a cultural artifact, all stories have behind their facade, the hidden barbarism of history. In "Wide Sargasso Sea," Jean Rhys confronts possibility of another side to "Jane Eyre." The story of Bertha, the first Mrs. Rochester, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a not only a brilliant deconstruction of Charlotte Brontë's legacy, but is also a damning history of colonialism in the West Indies. Told from different points of view, the text is a tapestry weaving Bertha's story with Edward Rochester's early life. Like the seaweed the book is named for, the structure floats in and out of artistic consciousness as though on a sea of many unwritten stories. Although some might argue that "Wide Sargasso Sea," detracts from "Jane Eyre," I feel that Jean Rhys gives us a fuller understanding about the cultural historiography that produces "great literature." As a champion for the silenced voices, Charlotte Brontë herself was all too aware of societies' injustices. While today, "Jane Eyre" is generally accepted as a tract on social class, feminism, and conscious production of art, 150 years ago, Brontë was lambasted by contemporary critics as unchristian, seditious and a poor writer. I can not help but think Brontë, as social critic, would have cheered the publication of "Wide Sargasso Sea."

Rating:
Summary: a tough, unsatisfying read
Review: I found this book to be more trouble than it was worth. It was a tedious boring insght into the character of Bertha, Rochester's wife in Elizabeth Bronte's Jane Eyre. Rhys should have left well enough alone

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and profound
Review: This book is one of the most beautifully written works I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Jean Rhys transforms the words to experience. It's almost as if the reader is able to smell the island flowers, feel the breeze, hear the sounds. Not only is the writing superb, but the message is profound, drawing paralells between the subjection of women and colonialization which leave the reader thinking long after the reading is complete.

Rating:
Summary: An Exceptional Prequel
Review: As a prequel to the classic, Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea lives up to the expectation of Bronte's novel. Carefully crafted around the most minute details Bronte used, Jean Rhys constructs a novel that is poetic and figurative in its language to describe the life of the woman in the attic. Rhys changes Bertha Mason's name to Antoinette Cosway as the first step in painting the Caribbean landscape which is carried through most of the novel, until the final part where Bronte's work threads through. Giving a voice to this mysterious character that Bronte chose not to detail sheds enormous light on Rochester's future perspective on relationships. Although short and succint, Rhys novel will surely give Jane Eyre readers a new light through which to analyze the time - honored novel.

I reccomend reading Jane Eyre first, even though this is considered the prequel. Understanding Jane Eyre will allow Rhy's work to have more depth, especially at the end.

Rating:
Summary: A.P Should make us read more books this great
Review: This is the first book I have had to read for Senior A.P English, and I couldn't have been happier. This book is the sequel to Jane Eyre. The reader gets to hear of Bertha's story, whom they meet in Jane Eyre. The book has a slower narrative pace, yet it continously flows. The novel is a quick read and well-written.