The pick for my Classic Club Spin was Agnes Grey and while it was one on my classics bucket list, I didn't love it. That said, I completed the book.
Agnes Grey wasn't what I thought it might be and I didn't find this book particularly engaging. I've heard from friends Anne Bronte's second book, Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is much better. So I will try that book one day. Won't be soon though.....
As the youngest Bronte daughter Anne's experiences, personality and insecurities came through in this novel. The fictional Grey family face financial difficulties so Agnes decides she wants to help by becoming a governess. Her mother and sister are surprised and don't show her any encouragement but Agnes persists.
Agnes accepts a position with the Bloomfields, a heinous family who are snobby, rude and cruel. The children are absolutely horrid! Straight off, that child Tom is a serial killer in the making with talk of hurting his pony and cutting up birds. Wicked child who follows his father and uncle's way of thinking. Pure evil the lot of them. Agnes only lasts a short time, is dismissed and moves on to the next position.
Our author interjects religion and moralizing into Agnes' character, complaining away while trying to enlighten the reader about the indignities of being a governess.
Complain. Rinse. Repeat. The romance between Agnes and Mr. Weston, a man of the cloth of course, was tepid at best.
Happy ending...kinda...but I won't think about this book and the nonexistant depth of the character developments later on.
I'm surely in the minority with my 2 star review of a Bronte classic but we all have different takes on a story. It's one I wanted to knock off my classic club bucket list and ✔...it's done.
Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and The Classics Club.
I would say that I did not love Agnes Grey. I barely had enough energy to push through to the end. I gave it bonus points because it was written by a women and featured a women in an age where these things were rare. Still, it was a disappointment.
ReplyDeleteDeb, I think I had higher expectations going in but I will try her second novel sometime. I don't give extra points/stars based on gender or time period. I guess for me my rating would be how it appeals to my reading enjoyment. No joy here, lol.
DeleteI've found (and this is probably just me) that I tend to dislike novels from the time period of Agnes Grey. The language is so stilted, and the characters seem muffled. I wasn't as wild about the books of the Brontes or George Eliot as I had thought I would be. But I will press on, and maybe I'll like others from that time period better as I read on...
DeleteDeb, that could be the case with me, or maybe it was just this book. I'll have to look at some of the books from that time period I have read and see if I was lukewarm about those as well.
DeleteThe animal cruelty part does make me want to skip this one but I do want to read Tenant of Wildfell Hall. History Tea Time with Lindsey on YouTube just put up a video on the Brontes that had me wanting to revisit them. I found it a bit interesting that Charlotte's dislike of Wildfell Hall and the fact that she kind of became literary executor by default led to it (and Anne) being the more dismissed of the Bronte sisters up until recently.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, the animal cruelty is described as something the boy would do, but also mentioned as a past action...with approval by his uncle and father! Many people have liked Agnes Grey so don't let me sway you. That said, there are better books to read in my humble opinion. I have heard the Tenant of Wildfell is good and I will plan on reading that one.
DeleteI'd not heard of Tea Time with Lindsey but that video sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads up on that.
I gather this novel might be a bit autobiographical perhaps with her being a governess ... and being interested in a man of the cloth ... which I think she did in real life ... before dying at 29 yikes. The Bloomfields sound ghastly. Not a happy story. Good you made it through somehow. Perhaps I will save myself for reading her sisters.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I plan to read Charlotte and Emily, I have one of each on my Classic Club list. Dying at 29, crazy. Then again way back then I don't think women had as long a lifespan. Still. If I had to many a "man of the cloth" I think I'd will myself dead! We'd have nothing to talk about...but Anne grew up with a minister father so, gueess that makes sense.
DeleteSo today I had notification from the library The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy is ready for pickup. That was a surprise. I have a few days before grabbing it so they don't send it back.
Too bad the book was not engaging. I guess I might not try it.
ReplyDeleteHarvee, well I can't recommend it but that's just my taste. I am willing to try another in the future. Currently I am juggling quite a list for upcoming reading. Better to have many choices than one :-)
DeleteI’m generally not a fan of any of the Bronte sisters writing (let the stoning commence!)
ReplyDeleteShelleyrae, I'm hoping for a more enjoyable book with one of the other sisters but it could be, as Deb said above, I'm not enamored of the time period. Funny comment about stoning!
DeleteGood for you for persevering to meet your goal. I think if I read Anne Bronte, I'll choose Wildfell Hall. Or, maybe her poetry.
ReplyDeleteJoy, I think that would be a good pick, the Wildfell book. I will try that one day, maybe this year.
DeleteI'm also thinking about Deb and Shelleyrae's comments. I loved Jane Eyre when I was a teenager but have gradually grown less and less fond of the story (in fact, it tends to make me angry, these days). Wuthering Heights was hard to take from the beginning. So, it may just be that the time period didn't produce writing that works for me -- which doesn't to take away from the accomplishments of women (or men) writing at the time and that the rest of us build on.
ReplyDeleteJoy, I agree with you completely about the time period as well as the age we were/are as readers when being introduced to this book. Could be I'm not crazy about literature in time period. Reading always opens new doors for me by armchair traveling, introducing me to authors new-to-me and considering others' thoughts. So...it was worth giving this one a whirl!
DeleteI thought I'd left a comment here... strange! Agnes Grey is *nowhere* near as good as The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. That was an easy 5 stars for me. I understand that Agnes Grey is an autobiographical novel, based on the author's own experience as a governess, but it wasn't an especially enjoyable read for me either.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, I tend to forget to hit Publish when leaving a comment...or iyt just doesn;t take and I close out without verifying.
DeleteOk, then I will move Wildfell Hall up for reading this year. Maybe I need to add to the Classic Club list, replacing one as I did a DNF on The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford. Is that how you do it when you DNF on Classics? This is my first time so since I didn't finish it I think I need to add a title to get my 50 books
Great to know that was a 5 star book for you. OMG, if Agbes Grey was autobiographical I feel VERY sorry for her. What a life.
Tina - My understanding of a Classics Club list is that it does not need to be limited to your initial 50 books. Mine is always evolving... I add books as I become interested in them and remove books I'm no longer interested in reading.
DeleteThanks, JoAnn! I needed clarification on that and I had started a draft classics list for the Next 50 already. But I have been substituting some titles now...changed my mind on a few.
DeleteI didn't enjoy this book either. Safe to say it is my least favorite Brontë novel. You are right--Complain, rinse, repeat. Not that Anne/Agnes didn't have legitimate grips, but this would have worked much better has a short story. I also found Tenant of Wildfell Hall tedious after a while.
ReplyDeleteJane, I felt like I was in a minority and the Bronte lovers would throw shade at me, haha. But we all have different tastes and leave it to me to start with one of the less favorable books. After I catch up on my reading lineup I will grab another off my classic list. I appreciate your thoughts.
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