Classics Mini Reviews #1

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
First Publication: 1847

Jane Eyre starts with Jane’s terrible childhood and the awful conditions she faces at school, until she becomes a governess. Though I’m nothing like her at all, I like Jane. She doesn’t mind following the path others lay down for her, but when that path goes against her principles, she takes a strong stance. The religious overtones were a bit too much for me at times, but I love how heartfelt Jane’s thoughts were. Great novel.

Rating: 4 Stars

Find out more on Goodreads

Title: A Gentle Creature and Other Stories
Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
First Publication: 1876

I really enjoyed these three novellas. “White Nights” is about a chance meeting, about a man who lives with his head in my butts and a woman waiting for her beloved to return his affections after a year’s absence. I loved how the turn of events in this novella was so realistic and truthful, instead of contrived such as we tend to be used to as a reader.

“A Gentle Creature” is a monologue of a man whose wife has just died. His thoughts churn around and around in his head, and he tries everything to be absolved from his own blame.

The narrator of “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” has reached rock bottom. He has decided to kill himself with a revolver, but before he has a chance to, he has a dream.

All three of these stories are personal, zoomed in on the character’s inner thoughts. Dostoyevsky is attributed with being the best psychologist to have ever existed, and the way he can represent human thoughts is fantastic. His novels can be a bit long winded, so this collection of novellas is perfect for someone looking for a taste of his work.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Find out more on Goodreads

Title: Persuasion
Author: Jane Austen
First Publication: 1818

Lovely novel – and the fifth Jane Austen book I have read. Persuasion does feel more mature than her other novels – I vastly prefer it over Sense & Sensibility, and it’s less light-hearted than Emma and Northanger Abbey. I like Anne, and seeing her finally reunited with her true love is touching. Though I appreciate the writing of Persuasion more than that of some of Austen’s earlier novels, I felt like I could connect less well with Anne than some of her other heroines.

Rating: 4 Stars

Find out more on Goodreads

Title: The Scarlet Letter
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
First Publication: 1850

A tale of a woman marked by the sin of intercourse outside of marriage and the Puritan community that will never let her forget it. Hawthorne’s prose is incredibly lofty and high-brow, but it has a certain beauty that reminds me of early Romanticism. Though I don’t share the ideas towards religion and sin that the characters of The Scarlet Letter espouse, I enjoyed the novel for what it is. The story itself is actually quite simple, but it is couched in heart-felt purple prose.

Rating: 4 Stars

Find out more on Goodreads