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The Professor (Penguin Classics)

The Professor (Penguin Classics)

List Price: $8.95
Your Price: $8.06
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Only for diehard Charlotte Bronte Fans
Review: Although the spark of creativity is there, it still takes some time to appreciated this novel after reading Janes Eyre. The main character Crimsworth seems to be arrogance, aristocratic, and audacious. This could be Bronte's first take on a male perspective, but is that what she considered the male psyche to be as she portrays on her other novels' male characters. All in all the novel has some worth, but needs getting used to.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Only for diehard Charlotte Bronte Fans
Review: Although the spark of creativity is there, it still takes some time to appreciated this novel after reading Janes Eyre. The main character Crimsworth seems to be arrogance, aristocratic, and audacious. This could be Bronte's first take on a male perspective, but is that what she considered the male psyche to be as she portrays on her other novels' male characters. All in all the novel has some worth, but needs getting used to.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I expected more
Review: As a fan of Jane Eyre and Shirley I was thoroughly taken aback by how much this book irked me. There was much I found commendable: the attempt to write from a male point of view, the contemplation of cultures and the assertionof female rights by a good female character. There is even humor in this book (the description of the students made me laugh aloud), but I disliked the obviousness of the novel: it is easy to predict. I was also very disturbed by the character's xenophobia and attacks on Catholicism, although those were the prevalent English views of the time. This book is really for people who want to see how the great Bronte developed as an artist and one of the finest writers of the English language.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I expected more
Review: As a fan of Jane Eyre and Shirley I was thoroughly taken aback by how much this book irked me. There was much I found commendable: the attempt to write from a male point of view, the contemplation of cultures and the assertionof female rights by a good female character. There is even humor in this book (the description of the students made me laugh aloud), but I disliked the obviousness of the novel: it is easy to predict. I was also very disturbed by the character's xenophobia and attacks on Catholicism, although those were the prevalent English views of the time. This book is really for people who want to see how the great Bronte developed as an artist and one of the finest writers of the English language.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I Wouldn't Recommend It to Everyone, But I Liked It
Review: I read this in a class with a lot of people who love Victorian novels, and almost everyone hated it. By general consensus it was dry and featured an unlikeable main character. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend it to many people. Nevertheless, I generally enjoyed it. It wasn't as good as Jane Eyre or Villette, but I am glad I read it.

It is a love story, and as such, I thought it succeeded. What most people saw as dry, I saw as sparse, unsentimental narration. I thought it made the love story a little more original and fresh for me. Though if this sort of storytelling isn't for you, I definitely wouldn't read it.

The other problem that most people have with this is the character of William Crimsworth. At times, he is a chauvenist and a racist. These are difficult aspects to overcome for many.

I think there are two ways to see the novel. First, it can be seen as a decent love story between a flawed man and a woman who may offer him redemption. I don't think this is a totally unenjoyable way to read it. You could also see it as a satire on the chauvenistic, supposedly self-reliant Crimsworth. It's probably a little more successful if you see it this way. If you don't like it one way, look at it from the other. Don't read this novel before Jane Eyre or Villette, but this can be a pretty good read.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: not much of a plot developer
Review: i was rather disappointed with growth of characters. surely, bronte's characterization of pelet (head master of the boys sch)and zoraide (head mistress for richies fillies) is bland, trite and stereotypical. now, who isn't already familiar with the snopping head mistress next-door getting hitched with her neighbour head master? -snide laugh- and the mean flirtation between zoraide and william crimsworth (the protagonist) is hilarious! there are many questions to be asked.. among which is hunsden n william's relationship. why does the former assist william in getting along in the world? there is no mention of his helpful gestures to other folks, hence the reason is dubious.

taking on a masculine personna does make this story stilted. the perspective is one-dimensional at most points and there's not sufficient insight into the character's mind. i believe the character of frances henri was better developed than william's. she metamorphosises into a capable school mistress and a loving mother. alas, the predictable future for both parties does spoil the story. read it to chill out on a cool sunday.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A SO-SO NOVEL
Review: The Professor concerns the trials and tribulations of a young man growing up - choosing his career and dealing with the loves in his life. The hero of the book makes many wrong moves in choosing his life career, but finally ends up as a professor - and part time in an all girl's school. His adventures multiply here, as he runs into various difficulties with the school mistress and the various female students in the school.

A good bit of the story revolves around his falling in love - briefly, first with the school head mistress, then with one of his pupils.

The book is beautifully written, not that spell-binding, but not completely uninteresing, either. If you enjoy the Bronte sisters, then do read this book.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Only for an avid reader of the Brontes
Review: The Professor is the story of William Crimsworth, a young man of small means and weak family connections who travels to Brussels to earn a living. He settles there as an English professor in an all-boys school and teaches part-time in the neighbouring girls' school. There he falls in love with one of his pupils, a poor lace-mender, and is pursued by the school's directress, an artful self-interested woman.

If this sounds rather dull to you, then you have the correct impression. The book is not as exciting as Jane Eyre or as moving as Villette. The narrative moves slowly, and Crimsworth is a very analytical type of character who does not scruple to record his thoughts on every detail. Nothing really dramatic happens and emotions are not heightened. But what I really dislike about this novel is the prejudiced portrayal of the Flemish, described often as coarse and unthinking, as inferior to the English.

The novel has a strong negative sound, very different to that in Villette. Although Crimsworth is the marble image of perseverance and self-control, almost to an inhuman level, he is haunted by hypochondria. There is a general sense of mistrust and hostility between all the characters. The editor explains in her introduction that this is the result of suppressed impulses and denied indulgences of the main characters, and reveals Bronte as a social critic. And there is one very interesting character, Mr. Hunsden, a cynical, but very like-able artistocrat who dislikes wealth (he's a bit like Rochester). Though the story is lacking in feeling, it still has bits here and there of beautiful prose and warmth that make it worth reading for a Bronte fan, but most others would judge it too slow-paced and dull.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Only for an avid reader of the Brontes
Review: The Professor is the story of William Crimsworth, a young man of small means and weak family connections who travels to Brussels to earn a living. He settles there as an English professor in an all-boys school and teaches part-time in the neighbouring girls' school. There he falls in love with one of his pupils, a poor lace-mender, and is pursued by the school's directress, an artful self-interested woman.

If this sounds rather dull to you, then you have the correct impression. The book is not as exciting as Jane Eyre or as moving as Villette. The narrative moves slowly, and Crimsworth is a very analytical type of character who does not scruple to record his thoughts on every detail. Nothing really dramatic happens and emotions are not heightened. But what I really dislike about this novel is the prejudiced portrayal of the Flemish, described often as coarse and unthinking, as inferior to the English.

The novel has a strong negative sound, very different to that in Villette. Although Crimsworth is the marble image of perseverance and self-control, almost to an inhuman level, he is haunted by hypochondria. There is a general sense of mistrust and hostility between all the characters. The editor explains in her introduction that this is the result of suppressed impulses and denied indulgences of the main characters, and reveals Bronte as a social critic. And there is one very interesting character, Mr. Hunsden, a cynical, but very like-able artistocrat who dislikes wealth (he's a bit like Rochester). Though the story is lacking in feeling, it still has bits here and there of beautiful prose and warmth that make it worth reading for a Bronte fan, but most others would judge it too slow-paced and dull.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Although not one of her best, a glimpse at Bronte's genius.
Review: The Professor proves to detail humanity in a way only Charlotte Bronte can. She depicts human nature, thought, and emotion brilliantly utilizing the English language to highten the reader's experience of the situation at hand. The Professor was, however, Bronte's first novel and, although controversial at the time, now seems to illustrate how much Bronte had grown as a writer throughout the years. In my opinion, Jane Eyre and Villete were her finest works, but The Professor is still a must read for any Bronte fan.


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